The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-01-13
THE SHORT LINE.
Extensive CurtaiIment is the Order
of the Day.


1T is learned today from a reliable
source that wholesale reductions are
being made along the Utah Northern
and Oregon Short Lime, says the Butte
department of the Anaconda Standard
on Thursday, and 1t is believed by some
that the object in the extensive cur
| tai1neut of expenses is to influence the
courts, in an indirect way, against Ihe
application for separate receivers ior
these lines, which is soon to come up
for hearing.
A few days ago eighty employees in
the shops at Pocatello were discharged
out of a total force of 100, and the busl-
ness men of THAT town are said to be
greatly worried over the exceedingly
| blue outlook. The train crews at that
point have also been cut down and
| similar reductions have been made at
every other point where they were at
all practicable Every item OF expense
that was not absolutely necessary has
been cut down to the lowest possible
point.
No reductions have been made In
Butte for the reason that both the
| freight and passenger business from this
point is as large as ever and this city
| is now more than ever one OF the
principal mainstays of the Union Pa
cific system.
The attem u to secure separate re-
ceiverships for the Utah Northern and
Oregon Short Line is watched with a
good deal of interest and anxiety from
| all points on THE system. A separate
receivership for III So Two lines would
quickly put them on q paying basis,
| but it would at the same time knock
an enormous hole in the Union Pacific
receipts by putting an end 70 the lead
pipe cinch which that road now enjoys
on all passenger business from the Mis-
lsOum river to Montana and the great
northwest. For this reason it is be-
lieved that the government will take d
hand in the proceedings and oppose the
application for separate receivers for
| the two best paying pieces of road on
| the entire Union Pacific system.
| 1t has long been known in railroad
circles that the profits of the Utah
Northern and Oregon Short Line have
been devoted to making UP the losses
of other parts Of the system. The bust
ness with these two lines is now con-
Quoted ON a. pro rata basis. which is ar
ranged so that the main line gets all
the profits, or all that it needs to make
up Its losses. With the appointment OF
| separate receivers the pro rata would
be raised so as to secure more equita-
bic division, and the close passenger
traffic with the Union Pacific would
be entirely abrogated, which is of a
| great deal more Importance.
| Under the existing conditions the
| Union Pacific enjoys a practical mono
poly of all northwestern passenger bust
ness by refusing to accept tickets on
the Oregon Short Line and Utah North
| ern, sold either by the Chicago, Balti-
more & Quincy, Santa Fe or Rock
I Island via Denver Or Ogden, The Utah
| Northern and Oregon Short Line also
refuses TO sell tickets for the east over
any route but the Union Pacific. Pas
sengers who wish to go over the south
ern route are compelled to pay full
local fare between Chicago and the
Missouri river, to Denver, then over
the Denver C Rio Grande to Ogden. and
from there to their destination. With
Iseparate receivers, however, the Oregon
Short Line and Utah Northern Womb
be in the field for all the passenger
| business they could get, and the Chica-
| go, Baltimore & Quincy, Santa Re and
Rock Island would be able to- ticket
passengers through to Butte and the
northwest, the same as the Union Pa
enc, Which business they are now COM
PEELED to reluctantly relinquish to the
latter road. With the three lines men
| toned in active competition the Union
Pacific would secure only its Legitimate
| share Of the business to this section of
the country and it would soon be in a
much worse condition financially than
it is now.
! This being the exact condition of
things 1T can be easily seen why the
Union Pacific receivers propose to fight
1.-THE application for separate RECEIVERS
for the Oregon Short Line and TJtah
Northern to the last ditch, and it is
expected that the government will step
in and do likewise: