, 1877-12-16
TILE RAILROADS.
THE EVENERE.

Several Of the railroad officials who attended
the Cleveland meeting returned to the city
Yesterday. and from them the !ttruc inward
ness" Of the action taken III regard to tho
"eycrcrs' ring'' is asccrtaiued. They state
that although most Of tue managers went to
the meeting with q determination to have the
iniquity abolished, yet the cveners who we're
present aud the managers OF two or three Of
the trunk lines, who for some cause or other
sided with them must cncrgetically, were too
much for them, and the ring virtually carried
the day. Not only Was it decided to continue
the ''eycnets ~ on the same conditions us here
tofore, but their field Of operations was still
further extended.tiAs stated heretofore, the
principal oppositions to the eyencrs' ring CANE
from the Wabash and the St. Louis roads, not
because they considered the arrangement an
unjust one, but because they believed that it
he,ped the Chicago roads. Il there was money
in the ring they wanted their share of the spolts
or else they were determined to burst it..
It had long since become evident to the cvcncrs
and their railruaa allies that tho only way to
keep up their arrangement for enriching them
selves 1T the expense OF the small shippers aud
stock-ralSers WAS to give the St. Louis roads
share Of tic spoils. The latter accepted the
proposition OF tue eycners to extend their opcr-
ations to st, Louis with avidity, and the CHI
cago managers, who honestly believed the al,
ratlSculcnt was only steal and fraud, had
nothing left for them to do but submit. The
arrangement as regards the division Of the live
stock business among the various roads leading
East from St. Louis Is as follows: Ohio Il Nis-
sissippi II per cent; Chicago IL Alton, II per
Lines, AK per cent; Wabash Road 233SS 33S per
cent. Tic cvcners pledge themselves to dis
tribute this pro rata among the various roads,
and see that 10 one line IS discriini-
nated again;s By the px,s shppf1s net rs;r IN
SIS for each car Of live stock arriving in the
East, the same amount as received by them OIL
the livestock from Chicago. The arrangement
is not 1lnal however, it being adopted so's-
ditioual upon the approval Of Mr.. 4. L: Hop
kius, Dr., General Manager OF the Wabash
Road, who was not present at the meeting
the matter will come up again at q III Getting to
be held ut New York OH the Goth inst, when
Mr. Hopkins is expected to be present. AS he
hest If the lines leading Enst from st. Louis,
it is not thought probable that he will refuse to
ratify the arrangement. The eyeners at
Chicago consist Of but three Of the prominent
slppcrs,a and not twelve, us has been heretofore
supposed. These are Mr.. Sam Allison, Nelson
two more from St. Louis. but their names have
not yet tTanspired. These five mcn virtually
control all the live stock shipments from the
East to the Wet, and all ,s other ship !. ?
is shamc,'' said a prominent railway
manager yesterday, - that the railroads should
thus confess their inability to control their own
business, but must leave it to powerful Ring
OF shippers The only argument advanced at
the Cleveland meeting in favor OF continuing
eycrcrs was that the 1--we stock pools could not
le maintained without them, and the rates
would 90 to pieces. Not one Of tue managers
present had the ilardhood to claim that the ar
rauec.nen5 was a just and iair one. All taci1iy
admitted that it WAS au outrage Oh the shippers
not in tic 1tng, but it had to be continued be-
cause high rates could not be maintained III any
ottirryay From, tiie fact that tenlaagers OF tho
New York Central and PENNSYLVANIA Railroads
made such strenuous efforts to continue tito
tyrnc,s, it is believed that there is some truth i'll
tn: rutnors which have prevailed for some time
,.ast that some Of them have an interes: in the
ring, and share in the spois which under the
old arrangement amounted to about S1,O1O,0JO
an!, ullder the new orc, will foot up
nearly sa,UJ,W0. The claim that such
an arrangement Is necessary in, order
to maintain fair rates is considered
ali nonsense. Ii the live stock rates cannot be
maintained without eyeucrs, how IS it thatthcsc
same railGoads Claim that the grain rates can
lc maintained without a similar arrangement! !!
Ti.c fats arc, the livestock business is in the
hands OF few powerful parties who are able to
dictate terms, while the grain business is in the
huuds Of many with whom it Will bc impossible
to form ny.wllich will prove equally profita-
bic to the private interests OF few ali.powerfut
Il