The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1894-01-27
WILL THERE Be A RATE WAR I?
The Demands Of the Southern
Pacific
Fares to Los Angeles Making
Trouble.
An Old Agreements Held to by the
Atchison, Topeka and Santa
Fe Road-The situ-
alton.

San Francisco Chronicle There is
serious trouble brewing between the
Southern Pacific company and the At
Gibson, Topeka and Santa Fe. The
news comes entirely from Chicago. AT
the Fourth and Townsend street Offices
of the Southern Pacific little can De
learned as to the falling out of the COM
panies. which have worked hand in
hand for many years.
W. A. Bissell, the general freight and
passenger agent of the Atlantic and Pa
cific. does not regard the stories as reli-
able, and while admitting that the Santa
Fe is in the hands of receiver, he in
Inmates that the financial condition of
the Southern Pacific is such that it
would not assist and cannot afford to
enter into a rate war with any one.
Traffic Manager Richard Gray OF the
Southern Pacific has been in Chicago for
some time, endeavoring to make terms
with Traffic Manager White of the Santa
Fe. The trouble arose over the desire OF
the Southern Pacific company to have
the rate from Chicago via Ogden to Los
Angeles the same as over the Santa Fe
lines. In 1887 an agreement was entered
into between the two roads, by which the
cost over the Santa Fe was set at 81 less
than over the Southern Pacific. The OBJ
ject of this differentiation is to prevent
the scalping of Los Angeles tickets at
San Francisco, and the annulling of this
81 difference would, it ia claimed. open
wide the door for scalping, and deprive
the Santa Fe OF much San Francisco
business. In addition to this the South
ern Pacific recently served notice on the
Santa Fe that on February 23d the d.
vision OF through rates on that part of
the trip between Los Angeles and San
Francisco on business taking the South
ern California route must cease. After
that date the Southern Pacific asks that
it be paid full local rates, $50 for the
round trip or SIS one way, between Los
Angeles and San Francisco, as its pro-
portion of the through rate.
If this notice we're enforced, the Santa
Fe would be deprived of large pro-
portion ofaits San Francisco business.
and it would have to retaliate by re-
ducing rates from the Missouri river
and taking the Southern California
business away from the Southern Paci-
ic.
But this is not all. As Assistant Pas
senger Agent Wakeley of the Burhng-
ton road said today: THE situation is
one in which if you should press the
button in Los Angeles the bell would
ring at every principal terminal point
west of Chicago"
If the Southern Pacific should persist
in it's demand for $15 each way between
Los Angeles and San Francisco it would
mean the inauguration of a general rate
war. The rate from Kansas City to Los
Angeles and return would drop from 500
to $685. from Chicago to Los Angeles and
return it would drop from $50 to 500, and
the one way rate would be 1928 The
present one wav rate from Chicago to
Los Angeles is $57.
1.-THE one.way rate would be made half
of the round-trip rate in order to keep
business out OF the scapers' hands, and
all intermediate terminal rates would
have to be reduced 80 per cent for the
same reason.
''Such a demorslized situation would
mean rate of $6.25 from Chicago to
Kansas City and So from Chicago to st.
Paul. For every dollar gained by in
crease of travel between Chicago and
Los Angeles there would be a loss of $50
on business 1000 miles away between
the big business centers."