The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1896-02-01

io.hinR put demand excessive freight and
passenger rates, even if the demand should
orlve away all the business it might other
wise obtain. Now, it so happens that this
result would be to the highest possible
advantage to the Southern Pacific Com
pany, which is now, and will be for more
than eighty years under its lease, in abso-
late control of the Central Pacific Railroad,
In which neither it nor it's stockholders
nave any substantial financial interest, but
the Southern Pacific has a transconti-
mental railroad line prvatelyand complete
ly owned by its stockholders. and would
be free under the refunding scheme 10
underbid the Central Pacific and to take
and reap rich harvest of the profit from
trafflc thus driven away from the Central
Pacific road. The Central Pacific road
would then in the way of directly promot-
ing the interests of the people controlling
1t be allowed to fall into disuse and decay,
until at the end of about ten years the
re-funding scheme would be abandoned
and the Government would get what MIR.
Huntington is said TO have facetiously
described as two streaks of rust and a
right OF way from San Francisco to Ogden
II think it is with this purpose in view
that the representatives of the Central
Pacific Railroad Company innocently ask
that for the first ten years it be required
to pay to the Government only per cent
upon the funded debt. 1t will be we'll
worth all the payments that they propose
to make during the first ten years to keep
the road under their control for the double
purpose of wrecking the road by diverting
traffic to their own line and yet by con-
trolling the Central Pacific Railroad, to
prevent its being operated as competing
line. The refunding scheme will, there
fore, work untold injury to California, and
to the West generally, without any proba-
bility of securing the payment of the claim
of the Federal Government"
Johnson-You say that the Southern
Pacific people are now diverting traffic
from the Central to the Southern road.
What proof have you of that?
Notwithstanding of my personal
knowledge l know that the Southern
Pacific Company ships freight across the
continent by the Southern Pacific Railroad
cheaper than by the Central Pacific road.
Geary (by permission)-Mr. Mcguire,
what you state in that behalf, / believe is
correct. but is not that due entirely to the
fact that the Southern Pacific Company
has a complete through line by the
Southern Pacific route and ships its freight
by water from New Orleans to New York,
while by the Central route it is obliged to
bill freight over roads of other companies
at greater expense?
Maguire-I do not know why cheaper
freight rates are offered over the Southern
Pacific than by the Central route, and 1
am not concerned about the reason for it.
What say is that the Southern Pacific
Company is actually diverting freight to
its own southern road by giving cheaper
freight rates than it gives over the Central
Pacific to the same points on the Atlantic
Coast. | know, too, of my own knowledge,
that the Southern Pacific Company has
Withdrawn its passenger tickets from the
ticket Office of the Union Pacific Railroad
Company in San francisco, and from the
offices of all other roads in that city, thus
making it impossible to purchase a ticket
over any railroad running to and from San
Francisco without going to the ticket
office of the Southern Pacific Company to
purchase il and at least giving a first
class opportunity to agents of that COM
pany to recommend the Southern
Pacific Railroad 10 all passengers,
Outside of my personal knowledge, but
upon authority which I consider reliable
upon the report of the Pacific Railway
Commission; upon the supplemental re-
port of Mr.. Coombs, one of the Govern
ment directors of the Union Pacific Rail-
road; upon the constantly repeated news
paper statements, and upon the general
reputation and rumor among the people
of San Francisco, feel safe in saying that
the Southern Pacific Company is con-
stantly and by all means in its power di-
verting freight and passenger traffic to the
Southern Pacific from the Central road.
Mcguire read from Director Coombs' re-
port, in which the latter stated he had
been informed by numerous business men
and others that pressure was brought on
shippers to ship by the Southern road in
preference TO the Central.
Johnson-Now, Mr.. Mcguire. with the
greatest respect and Difference to you per-
sonally, do you think it is fair or reason
able to quote statement such as that OF
Mr.. Coombs, when he shows by his own
statement the source of his information is
a mere rumor and by conversations with
men whose knowledge comes from mere
rumor? Why, sir, could prove in that
way that you are an anarchist (Which l
know you are mott because some people
have said SO and have made rumor of it.
Maguire-Yes, remember Mr.. Hunting
ton said it to THE CALL correspondent in
Washington, and it was published in Cali
fornia. l presume that was the source of
your information. He said, believe, that
in his opinion, if / was in Europe would
be an anarchist and would throw bombs
Watson of Ohio asked if all railroad
companies through their agents did not
try to divert traffic to their own roads.
Maguire-Yes; certainly, and that uni
versai experience should satisfy us that if
the United States Government is to get
anything out of the Central Pacific Rail-
road it must in some way take that road
out of the hands of the company that is