The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-03-27

The transportation committee of the
chamber of commerce is quietly but
confidently pursuing its work Of secur-
ing subscriptions from the shippers of
the city for the purpose of waging a
hot fight against the present freight
rates. The object of the committee is
to secure from $500 to $500 month on
subscription for year and to get hold
of specific cases to bring before the
interstate commerce commission. If
the greater number of the heavy job
bers respond as expected it is believed
the matter will be carried through TO a
successful issue A means which will
be employed to this end is the securing
of the services of an expert railroad
man, zone who" as a prominent mem
Der of the committee yesterday ex-
pressed it, will not be dashed by the
appeal to a railroad rate sheet which
is about as ineligible to the uniniti-
ated as is lawyers brief. We want
a man who can meet the railroad men
on their own ground. Complaints are
coming in daily and it will be of i'm
mense advantage to Salt Lake city if
we accomplish what we aim to do.
What was achieved by the chamber
of commerce in 1892 in the reduction
of rates shows how much more may be
done. There is only one thing the rail
roads fear. That is organized effort
Individual efforts do not c.unt against
them.
Some Of the heavy jobbers have
started a similar movement. If ii
proves supplementary to ours. we'll and
good. But it is conjectured that the
railroads are behind them ana propose
to weaken the combination by offering
these i0hharS rebates n
push the work through, if we get the
support Of the heavy shippers. It
would scarcely pay the retail mer
chants to enter the lists The mem
bers Of the committee are contributors
to the fund. The transportation COM
E. G. Rognon, secretary; W. A. Nell
den, treasurer; w. P. Noble, B. F.
Grant, John H. Hughes and D. NJ. Os-
borne. W. A. Nelden receives contri-
buttons to the fund.-
Another member of the committee
produced specific charges which had
been filed. I'VE can show said he,
that steel shanks can be sent from
Boston to San Francisco and back to
Salt Lake for 1914 per hundred, while
the rates from Salt Lake to San Fran
cisco is S3.44 Certain kinds of furni-
ture can be sent from Chicago to
Helena, Mont, for S1.41 per hundred,
the charge from Salt Lake to Helena
being $2.53. Canned goods were sent
from Missouri river points to Sacra-
mento and back to Salt Lake for 81 40
per hundred. Attention was called to
this fact and as a result the figure
was changed to $3.50, making differ
ence of 10 cents per hundred for the
haul from the Missouri river to Sacra-
mento and Salt Lake to Sacramento.
BY united effort Salt Lake may be
made great distributing point. but
united effort is necessary"
A third members of the transporta-
ton committee. who has been invited
to join the Jobbers' association and in
tends to do so. was asked REGARDING the
conjecture that the railroads had ap-
preached the Jobbers' association re-
piled very emphaticaily that he knew
the association to be heart and soul''
with the transportation committee, and
/ that a joint demand for COMMODITY
rates into and lower rates out of Utah.
would be made OF the railroads py
/ those bodies. E. o. Lee. w. A. Nelden
and John H. Hughes called on TIC.
and the Jobbers' association assembled
for meeting during their call. The
/ gentlemen were assured that the as
ISOLATION would stand with the COM
mittee in the proposed movement
This presents the entire situation as
1T exists UP to date. a general inquiry
among business men ELECTS the infor-
nation that there is not much COM
plant over freight rates, but they
favor the existence of an association
that will stand between the railroads
and the shippers to protect the latter
The business men, as a rule, deprecate
the indefinite hue and cry about freight
| determinations in the absence of spe-
cific cases to back them up.