The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1893-04-22
ON TUESDAY NEXT.
Then the Southern Pacific
Will Change.
CUT RATES WILL BE ON TAP.
The Isthmus Line Is Waiting-How
Competition Has Doomed the Bust
ness of the Port.
The fun win begin next Tuesdav.

Ihe fun Will begin next Tuesday.
That's when the Southern Pacific Com
| pany will quote rates SO low that it will be
cheaper to keep goods going back and forth
between this city and New York than to
pay storage here.
"HOw is the freight war getting on?"
asked CALL reporter of j. C. Stubs, the
third vioe-president OF the Southern Pacific
| Company, yesterday.
81 suppose you mean the Merry WARP" he
replied. being inclined TO repartee.
But coming down TO business Mr.. Stubs
quite pleasantly explained that on Tuesday.
April %. new and very greatly reduced
Western tariff between New York and San
Francisco will go into effect. and that the
new rates on wool, borax, etc. from here to
New York. which we're quoted last week in
HE CALL, would also be inaugurated on
| that day.
The Southern Pacific Company mas re-
| eelyed permission from the transcontnental
| freight committee to make any rate 1t
chooses between New York and San Fran
| cisco, east or west bound, without consult
! Ing ANYBODY, as long as it does not
interfere with Chicago or any other OF the
| Irlncipal terminal points in the East.
What the westbOund rates are going to
be nobody here seems to know, even Mr..
! Stubs expressing a delightful uncertainty
on this point.
Assistant General Traffic Manager E. G.
! Hawley, VINO is the Southern Pacifc's
author Of this new and as yet unknown
| tariff and Mr.. Stubs claimed TO be as yet
entirely ignorant of its details.
However, the Southern Pacific officials
are quite sure that there will be very
| large cut all along the line ana that class a s
well as special commodity rates will be re :
| duced to astOnShingiv low figures.
| Traffic Manager Leeds and President
| Barry Baldwin are in high gee to be at last
able 10 prove to the merchants of San
! francisco that their labOrs have not been
| in vain.
All mercantile circles are on the qui yive
| Tor the new tariff.
The North American Navigation people
feel constrained 10 silence upon the subject
| Of the probable big cut, but assure the
| public that they will meet any emergency.
AT the cOmpany's Office mum is the
| word concerning the new schedule, but
| there Is one thing which can be counted
upon as nearly certain, and that is that the
| st. Paul will probably receive a full cargo
under the old contract rates.
Some few shippers are holding out for the
| coming reductions, but others seem deter
mined to patrOniZe the new line at all
hazards and aie continually applying for
| hold space in the IN. A." steamers.
+. Ii. Hinton, the Panama Railroads
agent in this city and one of the best ex-
! perienced traffic men in the country, has
| but little to say on the present situation and
his policy Is evidently 10 play waiting
| game.
Mr. Hinton would not commit himself
yesterday as to whether the Panama CON-
| peting lines would meet the new Western
tariff Of the Southern Pacific or not, just be-
| cause, as he said, he had not seen 1t as yet
and knew not what 1t contained.
1--WE may meet it, we may go under it, or
| we may do neither of these things" said
| he In his n0n-cOmmittal way.
A large shipper and one who stands high
| In the mercantile community has given the
| subject of rates much attention aud summed
| up his opinion as follows:
81 read with much interest the editorial
| In Mondays CALL on this subject. 1t
sounds the keynote 10 the whole situation.
1t may sound like trulsm or announcing
perfectly self-evldent pro position to say
that f the new route through the Isthmus
OF Panama receives the cordial support OF
the merchants of San Francisco it will be
great success; but the business men Of
this city cannot be too often reminded of
this apparently self-eVident proposition.
Our railroads, Of course, in case of fight
Will depend almost entirely upon the sup
posed cupidity OF the merchants, the ina
bility to resist 10 or 20 cents difference In
| freight rates, as the means of successfully
combating the new line, and a cordial sup
| port OF the new line would mean that the
merchants cannot and Will not be tempted.
The situation Is unique. When rate
| disturbances ON California traffic occurred
| In the past they were between uransporta-
ton lines in which the merchants o! San
Francisco were not personally or pecuniarily
intert sted, but In this Instance the new line
via the Isthmus of Panama is their own
creation-their own offspring, as 1t were,
and 1t is their duty as well as their interest
to see that it gets fair living. The mer-
chants have the success of their line in their
own hands, and | believe they will disap-
point the railroad by. proving that their
paternal affection Is far greater than the
cupidity with which they are credited"
In reference to heprOposed railroad from
Stockton to Bakersfield Barry Baldwin.
president of the Traffic Association. thinks
the movement worthy of announcement. 81
think" ne remarked, that the line is more
strongly backed i'll he interior than people
suppose"
Engineer Kennedy, who is preparing esti
mates for the cost If the construction of
| the line, bases its assured success upon the
Tact That 1t VIII be very easy 10 demon
| Strate how cheaply the road can be built
The country to be traversed is no. cut up
| by hills or mountains. No expensive cuts
| or tunnels will have to be figured upon,
| Only clear level line will have to be
| estimated for. The probable cost of the
road from Stockton to Bakersfield will be
| S2,s62,610, or S12,500 per mile for the 229
| miles of construction.
Mr. Baldwin Is at present selecting
| committee to visit the San Joaquin Valley
TO ascertain the amount of capital which
| could be raised IN tnat section for the new
| enterprise.
About $4,000 of the fund for the guaran-
| tee fund of the Merchants Freighting Asso-
citation has been promised. The purpose of
| this company. which is to establish a conf
| petltIye line OF steamers between this city,
Rodondo and San Pedro, has met with a
| surprising amount OF encouragement from
the merchants. One gentleman has raised
| $4,000 ong the small shippers alone
Inquiry as to whether shippers had any
| grievance with the Pacific Coast Steamsh hip
| Company ELECTED the fact that the pro-
| posed steamer line would not be supported
| because merchants are dissatisfied with the
| latter company's methods, but simply be-
| cause the word competition" has a peculiar
| significance to all buyers and sellers in
| California.
The value of produce exports from this
port Tor the quarter ending with March
| was So AGO, decrease of 1913, 700 COM
| pared with the quarter of 1892
These disappointing figures are partially
atoned Tor by the astounding increase of
| business for the month of March over the
| months of January and February
| Although In March of 1882 there was done
nearly GOO more business than the CORE
spending period of 1893 March of 1898 fig
| ureS up nearly 40 Der cent more of exports
than January or February of the same year.
The increase of the last month of the
| quarter is attributed 10 the good effects of
| freight reductions
In shipping circles a 2OOO-ton iron shin
| for Liverpool, September /. This is the
first engagement of this kind for two
| months.
For assorted cargoes a medium-sized iron
vessel has been chartered for Europe for
It's I'd. which is the lowest rate accepted by