Kansas City daily journal., 1895-05-04
The DEMANDS OF WICHITA.
MERCHANTS OF THAT CRY WANT THE
BENEFIT OF KANSAS cry RATES.
Case Argued Before the Interstate Com
mercc Commissioners at Yesterdays sit
ting-omaha VIII he Heard From To-
day-Roads Well Represented.


chairman w. r. Morrison and Judge
w. q. Veazey, of the Interstate COM
merce commission. accompanied by Sec
retary M $. Decker and Stenogra pliers
Frank Lyons and ]. II. F'ishback. ar
rived In Kansas City yesterday morning
from Omaha and heard the evidence in
tne' Wichita case at the rooms of the
commercial Club during the day. Judge
d. Z. Clements and Judge ]. u. Yeomans
are not with the commission in their
trip here. for the reason that the former
Is SICK at Omaha and the latter was
called to Washington from Kearney,
Neo., on the occasion of the visit to that
city. To-day the evidence in the Omaha
case Will be heard and the commission
ers will leave for Chicago tonight.
where they will try the thirteenth and
last case OF the present trip. The case
tried yesterday, or the Wichita case as
IL is styled. is the outcome of a COM
plaint brought before the interstate
commissioners by the Johnston -Larimer
Dry Goods Company, of Wichita a gainst
the Atchison. Topeka & Santa Fe. the
Missouri Pacific, the Rock Island and
the Missouri, Kansas e Texas railroads
for what they allege to be extortionate
freight charges on the shipment of cot
ton piece goods from Galveston. and In
cidentally to moderate the rates on
sugar coffee. rice. molasses and canned
goods for the benefit of the wholesale
grocers in Wichita.
The Hon. George l.. Douglass conduct
ed the case for the Wichita complaint
ants. Mr.. Douglass was speaker of the
Kansas house of representatives in 1892
and held the gavel in defiance of untold
Populst opposition. He is man of
more than ordinary forensic power. He
was assisted by W.W.Johnston Jr of the
Johnston-Larimer Dry Goods Company;
w. ". Lehman. of the Iehman-Higgin-
son Grocer Company, and a. Hess. of
the Wichita Wholesale Grocer Com
pany.
Colonel ]. II. Richards of Fort Scott.
represented the Missouri Pacific; NJ A.
Low, of Topeka, the Rock Island; j. II.
Hagerman, of st. Louis. the Missouri,
Kansas & Texas. and Gardiner Lathrop
was attorney for the Santa Fe. Among
the prominent railroad men who We're
present and testified before the commits
sion were w. A. Bssell, general traffic
manager; c. r. Hudson. assistant traffic
manager, and F. C. Gay, general freight
agent of the Santa Fe system: A. Il. |
Drew, assistant general freight agent of
the Missouri, Kansas & Texas: d. At !
wood. general freight agent of the Rock |
Island: NJ a. Lovett. counsel for Hous- |
ton & Texas Central: j. II. Lowe and s. |
4. Howe, of the Kansas board of rail- |
road commissioners. and Judge Cowgirl |
of the Missouri board of railroad com
missioners
To-day F. w. Maxwell of the St |
Joseph Commercial Club, and A. j. Van
1andingham, of the Kansas City trans |
portation bureau. will intervene in the
Wichita case on behalf of their respec-
tive cities, as the interests of the two |
cities are identical. This will be the
most interesting case from a Kansas
City standpoint, as it treats with the |
matter of Omaha procuring the same |
rates from Galveston and Texas points |
as Kansas City now maintains. |
BY virtue of the Mississippi river the |
railroads are compelled to make lower |
rates to Kansas City than to other |
points along the river And right here |
is where the Wichita wholesale mer-
chants find cause for complaint because |
they have to pay Il higher rate from |
Galveston than do the Kansas City mer-
chants. For instance, on a shipment of |
rice from Galveston the rate is so cents |
to Kansas City on 100 pounds and 30
cents to Wichita. This ratio prevails in |
the handling of all other commodities, |
and. in view of the fact that the freight !
on the way from Galveston to Kansas |
City either passes through Wichita on /
the direct route, or within twenty miles |
of Wichita on the Florence cutoff" |
which is designated by the railroad |
company as the direct freight route in |
order to escape the jurisdiction of the |
Interstate commerce law which provides |
that If the freight does not pass through |
the city complaining. there will be no |
cause in the eyes of the law for COM
plant, Wichita calls for new deal. on |
a shipment of cotton piece goods from |
Galveston the Kansas City merchant |
has to pay 40 cents per 100, While the |
Wichita merchant, prior to November
%, 1891, had to pay 81 cents per 100. |
On that date the Santa Fe attempted to |
prove, by Mr. Bissell's testimony, that |
the same as the Kansas City rate, hut |
Mr.. Johnston, the Wichita dry goods |
man, took the stand at once and with |
the freight bills on several different
shipments proved conclusively that the |
old rate still prevailed and that he had
never been benefited once by the al
legged reduction in the rate, The Santa
Fe people became quite indignant at the
knowledge of this fact and said that
the matter would be Investigated at
once The local agent at Galveston was,
they asserted, to blame for the over
charge. and he would be made to suffer.
The way bills We're filed by the COM
missioners to be used in the reviewing
of the case.
The Memphis road, with it's direct
Southern connections, is also a potent
factor in the freight rates matter, and
without the advantage of the river this
road, which does not touch within
hundred miles of Wichita, would influ-
ence the Kansas City roads to maintain
much lower Texas rate than could be |
established at Wichita by their meager
railroad facilities, Several Of the rail-
road officials who testified yesterday
claimed that their roads Were not at
present making, and had not for two
years past made, operating expenses in
Kansas, and that any further reduction
in the freight rates in that state would
result in their roads going out of bus
mess, and they did not see how such a
course would benefit Wichita. In that |
event the Texas freight would have to
be shipped around by St. Louis and
come into Kansas on the Chicago x
Alton road, which would be more disas-
trous to the Wichita wholesale mer-
chants than the present plan. They
~. ,,,a,., 80 favor Of "a more. mod