The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-08-25
CANADIAN PACIFIC COMPETITION.
President Van Horne Calls Mr.. TOwne's Atten-
ton to Some DisagreeabIe Facts.

President Van Horne Calls Mr.. TOwne's Atten-
tiOn to Some Disagreeable Facts.
CHICAGO, Aug. 24.-President Van Horne,
of the Canadian Pacific railway, in an elab-
crate interview published here to-day re-
garding the movement to restrict the COM
petition of the Canadian roads in the United
States, says: 'In this case, Judge Cooley
has apparently formed his opinion without
giving the defendant oppor tunity to be
heard. The Canadian Pacific is not and
never has been an eager competitor for
freight traffic between the eastern and the
Pacific states. Il has an arbitrary rate to
its connections at both ends of its line on
such traffic, and those arbitrary rates leave
too little profit to make the traffic worth
fighting for. The Transcontinental asso-
citation was formed in January 1888, and
the Canadian Pacific Joined it at the begin
ming. Up to the end of January last, the
first full year of the association, out of
total of $50, GOO tons of freight within the
jurisdiction of the association, the Canadian
Pacific carried less than thirteen thousand
tons, or about one-tifth of the whole, and
this included its own British Columbia
freight. Since January it has car
ried somewhat larger proportion,
possibly 3 or per cent, but
this is far less than it is entitled
to as one of the four or five competeting
lines. There is little, if any, sincerity in
the complaints of the other Pacific lines
about the effect of others competeting. The
Canadian Pacific was used by them as
bug-bear in their attempt to prevent the
passage in the interstate commerce act,
and its use as a bug-bear has been contin-
ued for the purpose of obtaining moditica-
tions of theact."
Speaking of the testimony given by
Manager TOwne, of the Southern Pacific
before the Senate committee, Van Horne
said:
''The long and short of it seems to be
that the Canadian Pacific should be ex-
cluded from competition with the Ameri-
can Pacific lines because of its light
capital charges as compared with theirs.
But Mr.. Towne did not say, as he might
truthfully have done, that the Canadian
Pacific was paid for in cash by those who
intended to permanently hold and work it;
that no profits were taken by construction
companies or credit mobiliers, and
that its bonds and stock represent
actual cash from private sources
Nor did he say that in the case of his own
line, the Central Pacific, and in case of
some others on the Pacific, that enormous
construction profits were taken out and
that those enormous profits, which were
divided up by the construction companies,
and credit mobiliers, are now represented
by the bonds and stock upon which, &C
cording to Mr.. Towne, the interest and
dividends are imperiled by the competition
of the Canadian Pacific. l do not believe
that the memory of the American people is
as short as Mr.. Towne seems to think.
They have not forgotten how their Pacific
roads were built, nor how the Central Pa
cific Conducted its monopoly in the Pacific
coast trade for so many years. Surely it
will be a long time before the people of
California will forget it''