Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-12-04
rsPEc1AL rrLreRAm no TUE DispArcH.,

ESPECIAL TELEGRAM TO TUE DIsPATCH.i
NEW YORK, December 3-The officers of
the Trunk Line Association at 346 Broad
way to-day swsrmed with railroad men. The
Trunk line presidents invited the presi-
dents of the New England and Central
Tratic Lines to attend joint conference
to discuss the subject Of abolishing
passenger commissions, and also to find out
whether the connecting lines would agree to
Danish private stock cars from their tracks,
as the trunk lines agreed to do last summer.
About the same trunk line officials, with
their subordinates, were present to-day as
were at the presidents meeSlng two weeks
ago, and among the score of visitors from
New England and the West were: Presi-
dent j. Gregory and John Porteus,
General Manager of Through Freight
Traffic of the Central Vermont;
Arthur Mills, General Traffic Manager Of
the B. and A.: E. P. Vining, Traffic Man
ager of the N. Y. and N. E.; J. Whitmore,
General Traffic Manager of the Fitehburg;
M. E. Ingalls,, President of the Big -Four
and G. and o.; H. B. Ledyard, President
of the Michigan Central; j. N.
Mccullough, First Vice President
OF the Pennsylvania lines west of
Pittsburg, and Commissioner George r.
Blanchard of the Central Traffic Associa-
tion. President Roberts, of the Pennsylva-
MIA Railroad presided.
Ex-Commissioner Albert Fink was present,
having returned from his European trip on
Saturday last. Nothing was said to-day
about the appointment of his successor; but
as Mr.. Fink is feeling pretty we'll again,
it is not unlikely that he will be occupying
the Commissioners chair again within
month.
IT WAS HARMONIOUS, BUT.
The meeting was harmonious, but the
results were unsatisfactory. Time and
again the presidents have pledged them
selves to stop the evil of commissions, and
they went through the form again to-day,
the Central Traffic Association and New
England roads concurrIng in abolishing
commissions and rebates in territory east of
Chicago. One exception was made. The
Central Vermont and Grand Trunk roads
were allowed to pay commissions outside of
Trunk Line territory, wherever they have to
compete with the Canadian Pacific.
As for private stock cars, the New En-
gland lines were all in favor of abolishing
them, but the President of the Central Yer
mont said existing contracts precluded
his road from taking the step at
present When the contracts
run out they will be glad to
abolish the use of such cars The central
traffic lines were not so unanimous. The
Chicago and Atlantic and the Chicago and
Grand Trunk representatives, while willing
to do away with private cars, did not see
their way clear to do so until competitors
agreed to do likewise.
MERELY PRELIMINARY.
But when unanimity is secured in this re-
gard, the Chicago and Atlantic and the
Grand Trunk readily promised to fall into
line. So all that could be done was to pass
a resolution abolishing the use of private
stock cars in trunk line territory.
This is not an inch further than the trunk
line presidents got last summer. and the
purpose of the joint meeting utterly failed,
as far as this matter was con-
cerned. The action in regard to COM
missions on passenger commissions is
likely to fall fiat, as long as the Northwest
ern and Transcontinental lines continue to
feed the brokers. The Transcontinental lines |
allow agents and brokers $4 on every first |
class passenger, New York to San Fran
cisco, and all of the roads In the |
Western States Passenger Association pay
commissions from Chicago to Missouri |
river points This furnishes the broker a
good basis to begin on, and manipulation is
easy with tickets of roads east of Chicago by |
"made-up" tickets.