Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1891-07-30


In Which the Rights of Small Ship
pers of Grain Is Defended.
ToPEKA. July 24.-Owing to the demands
made by shippers through the railroad COM
missiOners for cars, with elevators and track
leaders being represented, the board issued
the following circular, which was sent to all
the railroad companies:
CIRCULAR NO. 8.
'In view of the present hatterlng prospect
for abundant crops of farm produce in Kan
sas ana as a means to avoid the possibility of
a shortage in transportation facilities, the
commission desires to respect ully impress
upon you the importance of a thorough and
uniform system for the apportionment and
distribution of cars among the several sta
tons and shippers along the line OF your
road. AS means to this end, we beg leave
to submit the following suggestions and ask
If they meet with your approval, that in
strnetions be issued to your agents accord
ingly, viz:
t'First-Agents should be instructed to re-
qulre OF shippers an estimate of the number
and kind of cars they will likely use per
month, during the shipping season. Said
estimate to be signed by the shipper or his
authorized agent, but this is not to be re-
garded as requisition for cars for any spe-
cihc day or date.
STANDARDIZATION for cars to be en-
tered IN a book of record in the order in
which they are received.
''Ihird-Cars to be applied in the order in
which acquisitions are filed.
Fourth-When acquisitions exceed the
number of cars available at the time ship
nents are to be made. cars on hand to be
apportioned impartially between the several
patrons OF the station, except that the agents
are forbidden to give any shipper more than
double the humber of cars he has loaded on
any previous day.
''Fifth-When a reguisltion is filed, shipper
must be notified that any cars furnished and
not loaded at the expiration of the time for
loading will be applied on the requisItion
next IN order and his original order consid-
cred cancelled and another made necessary.
Slxth-Cars should DO classified as to kind
and destination.
Seventh demurrage charge should be
tigidly collected when cars are held an IN
reasonable time for loading"
In response to this circular a letter was re-
eeived from the general manager of one of
the lines asking for a modification in
favor of the elevators; plainly asserting that
the railroad companies found ii to their in
terest to discriminate in favor of elevators,
which used so many more cam. In response
the following letter was written by the board.
copy of which was sent to each general
manager:
Your letter of the 22rd ult. in relation to
circular of the commission relating to the
distribution of cars to shippers, has had care
ful consideration, and am directed to make
answer thereto as follows:
The commission is not unmindful of the
question of relative rights, raised by you, as
between shippers of grain by men who own
elevators and whose sole business it Is to ship
grain, as dealers and commission operators,
and producers, or transient dealers, who de-
sire to load directly upon cars from wagons.
This question of the relative rights of
shippers having elevators or storage faclli-
ties anu shippers who may order cars for
Temporary grain business of few days or a
few months rs no new one to the commits
sion 1t has risen to torment the commits
sion as often and as much as it has the rail-
road managers of Kansas
complaints arc constantly coming to the
commission that such Determinations are
made by all our companies, IN favor OF the
elevator owners, and redress demanded. To
these charges the companies have always re-
sponded in an emphatic denial.
''lt may as well be stated that no manager
or subordinate officer has ever before ad-
mitted to the commission the practice, much
less undertook to defend it. To your frank
ness in admitting and defending such prac-
tice is due an equally candid response from
the commission.
'"The rules suggested, then, are held to be
strictly equitable, because they do not 'recog-
nlze in any way shippers having elevators or
storage facilities as having any rights greater
than shippers who may OrQer cars for tempo
rary grain business whereas you hold that
they are equitable for this very reason.
The commission reads the statute and
COnSLEueb lu6 law governing Carrying COLu-
panies in this state as forbidding favoritism
or discrimination of any nature. You make
a carload the maximum unit of quantity and
atiX to Il the minimum charge. 1t matters
not whether one of these units are presented
by the producer, or twenty of them by mid
dlemen: whether the one offers car load of
any given commodity three times during
year, or the other offers it 800 times during
year, the rights of each are the same and
must be respected alike both as to facilities
and charges.
ain urging the necessity for this discrim-
ination you say: 4 fear, unless this is done,
property, that decided harm may be done in
the long run to all interested, including the
farming community
Admitting your fears to be we'll grounded
in reason, the commission still believes the
evils following a strict adherence to the law.
IN an absolutely undiscriminating service of
the public by carrying companies, would be
greatly less than from the practice you advo-
cate, which leads to discomfort and popular
distrust.
''With or without reason the fact will re-
main that elevators thus cherished and sus-
tanned are believed to be monopOiies in
mastery Of avenues to the market from the
farmer. 1t will be suggested, and believed,
too, that railroad owners and railroad mana
gers are in interest with the elevator owners,
sharing profits magnihed by favoritism in
rates as well as in facilities.
Il am instructed to say, IN answer to your
question: will you be kind enough to adj
wise me whether you think it desirable to
modify your rules in some way to cover the
difficulty suggested above. that it is not only
mot desirable but impossible for the COM
mission to modify a rule which is based up
on justice and demanded by law and to ex-
press a hope that, so far railway cOrpo-
ratiOns in Kansas are concerned, no Just
cause for complaint criticism IN this re-
gard will be found to exist in the future"
About four years ago the board was COM
PEELED to take up this subject. then rendering
a decision in conformity with the rules above
presented. The question was raised by
track leaders," men who made requisitlOn
for cars and then used them as warehouses
until they could purchase a full load. Some
times the cars were held a week, especially
in bad weather, while demands were coming
up from all parts of the state from shippers
The board then decided that a demurrage
should be charged when the cars we're held
over the second day.