The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-11-06
THE BUREAUS FIRST YEAR.
COMMISSIONER PURSE TELLS WHAT
1T HAS ACCOMPLISHED.

He Decided Upon Nov. 10-Ihe Bu-
reau's Effort to Secure Tourist
Rates-Discriminat Against sa-
vannah That Have Been Remedied.
The Establishment of New Trans
DOrtatiOn Lines Recommended.
The Savannah Bureau of Freight and
Transportation held its first annual meet
ing yesterday. 1t was a very interesting
as well as a very important meeting. and
was largely attended by the subscribers to
the bureau.
Among those present were President w.
G. Cam, Secretary Max Robinson, Vice
| President Joseph Rosenheim, Commission
er ID. G. Purse. Col. w. W Gordon, Capt.
I ". W. Williamson. and Messrs. B. II.
Levy, d. b. Lester, ]. NJ. Barnard, Jr., ].
| c. Rowland, W. d. Krenson, G. A. Will
cox, L. f. Kennedy. Jacob Paulsen, r. d.
! Guerard, W. W. Chisholm and others.
The meeting was conducted in the usual
manner of conducting stockholders meet
/ ings. Col Gordon was called to the chair
| and Mr. Robinson was requested to act
as secretary. The first business of the
meeting was the hearing Of the annual re-
port of the commissioner, which was read
by the commissioner. Capt Purse. The
report is a lengthy, but important docu-
ment dealing fully with all questions
which have come before the bureau during
the year. After general introduction of
the subject Capt. Purse says:
| Your commissioner assumed charge of
the operations of the bureau on Aug. /.
| succeeding Maj. A. c. Knapp, who had
! served the seven months previous Mai
Knapp's administration was largely pre-
liminary for the work to follow The diff
! hculties of inaugurating new enterprise
confronted him on every side. Subscribers
to the support of the bureau, not know
ing how to avail of its services, were prone
to discount its advantages and regard it
as useless mechanism. This withheld
from the bureau the support of its sub
scribers, which is it's very life Under
these circumstances Maj. Knapp was un
able TO do himself justice or satisfy the
subscribers. Too much was expected from
his unsupported efforts. Therefore il is
that the record Of the effective work Of
the bureau is so meaghs during the first
seven months of its active existence"
The important subject of tourist rates
is reviewed by Capt. Purse as follows:
Immediately upon assuming the com
missionership, besides prosecuting the I'M
finished business of my predecessor and
keeping pace with the current work that
offered, l made vigorous efforts to Sc
cure full tourists rates for Savannah from
northern and eastern points, which had
heretofore been denied, though strenuous
efforts had been made for them in each
of the ten preceding years. 1t may have
been granted this year without any con
tention on the part of the bureau, as in
opened to the north and east
through Columbia, S. c., to
south; but the correspondence shows that
the bureau placed Savannahs claim to
run tourists rates, along with Jackson
vile and st. Augustine, Fla upon the
highest plane of right, and Claimed the
rates as due to her. Whether this corre-
. spondence, supplemented by letters to
, commissioner Finley of the Southern
states Passenger Association from friends
| Of Savannah, to the number of near one
thousand, in the north, east and west, had
any ERECT upon the September meeting
of the association in making Savannah a
tourists point, may never be known, but
the arguments upon which the claim for
. tourists rates were made stand unan-
| swerable. There can be no doubt of the
benefits that will accrue to Savannah from
; being made tourists point Hereto
fore, in order to reach Savannah in a
tourist Itinerary, II was necessary 10
buy a ticket 70 brownsville, or some
Florida point with a lay over coupon
| Savannah was unadVertised, though for
long time one of the most favored points
| by tourists, Notwithstanding railroad wis
dom sought and succeeded for ten years
in hiding its light under a bushel, and
made it so inconVenient of access for that
, reason. Now, Savannah will be on the list
at every tourists point, and tickets sold
direct to the city. Heretofore, unless a
, tourist making up an itinerary, knew OF
or had personally visited Savannah there
was nothing TO suggest that Savannah
, be included in it. henceforth Savanna h
will be name as familiar to the tourist
as Jacksonville or Tampa, and, with her
superior advantages, many attractions
and superior hotel accommodations, will
be a competitor for public favor that no
rival can safely desplse.
In the three months the commissioner
has administered the affairs of the bureau
the character of the complaints submitted
and supported by documentary evidence
for investigation, in order to secure their
remedy, show more each day the neces-
sity for the means the bureau affords
for reaching and remedying discrimi-
nations against Savannah's commerce.
In the discharge of the duties of his
Office the commissioner has invariably
sought to amicably adjust and remove
Determinations, of which complaint was
= made, directly with or through the rail-
roads complained of, more disposed in
case of our local roads to treat complaints
as the result of oversight in tariff changes
I rather than as purposed Determinations
! Ali the correspondence of the bureau with
I railroads has been upon this line, and it
is but common justice to the railroads
10 say that they have been found
: ready to remedy complaints local to tnem-
selves and as willing to assist when COM
plants had their origin with connecting
}
Necessarily" says Capt. Purse Gin
! the brief period of three months much
{ taken up for remedy is still the subject of
z correspondence. for it is only the most
difficult grievances that reach the bureau.
the more moderate in character being adj
justed without recourse to the bureau
hence in each case turned over to the
bureau the correspondence is more or
less voluminous. 1t is the policy of the
bureau to prevent unfruitful contentious
with the railroads, and, therefore in
groundless complaints the bureau is at
pains to show such complainants the cor
rectness of the railroads position under
the laws of the state and thereby pre-
vent needless wranglings never hanDv
/ in their endings Before approaching the
railroads upon a claim of any Character
the principles involved are made the sub
ject of most careful consideration. that
the bureau can maintain, intellfecntfv
its justice and thus, speedily clear in
the trouble and preserve the pleasant re-
lations of mutual regard ana confidence
between railroads and the bureau. as the
best and surest way for the latter 10
be in the most favorable position to serve
its subscribers. On this line, and for tbe
, further purpose of cuitivating closer and
more intimate relations with its subscrib-
ers your commissioner issued Sent ~ nj
ffrnO circular letter which rDofl(.5