Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1874-11-26
The Baltimore and Ohio Rail-
road Policy.


FROM the Baltimore Sun.
The New York papers of yesterday
all have considerable to say in regard
to the visit of the great railroad mag
nates-Vanderbilt of the New York
Central, Jewett of the Erie, Scott Of the
Pennsylvania, and others-tO Balti-
more, on Thursday, for the purpose of
inducing the Baltimore and Ohio Com
pany to join the Saratoga compact for
regulating through freight rates and
fares, but which the Baltimore and
Ohio consistently declined to do, though
cousenting to the abolishment OF COM
missions on tickets and rebates on
freights, abuses which it has always
discountenancel. The Post says that
Mr.. Garrett's advice to the gentlemen
who waited On him to abolish the fast
freight lines on the Now York Central,
Erie and Pennsylvania railroads, is
sound and commendable. But the Post
may be reminded that there is nothing
new in this advice, as it is the same
that has always been given from the
same quarter, and the roads generally
begin to realize that they ought to take
it. The New York Express also COM
mends the Baltimore advice, to abolish
the fast freight lines, and says:
sThis is reform in railway manage
ment which the Express has advocated
for many years, and we are glad to see
that there is at least one railroad COM
pany in the whole United States that
has the boldness to come out i'm favor of
true reform. These freight and trans
portation lines are nothing more nor
less than leeches upon railroad corpora
tions; they swallow up profits which
legitimately belong to the stockholders.
But the great difficulty in the way of
their abOlishment is that they are gen.
orally organized and owned by railroad
directors and their friends. The rep
resentatives of the Eastern trunk lines
agreed with Mr.. Garrett, of the Balti-
more and Ohio, i'll regard to abOlishing
fast freight lines, but said that it could
not be done at present. 1t ought to be
done, how ever, and if it WAS done by
the Eastern trunk lines, then many less
important companies would follow suit,
and patient stockholders of some West
ern roads might be rewarded with div
idends. 1t appears that the Baltimore
and Ohio is now complete master of
the situation, and as it refused to enter
into the Saratoga compact, no fear need
he felt by merchants and producers as
to any high and unjust tariff Of Rates be-
tween the East and West"
The New York stock market lost IFS
firmness yesterday for railroad shares,
and the Commercial Advertiser thinks
if finds cause for this, in the fact that
the Baltimore and Ohio would not be
shorn of its Independent powers by
with other trunk roads in
the matter of freight. 1t says:
THE occasion of this may be, and be-
yund doubt is, traceable to the refusal
of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad to
any proposition suggested by
the managers of the trunk lines, at
meeting in Baltimore, regarding
freights. This is regarded as
unfavorable to the future of
our railways, as regards earnings and
traffic, and is strongly suggestive of an
eventual resort to cutting rates, and is
therefore likely to be attended with Sc
rious results TO stockholders, however,
much it may benefit the general public
The Baltimore and Ohio is, however,
known to be conservative, and while it
does not design to work for nothing or
ask others to do so, knows full well that
it is able.to stand fair rates and make
money. There were intinations that
the Cther roads would do all they could
to embarasss the operations of the re-
calcitrant corporation, but this will
hardly Re attempted, as they all know
the ability of the Baltimore and Ohio
to sustain itself. with its great advant-
ages of a cheaply constructed line and
low operating expenses.
We all know that as the mountain
would not como to Mohamet, the
prophet went to the mountain; SO the
New York Tribune remarks, in connec-
ton with the visits of the railroad mag
mates of this city, that heretofore peo-
pie who have had railroad business to
with the chief of the New York
Central railroad have been aware of the
fact that he could be found at his Office
in Fourth street, New York." the
of which is, obviously, that a
great change has come TO pass.
POISONING WITH ANILINE Red
A we'll established case of poisoning
from arsenious aniline red; attended