St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-07-16
INQU|SITORS BALKEO.
Interstate Commerce VioIat.
OrS Succeed in Securing
a Delay.
Witnesses Called Persist in
Refusing to Answer Lead
ing Questions.
The Commissioners Finish
Their Fruitless Labors
at Chicago. :.
Chairman Walker Renders
Several Decisions Of I'M
rOPtance.

CHICAGO, July 15.-The three men,
bers of the interstate commission who
had been endeavoring since Wednesday
last to induce some stubborn railway
| men to give them some information,
will leave Chicago and wend their way
to Omaha. They are due in Omaha
Monday morning., but if they get no
more information there than they have
CLEANED here their mission will have
been frlitlcss. Many railroad men
have been on the rack the last two days,
but they declined to surI ender, and
hence the commissions inquiries have
resulted in just one thing-nothing.
Chairman Feazey grew desperate this
morning and instead of resuming his
fruitless probing of witnesses, he and
his two colleagues adjourned to District
Attorney Milchrist's Office and prepared
petition to Judge Gresham, asking the
court to decide whether Vice President
Sterling, of the Illinois Steel company,
must answer the questions put to him
regarding the ownership of the stock of
the small switching roads his company
was alleged to possess.
1t was at first decided to include IN
the petition the NAMES of. Samuel Hop
kins, of the Wabash; l.. S. Lafamiere,
of the Traders Despatch; David Brown,
of the Grand Trunk, and Walker. of the
Lehigh and Wabash Dispatch, all of
them freight agents, but finally it was
concluded that decision in one case
would cover all others and hence but
one petition was prepared.
ND hon l.
agreed to hear the petition Ill the after
noon. When the attorneys for Sterling
learned of the move TO be made by the
commission they held consultation
and requested that they be gwen until
O'Clock to consider the petition and
what course they would take. The time
was granted. and the three commission
ers recalled David Brown, of the Grand
Trunk. He was as silent as ever, and
declined O,answer the following cues
lions OH the double ground that the
company had no statutory authority to
ask them and because his answers
might tend to criminate himself
Have You adhered TO the published
points through Canada? Have you
given any rates less than the tariff
rates since they have been in force?
Have either the Grand Trunk or lin
cinnati, Saginaw Il Michigan roads, to
your knowledge, taken any traffic from
this country into Canada and back into
the states for domestic use at less than
the published tariff?''
Mr.. Brown did give the commission
one little bit of information. He adj
mltted that the fast freight lines were
organized by the roads themselves for
the purpose of giving rebates Oh ex-
cessive charges, OF to settle claims. The
expense of maintaining the fast freight
lines was met by assessing each road
its share of the expense.
In the afternoon the attorneys for the
steel company asked tine commission to
POSTPONE the hearing of the petition be-
fore Judge Gresham in order that they
might have time to prepare themselves.
This was agreed to, and Judge Gresham
named Sept. as the date tor the hear
ing.
William Borner, general Western
freight agent of the Pennsylvania COM
pany. was the last witness examined
today. He prided himself that his road
never cut rates. The fast freight lines
were convenience. he thought, to the
roads and to the public, but he had
heard great deal about their secret
rate cutting. He did not believe there
was discrimination in rates Oh coal
shipped from Pittsburg to Western