St. Paul daily globe., 1891-05-02
What the Omaha Is Fighting
for Before the Rate Sheet
Association.
Really Trying to Aid the Un-
ion Pacific to Down the,
Northern Pacific.
The Fight Involves Most Of
the Traffic Of the Puget
Sound Country.
A Point Of Importance Made
by the Omaha at the Feb
ruary Meeting.

Another meeting of the st. Paul &
Minneapolis Rate Sheet association was
held at the union depot yesterday morn
ing, but the session was of very short
duration. The position of the Omaha
being sustained by the reading of the
report of the meeting of Feb. 81 last,
there was but one thing for the associa-
ton to do, and it was to at once set
about the preparation of rate sheet,
there being Eone ineXistence. When
this was commenced the repre-
sentative of the Omaha offered
a resolution relating to rates to Puget
sound points. This was not satiSfac-
tory to the Northern Pacific, aud it was
promptly defeated by the representative
of that line voting against it.
1t being apparent that nothing could
be done the meeting proceeded TO the
election of a compiler for the next three
months to succeed Eugene Valentine, of
the Burlington, whose term expired
April 80. p. H. Scanlon, of the Chicago,
Milwaukee d ST. Paul, was chosen, and
the meeting adjourned until 10 O'Clock
this morning, when the subject will
again be tackled and a settlement at
tempted.
AS has been predicted all along, this
contest is not over the matter of rates
to local points but involves a great deal.
The stand taken by the Omaha from
the commencement, as to the proceed
ingS of the February meeting, was COM
pletely indorsed when the proceedings
were read. This being the case, there
is no rate sheet in existence, and the
only thing to do was to commence to
make one. This had no sooner been
started than the Omaha showed its hand
by resolution regarding rates to Puget
sound points. Then. if nots before, the
other members of the association saw
that the fight was between the North
ern Pacific and the Omaha and its
Union Pacific ally.
Ever since the Omaha and Union Pa
citic lines entered
Into Close Traffic
relations an attempt has been made to
compel the Northern Pacific to accept
through business, i'll which case it would
be deprived of the benefit of the long
haul. This would cut the revenues of
the road greatly. and the Northern
Pacific claims that it is not in duty
bound to enter into a convention IL
of rates with competitor in such q
case. AT present, during the pendency
of legal battle brought by the Union
Pacific TO force the Northern Pacific
into this arrangement, the Northern Pa
clfic, under an order from the court, is
operating under & plan nearly to the
liking of the Union Pacific.
When it came to patching up the old
rate sheet the Omaha, which seems to
have had its eyes open from the start,
determined to make fight for the in
sertiOn into the new sheet of its rates by
yro nf n En tn i
Seattle and ,other Puget sound points.
The first obstacle to this scheme was
met in the assertion by the other MEM
bers of the association that this
meeting was called merely to get
out supplement. The Omaha
denied this and cited the proceedings of
the February meeting to Substantiate
this claim. In this the Omaha won, and
in winning seems to have scored a point
OF great Importance, as, with no rate
sheet in existence. it will have a hand
in making new one, and this is what
its representatives, have long fought
for. At the February injecting Mr.. Nc
Cullough, of the Omaha, offered a resO-
luton providing for new sheet.
This was carried, and now some of the
other lines are claiming that it was put
in and passed by some kind of a trick
70 man up a tree it looks as though
the Omaha had neatly trapped the other
fellows.
The position of the Northern Pacific
in opposing the demands of the Omaha
is natural. This is the only rate assO-
ciaticn in which it has any voice, and it
takes the broad ground that the
Omaha, being the initial line, has no
right to insert the rate and that for the
Northern Pacific to agree to such inser-
ton in this sheet would be damaging to
its case. 1t is very much mixed-up
case, and the air of mystery thrown
around it by the railroad men makes it
extremely difficult to say just what the
outcome will be.