St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-08-26


There appears to be no chance to avoid
savage war on east bound passenger rates.
So far there appears to be no positive indi-
cations of the difficulty extending west Of
Chicago. Still, in the natural course of
events, it will be likely to reach out as far as
Paul. On Sunday, the proceedings OF a
secret conclave of Vanderbilts passenger
officials, at Buffalo, week or two ago, we're
publishedin the GLOBE. These proceedings
left little reason to doubt that the Wander
bilt roads we're determined upon war. Up to
the present time there has been no open cut
in rates by any of the roads. The cutting
has been accomplished by the adroitness Of
the officials, through scalpers and middle
men. The scalpers are now selling tickets
from Chicago to New York for SIS, cut of
S5 This shows that the heavy commissions
spoken of by the GLOBE on Sunday last are
being paid. The officials of the
anti Vanderbilt roads will meet in
Chicago as soon as they hear from their
superiors in the east when they will deter
mine upon the course to be pursued There
is every probability that an open and heavy
reduction in rates will be made during this
week. At first the rates between Chicago
and New York will be dropped to $40, and,
according to present probabilities, will go as
| low as S.. No efforts are being made to put
stop to the business, or to avoid war, all
the officials being convinced that war will
have to be fought before harmonious rela-
| tons between the different roads engaged in
! this business can be restored The Wander
bilt people do not deny the correctness of the
report of the Buffalo meeting, but they say
they were compelled to take such action on
account of the doings of their CON-
petitors and because the Grand
| Trunk stubbornly refused to join the
Eastern passenger pool The anti-Vander-
| bilt roads, however, claim that they have
! been maintaining agreed rates all along, and
| that the action of the Vanderbilt lines was
entirely unwarranted, and was dictated by
the desire to precipitate passenger rate war.
| In which way the anti-Vanderbilt roads mean
to meet the competition of the Vanderbilt
lines has not yet transpired, but this much
| has been agreed TO, that the war will not be
longer carried on through scalpers and go
betweens, but will be fought out by an open
! reQucUOn over the counters Oh the llcket-
offices of the various roads The proposition
is to reduce rates at once from Chicago to
New York to $40, and If this rate will not
stop the payment of commissions on the part
of the Vanderbilt lines, or If the latter should
meet this rate, reduction to S. is to be
made. And as the Vanderbilt lines are sure
| to meet any rate their competitors may make
it is almost certain that the rate will be IS
from Chicago to New Yoak before the week
is over.
1t is also quite probable that a war on
east bound freight rates will be inaugurated
during the week. The Grand Trunk has no
titled Commissioner Fink that it will lot ac-
cept a reduction of its present freight per-
centages, and If an attempt is made to carry
out the new award made by the arbitrator,
which reduces the Grand Trunk percentage
IL, it will withdraw from the pool. As the
Vanderbilt roads insist that Commissioner
Fink must promulgate the new percentages
and have them applied on all business since
June "a, 1884, it is hard to see how a rup-
ture can be avoided. The Grand Trunk
people say that their withdrawalfrom the pool
need not necessarily preeipitate a war in
rates, aud they mean to maintain the rates
if the other roads do. Experience, however,
has proven that under such circumstances
rates cannot be maintained, and unless
some plan is devised by which the Grand
Trunk can be induced to remain in the pool
q serious rate war will be inevitable.