The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1891-08-05
WEDNESDAY
ONE HUNDRED MILLIONS OF MONEY.

In the local columns of THE CALL on
Tuesday morning. we find the following
paragraphs relative to railroad freights:
The State Railway Commission met yesterday
with all members present. C. d. Wright attor-
ney for tie Santa CRUZ lumbermen. was on hand
Win communication asking tor postpone
IGegt of tie case, which was granted. In this
matter tile compainants ask for reduction OF
Tties on lumber between Boulder Creek and San
jose
4 communication was next read from j. II.
mFler OF Latrobe Fl Dorado County. who. speak
ing for lie catt.emen OF this section asked for a
luWer tale on livestock shipments and better
facilities TO loading the stock. He argued that
lh' total shipments his season from FL Dorado
County 10 san Francisco VIII be $40. I'VE
Lave lost The san Francisco market" wrote Mr.
Mailer, "ior the reason buyers say they have no
means OF shipping. Reason will tell every man
OF 0uslu : that II facilities we're as they should
te, HIauy II these people would feed cattle for
the winter markets. NV rea sens for sending the
iHclosed list Is to of e. the letters sent in by
agents, stating that they have n-yer shipped
carload of live stock from lhIs section. 1t Is
Impossible TO ship wild st0cH on this road, unless
Ihs shipper ties and packs Them on tile cars-in
her word-. the company has made such ship
Denis pTUhIbiI0ry." The communication was
placed ON file and the matter Will ba iuyesti-
gated.
Andrew Nelson, W. II. Tuley, Frank D.
Thompson, James L. Anthony aud o. O'Neil COM
Irislng Tie Board OF Directors Of the Farmers
Alliance Of PdsO Robes, filed a complaint con-
corning gram shipments from that point. The
gain men ask for better warehouse faciIiti=
aud the Commissioners decided 10 hold meeting
at PdsO Robes on tile 27lh for the purpose OF in
yestigating The situation.
The above paragraphs show that there are
complaints OF high charges and poor accom-
mOdations for the shipment of timber, cat
tie, wheat, etc, on the Central and South
ern Pacific railroads. There is no doubt
that San Francisco, and indeed the whole
State OF California. is suffering from high
freights upon our products. Fruits pay all
they can possibly stand, and as for mer-
chants such arrangements have been made
with the Canadian Pacific Railroad mad the
Pacific Mail Steamship Company that they
cannot obtain relief without shipping certain
descriptions of merchandise by way of Cape
Horn. And latterly it has been seen that
combinations have been formed even with
the owners of sailing vessels, so that heavy
commodities have been forwarded by the
roundabout way of Liverpool to save
freights. This is one side of the question.
hence THE CALL viii give thu other 1t is
urged by railroad managers that the Cen
trial and Southern Pacific companies under
present depressions do but little more
than pay current expenses, hence they can
not afford to reduce rates, even if California
industries are made to suffer. Il is undoubt-
eddy an unpleasant position that our rail-
roads have got into, but why is this so? or
course we all know that the persons who
constructed the railroads cOntrived to make
private fortunes ranging all the way from
twenty to forty million dollars each. 1t
must Eave been that these men realized at
least one hundred millions in the aggregate
from their operations in connection with
the construction of the railroads. A consid-
cradle sum of money, some of our citizens
will doubtless say, but this money will not
come back. 1t is gone so far as our citizens
are concerned. The railroads are also in
debt and we do not imagine that our rail-
road millIonaires are going to put in any of
the money which they have boarded in or
der to pay their debts. Indeed it would be
sad if these men could not increase their
hundreds of millions still further.