The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-11-03
DIRECT TRADE ACCOMPLISHED
STEAMERS SOON TO BE PUT on TO
AND FROM EUROPEAN PORTS.
THE CREDIT DUE PRES. Conner

BE Applied For mt 0nce-The
Agreement Says savannah VIII
Be Given ocean Rates Which Are
Commensurate with Her Natural
Advantages-Pres. Conner Tired of
Hauling Cotton to Port Royal and
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES May Now
Get Her Full share of the Cotton
whereas She Has So Far Fallen
Short-Grain Also May Come.
Direct trade between Savannah and for
eign ports is at last an accomplished fact,
and within a short time steamers will ar
rive here to begin regular trips to carry
cargoes 10 Europe.
Strange though 1t may seem this was
not accomplished by the agencies which
have heretofore been working on the prob
lem. The gentleman to whom the credit
is directly due is President II. NJ. Conner
of the Central Of Georgia Railway Com
pany.
President Conner has been working on
the matter for more than a year. his OBJ
ject being to secure for Savannah ocean
rates to all European ports which win bear
the same relation to Sayannah's natural
advantages as the ocean rates from other
ports, such as Charleston and Norfolk
bear to their natural advantages.
With this object in view he has been in
consultation for some time with the firm
of william Johnston g. Co., of Liverpool,
England, and an agreement has
at last been signed by which that firm
is to open an Office in Savannah on Nov. Is,
and ships are to begin running from Sa-
vannah to European ports as soon there
after as it is possible in the course OF events
to begin.
Mr.. Conner has been working on the mat
ter very quietly, for the reason that it was
feared that any publicity would interfere
with the successful accomplishment of his
plans. Now that the agreement has been
reached and signed. there is no reason why
the information should be longer kept
from the public.
Mr.. Conner has had three or four sepa-
rate conferences with Mr.. William John
ston, the head of this large and
well-known firm of ship owners and ship
charterers. About three weeks ago Mr..
Johnston. who has been in the United
States about two months, came down to
Savannah and spent several hours with
Mr.. Conner at his residence. There the
plans for the scheme were fully discussed,
but the agreement was not perfected until
last Wednesday, when Mr.. Conner met Mr..
Johnston in New York, and after fur
,aIo l,a
and both of them signed the necessary pa
pers
A charter will be applied for at once in
the superior court, and the company will
be known as the Georgia Export and I'M
port Company. 1t is to have a capital
stock of $4,000 to start with, and the priv
ilege of increasing it to ZOO, 900, the inten-
ton being that sometime in the future
when it has made sufficient progress that
it shall own its own ships, as well as char
ter and operate others. There will be
four incorporators, two of them being Mr..
Johnston and Mr.. Conner. One of the
other incorporators will be a savannahian,
and the fourth will probably be a New
York man.
In accordance with the agreement
Johnston & Co. will open an
Office in Savannah Nov. Is, and they
agree to furnish all the ships needed to
handle business through this port to any
foreign ports at rate which will be more
nearly commensurate with the natural ad-
vantages of the port, than that which Sa-
vannah now has. The ships will begin
coming here as soon as the necessary
details can be arranged, and 1t is contem-
plated that they shall take cargoes to any
foreign port to which cargoes are offering
or can be secured for shipment through
this port.
The new company will not be established
for the benefit of any one of the railroads
entering Savannah. but for all. 1t will
work in conjunction with all of them, and
freight for foreign ports will be accepted
from all of them on exactly the same
terms, and under exactly the same condi-
lions. No one railroad was considered when
the plan was arranged. They have all
been suffering to some extent from the In
equality Of ocean freight rates, and no
doubt all Of them will be glad to avail
themselves OF the opportunity to secure
such rates as will necessarily bring busi-
ness over their lines to Savannah. This
being the principal port to which these
lines operate, it is natural TO presume that
it is the desire of all OF them to build 1t
up, and they like as little as any one else
to see the great bulk Of the products they
handle going to other ports.
Another advantage Of this direct line
of steamers will be to the shipper him
self, who will be able always to find a
vessel for his cargo, and besides having
1t transported at a lower rate, he win also
have the advantage Of q lower rate OF
marine insurance attendant upon using
a direct line OF steamers. Marine risks
upon ordinary tramp steamers are con-
siderably higher than on those which ply
direct, and arrangements have been made
by which insurance will be secured to the
shipper at the rates usually given on d.
rect line steamers.
The opening OF this line OF steamers, the