St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-07-25
SCRABBLE COMING.
The st. Paul Chicago Blind
Pool agreement Ready to
Break Up.
Several Roads Find That They
Are Getting Lamentably
Left
Owing to Other Roads Secret
ly Violating the Pooling
Provisions.
Three Roads Making Cut Rates
From Chicago to st.
Louis.

The days of the blind pool agreement
between the Chicago-St. Paul railway
lines are nearly at an end. and unless
some new way of dividing up the busl-
ness is devised there will soon be a
general scramble for the passenger
traffic that will develop a rate war OF
thesfrst magnitude. The object of this
pool, it will be noted, is the division OF
business among the various lines and
consequently the maintenance of rates.
By the terms of the pooling agreement
no money Is to be paid by one line to
another, but the equalizing is done by
diverting excursion parties, emigrants
and like business to the line or lines
that may have carried less than the
proper percentage.
The weak point in this pool is found
in the fact that if there is not enough
business that can be diverted to make
up the proportion of the lines behind,
the iatter are obliged to grin and bear
it. There is no relief for them.
And this is exactly why the st. Paul
Chicago blind pool will fall to pieces.
There is not enough of the excursion
and emigrant traffic to fill in and even
up the thing with the lines that drop
behind. In addition to this. and partly
because of it, there are said to be viola
tionS of the agreement occurring every
day-perhaps rendered necessary by the
unjust and ineQuitable workings of the
present compact. the percentage of
the traffice between tie Windy City
and St. Paul carried by each line for
the month of June will explain the stu
alton. 1t follows:
Per Cent.
Chicago. Milwaukee & ST. Paul .... .27
Chicago, ST. Paul Il Kansas City,. is
Chicago & Northwestern. .....-..,.,-......16
Wisconsin Central .......................15
Chicago, Burlington d Northern. z
Albert Lea Route (ROck Island) ............H
This table tells a curious and inter-
esting story to the railroad manager,
and must convince him that something
better than the present blind pool will
have to be agreed upon. An example
in a comparison of the percentage
claimed by the Milwaukee and the
Northwestern or Omaha. These roads
furnish accommodations about equally
good, and yet there is IL per cent differ
ence that mast be equallZed by the di-
version of traffic. TheB arlington is
lowest with only Z per cent, and the
Kansas City, Wisconsin Central and Al
bert Lea routes are already ahead on
the deal. And they will continue
ahead unless some new arrangement is
made.
at may be set down as settled" re-
marked prominent railway man yes
terday who is connected with the pas
senger department of one of the strong
st. Paul-ChicagO lines, THAT there has
got to be a change or there will be
music by the full band. Some of the
roads are violating the pooling agree
ment, and the others are getting more
than their share of the business. As it
is now the dissolution of this pool would
be to the interests of one or two lines,
even if it produced long rate war"
The fact that the Kansas City carried
next to the largest business last month
has given rise to the idea that there is
something wrong about it, some claim
ing that more of the "unlimited as TO
time, but limited as to privilege. tick
cts" have been thrown on the market.
This is denied by the Kansas City. and
the denial is probably correct, as the
scalperS have no tickets of this kind Oh
hand.