The record-union., 1893-02-06

cents per mile; the Carson and Colorado
Railroad at six and one-half cents per
mile; the Nisalia railroad at eight cents
per mile; the Ireka Railroad at eight
cents per mile; the Nevada, California
and Oregon Railroad at four at one-half
cents per mile; and the Colusa and Lake
Railroad at eight cents per mile. also
informed him that there were twenty
nine railroad companies in the State OF
California, besides the Southern Paclnc
system. | asked him if he would esteb-
lish uniform rate OF three cents mile,
and coniscate all these small roads.
Q.-Can you, Mr.. Beckman, recall Mr..
Leeds exact answer?
Ale answered me that it would be
great deal better to have all these roads
coniscated than have the people of the
State of California suffer from railroad
eXtortion. l then made up my mind that
MIR. Leeds was not acting in the interests
OF the people, and / did not believe in his
sincerity, and I told Mr.. Rea so; but Mr..
Rea, being one of those good-natured
fellows, when man once gets into his
confidence, he has good deal of conf
dence in him, and Mr.. Rea and l did
not agree upon MIR. Leeds proposition.
Odd Mr.. Leeds at that time address
the board in its official capacity?
A.-The first communication we had
from Mr.. Leeds, officially, was February
"A, 1OJ-. I10 luTulSlSu us several SCH6u-
ules of freights in Nebraska and Kansas.
We placed them on file and in due course
oftime looked into the matter. He talked
great deal about eXtortion in California,
and the commission then called his at
ton to Section 8 of Chapter LIX. of the
statutes of California, reading as follows:
All complaints before said Board of Rail
road Commissioners shall be in writing and
under oath. All decisions of said board shall
be given in writing. and the grounds of the
decision shall be stated. a record OF the pro-
ceedings OF said board shall be kept, and the
evidence of persons appearing before said
board shall be preserved.
Q.-What response did Leeds make to
that?
A.-Mr. Leeds contended that it was
the duty of the board to regulate freights
and fares without any complaint, as he
did not wish to file complaint. We
then asked him to have one of the men,
bers of the Traffic Association of San
Francisco file complaint. The excuse
that he made was that it might injure
their business. as the Southern Pacific
Company might use their influence
against them.
Q.-Who are the members of the Traffic
Association?
Al cannot tell you. They claim
there are 800 of them. We see the names
of about ten or twelve of them as a COM
mittee, but the balance of them seem to
keep in the background. l imagine that
San Francisco would produce men, when
they are right on any proposition, like
Patrick Henry, John Carroll of Carroll
ton, and several other gentlemen who
made their mark in history, but this pc
culiar Traffic Association have not been
able, so far, TO find out just who they are.
At one time Mr.. Stetson was the Presi-
dent or Chairman of the association, but
in the course of time he got his eyes open
and withdrew. | have learned since that
several other gentlemen have withdrawn
from this association, but this is merely
hearsay.
Q.-Do you know what caused Mr..
Leeds to come to California?
Al do not know; but have heard that
he was discharged from every railroad
company that he ever worked for, and
that Jay Gould had to discharge him.
Now, remember, all that is hearsay; but
l do know that Mr.. Leeds testified before
the California Board of Railroad Com
missioners that he was ostraciZed by all
the railroads in the United States; that he
could not get employment from any one
of them-hence, his peculiar position that
he takes against all railroads.
Q.-How do passenger rates in Califor-
MIA compare with those of the Atlantic
States, Mr.. Beckman, from your investi-
cation?
Al VIII give you a few OF the rates of
the five leading roads in Illinois, which L
filed last May. The rates are those estab-
Iished by the Railroad Commissioners of
Illinois:
Do A1S