The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-05-20
RIO GRANDE THREATS.
Possibility OF Losing the sanpete and
Sewer Trade.
Mr.. Babcock Says 1t All Depends Upon
the Course of the Union Pacific
Railway Notes.

A sleepy contemporary, that did not
learn until yesterday that there was a
red hot row on between the Union Pacific
and Rio Grande Western over the Sam
pete traffic, as announced several days
| ago by THE HERALD, limps into line
with the statement that there is ''a
freight fight on wool.D There is no war
on wool rates, has not been and is not
likely to be. The cause of the row was
stated in Thursdays HERALD, and also
Mr.. Babcock's threat to cut the Sanpete
trade off from Salt Lake city altogether
unless the Union Pacific adopted diff
fercnt programme. The possibility OF
losing so large slice of rich territory has
created something of breeze among the
Salt Lake jobbers, despite the assurance
of MIR. Eccles that the Union Pacific
would protect them. Should the
Rio Grande Western make lower
rate to Thistle than to Salt
Lake, the Missouri River jobbers will
take the Sanpete trade. The Union
Pacific cannot make lower rate to San
pete points than to Salt Lake city, be-
cause it cannot, under the Interstate
commerce law, charge less for a long than
for a short haul, whereas with the West
ern the shorter haul is to the Sanpete
The Union Pacific cannot lower the rate
to Salt Lake city, because the latter is q
common point. The Western seems to
be master of the situation if it chooses to
proceed to extreme measures, although 1T
takes a pretty hard combination to get
the best of Mr.. Eccles.
Mr.. D. G. Adams, chairman of the
chamber of commerce transportation
bureau, is absent in Portland, and it is
n lrolx fl1o4 cf hot ,E N
until his return.
Mr.. Babcock made a further statement
yesterday, in justification of his course.
'"There is no rate war on wool existing
IN Utah thai l am aware Of said he.
"Any rates on wool or other freight, that
may be in force now or that may here
after be made, from local points on our
line outside of common point territory
are matters in which this company has
final jurisdiction, subject only to the
provisions of the inter state commerce act.
1.-THE Union Pacific company is paying
wagon haul, or its equivalent, on various
kinds of freight from places local to our
line in the Sanpete and Sewer valleys,
to which the Union Pacific company has
no rails of its own. nor to which has any
direct connecting line working that COM
pany any rails, and after repeated ap-
pleals to Mr.. Munroe, who controls the
freight traffic of the Union Pacific sys-
TEN, to discontinue such practices, / have
been unable to secure from him any def
mite assurances that he would do SO.
1--WE expect and intend to do every
thing in our power at all times to protect
the traffic naturally belonging to our
local line, and if in SO doing we are forced
to make any rates which might be con-
strued as prejudicial to the interests OF
the merchants of Salt Lake city, no one
would more greatly deplore it than our
selves, and it will not be done without
timely notice to the citizens committee,
and if it is done, it will be because the
| irregular practices referred to, made and
| fostered by the Union Pacific company,
compelled US to do so, and l have ex-
planned this to Mr.. II. G. Weber, who
was chairman OF the citizens committee
at the October conference last year. 1t
rests entirely with the Union Pacific to
determine whether any such rates, posi-
bly, adverse to the interests of Salt Lake
city, shall be made or not.
"This is matter of much Importance
to the merchants Of Salt Lake city, as we'll
as Ogden and other wholesale points, and
l shall be very pleased to explain to them
at any time The situation and its neeessi-
ties in the proper protection of our local
line, confidently relying upon their i'm
partial Judgment as to the propriety of
our proposed course.