Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-12-24
EFFECT OF THE INTERSTATE COM
MERGE BILL ON CALIFORNIA.

As its present form is understood here
the more the interstate commerce bill is
given thought, the more unjust 1t appears.
With the ton and the mile as the units of
rate measurement, it would operate to de-
stroy through rates by rail, and build up
and give a monopoly to transportation
from the East by water. Thus, as the
through rate from the East to Sacramento
and San Francisco is measured by the COM
petitive rate established by car and ship
transportation from and to common points of
meeting, that rate, if made the rule of
measurement for local hauls, where the
competitive element is not involved, would
reduce the rate for them to losing figure If,
therefore, carload of fruit from Sacra-
mento to Chicago is moved at $500, in or
der to build up the industry and the coun-
try, similar carload would, under the
bill, have to be hauled from Sacramento to
Reno for the same or less rate per
mile, which obviously would not afford the
carrier sufficient compensation for the
the local traffic to non-paying rate, or
yield the through traffic, or raise the
through rate to the local tariff standard.
This latter ocean competition would pre-
vent, and hence all shipments to California
from the East would be driven from rail to
boat the rate upon which would be raised
to figure just below the possibility by
rail-. Under the bill, for instance, all
points east of Sacramento would be able to
secure delivery of supplies to them
from trade centers east of them, atless rates
than are possible to this city, though it is a
competitivepoint. Asa result, all trade east
of uswould gofrom us to points farther east.
The rule would work in precisely the same
way at the East, and every trade center
looking eastward for its supplies would lose
all the intermediate trade between the two
points.
Fruit cannot be shipped by water from
Californiato Eastern markets. A local rate
for fruit carriage extended to the Eastern
market would be so great as to erect an
absolute barrier to the movement of the
product at all, and as a result the green
fruit trade and the orchard and vineyard
industries would experience sudden and
painful death.
Since the foregoing was written, an ex-
ample Of the influence of even the shadow
of the bill has come to our knowledge. A
San Francisco merchant desiring to con-
tract with an Eastern producer for the
purchase, during 1887, of one hundred car
loads of manufactures, to be shipped to
California, declines to close the agreement.
except the condition is attached, that if
the interstate commerce bill becomes law,
the contract shall be voidable at his op-
ton. For, he explains, the cost Of the
goods to be transported involves so large
a sum, and the margin of profit is so mar
row and unyielding, that the inevitable
advance Of the freight rate under the bill
would destroy the commercial venture.
II is gratifying TO know that General
Miles did not violate the orders of the
War Department in receiving the surren-
der of Geronimo with the condition that
the lives of his band should be spared.
And it is gratifying, also, that the orders
OF the Department failed to reach the
General until the surrender on that coudi-
ton had become an accomplished fact.
For life Imprisonment and removal from
his only possible field of vicious action was
the better thing to do with Geronimo and
his Apache murderers To nave hanged
these fellows would have put them to poor
use. As degraded captives they are de-
based in the eyes OF all Indians and their
fate becomes a deterrent influence their
execution could not have been.