Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-12-27
FRIGHT CONTRACTS.
SAN FRANCISCO VERSUS TIE INTERIOR
DETERMINATIONS.
Response Of General Manager "owne, C.
R.R., to San Francisco Merchants
Letter from J. c. stubps.
fsan Francisco Bulletin, December g4tb. J
CENTRAL PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY,
OFFICE OF THE FREIGHT TRAFFIC MANAGER,

SAN FRANCISCO, December q, 1883.
Editor Bulletin | have read with considerable
interest your article entitled 1.-The Railroad Con
tracts and Business Competition which appeared
N the 90 Financial and Trade" column of your issu
Of December 10th, and regard il my duty to com
ment thereon, in order that you and the publ
may not be mised by er paTte statements.
Your article states that "San Francisco, Oak
land, San Jose, Los Angeles, Stockton, Sacramento
and Marysyie are designated by the Railroad Com
pany terminal points, and goods are dropped Of
at these points for the convenience of merchant
doing business there, thus saving the local freight
that used to be charged when such points had Il
import by way of San Francisco" and that so Ion!
as there plenty Of business San Francisco mer
chants did not care to notice this discrimination
against them"
1t strikes me that the language have just quotet
is practically statement by the editor of, perhaps
the most influential journal in San Francisco, tina
the fact that the Railroad companies whose road
form a line between California and the Easter
states, make the same rates between said eastern
points and Sacramento, Marysyile, Stockton, Sal
Jose, Oakland and Los Angeles, made be
tween the same points and San Francisco prove
| that these companies discriminate against Sal
Francisco.
question very much whether you wish to 60 oil
the record as pronouncing such a judgment, ant
must object to your conclusions if a fair interpre
tation has been placed upon your language, on tn
ground that it is unfair to the carriers, unjust t.
IObbers OF merchandise at interior points, and II
antagOnism 10 the generally accepted notion as L
what constitutes discrimination in the construction
of freight tariffs.
The article in question further states that it i
evident that the railroad contract system favors tn
interior terminal points at the expense OF San Fran
cisco"
The question arises, how can this be From the
very opening of the through line the interior point
named have been accorded the same rates SaI
Francisco The contract system did not change, O.
in any way affect, the policy OF the railroad com
panies in this respect.
Again if there is any force in the argument at all
it lies in the fact that the contract system has re
duced rail rates to practically the level Of the cost
all things considered, Of shipping via Cape Horn.
The application of these contract rates to merchan
disc going to the interior points, precisely the same
as though it had gone to San Francisco, does nc
more than give these points, practically, the advan-
tages which San Francisco hitherto enjoyed by rea-
son Of its shipping facilities via the sea but does
this amount 60 a discrimination against San Fran
CISCO and have you not lost sight OF the fact that
all these points are like San Francisco competitive
points that is, they can receive their goods from
eastern points via other than the routes OF the rail-
road companies which are parties to the contract
systemf And cannot most Of them receive their
goods by way Of Cape Horn, just as the San Fran
cisco merchant can, at very slight advance over the
cost to the latter!
note what you say in the case of Sacramento,
that in addition to the saving in local freight and
State tolls, there is also saving Of from fifty to
seVenty-ve cents per load IN carriage from stores to
the railroad depot. Suppose that were true is it
not advantage which the Sacramento merchant
enjoys which the railroad company would have no
right to deprive him Of? We can hardly think it is
your opinion that the railroad companies would be
entitled to take that saving of the Sacramento
merchant into consideration in constructing freight
tariffs and charge him more by the amount OF the
saving than the San Francisco merchant. Ii they
did so the Sacramento merchant could in the
opinion Of most persons have better right to COM
plain of unjust discrimination against his town and
in favor Of Francisco than tie merchant III the
latter city now has.
beg to hand you herewith reply Of our General
Manager A. n. TOwne, to a communication re-
ceived from an association of merchants in this city
This reply briefly states the points Of the commun
cation IT ceived and answ them at length.
1t seems to the undersigned that in view OF your
article the whole case ought TO be laid before the
public, that it may be well understood that what
the San Francisco merchant desires is that the
riers shall discriminate in his favor
1t will be remembered by some Of your readers
that during the political campaign Of last fall the
" contract system" assaed, as method of IN
lust discrimination. The answer made by the rail
road compay through the press was, that the com
plant OF the San Francisco merchant was not that it
Disseminated in favor Of one merchant against
other but that it did discriminate in favor OF the
large against the smaller shipper and against other
places in favor Of San Francisco. We think the
position assumed by your journal, representing the
jobbers Of this city fully substantiates that state
ment and we are glad to have the question brought
forward for discussion on that line. We have always
that the carrier should be allowed to do
business in accordance with the laws of trade which
not only justify but enforce Determinations just
as nature discriminates in all her works. and that
the policy advocated by some Of our public men spd
formulated in the shape of enactments into laws re-
luiring rates 10 be made by the mile would be sub
versive to the public interest and destructive to
trade We believe that, IN time, the public VIII
take our side Of the question, just the San Fran
cisco merchant has done, but it must re remembered
that however much they may desire to do SO, in
rec gntion Of well-setted business principles, tine
railroad companies cannot change their policy, &C
,ordance with the views Of the San Franciscan,
when the great mass Of the people have, through
the press and through their public men, been IN
;truc'ed in the belief that discrimination Of any sort
should be absolutely prohibited, and that freight
arff5 should be based upon the cost Of handling
md the distance carried, without regard to any
,ther factors. Very respectfully,
J. c. STUBBS.
.ETTER FROM GENERAL MANAGER TOwER TO