The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1896-09-06
Will Suffer a Partial Loss of
Trade With the Mormon
State.
sTUBBoRNLY FOUGHT CONTEST.
Victory Rests First With One Side
and Then With the other-A
Peculiar Situation.

into that section from California under
an arrangement secured from the roads
entering Utah from the East through the
joint efforts of the Southern Pacific Com
pany and the Traffic Association of Cali
fornia.
Ogden and its tributary ne ming country
TO the south has for a long time past been
bone of contention between the iobbers
of Salt Lake and the roads entering Utah
from the East on one side and the mer-
chants of San Francisco and the South
ern Pacific Company on the other.
The interests OF the Eastern roads lie
with the Salt Lake people, because with
Salt Lake as the base of supplies for
Southern . tab these roads would get the
long haul from New York, Chicago or
Missouri River points into Salt Lake,
while with San Francisco as the source of
supply the Central Pacific would not only
be getting the long haul from San Fran
cisco into Ogden, but the Sunset route
would be benefited, as over it would come
the goods to San Francisco from New
York.
Ogden itself was rather favorabIy in
clined toward the San Francisco people,
as with goods coming from San Francisco
Ogden would be the distributing point for
Southern Utah, and would take away this
advantage from its rival city, Salt Lake.
coercion that have been employed in wag-
ing this peculiar warfare between cities
and railroads make a most interesting
chapter in transportation history.
Previous to last May the rates from San
Francisco to Ogden and common points
IN Utah were, by agreement with e other
roads interested, fixed at about So per cent
of those charged from the Missouri River
and Chicago. 1t was soon found by the
Southern Pacific people that tnis arrange
ment tended to prevent the movement of
freight over the Central Pacific Railroad
to the extent that was considered lust
and desirable, and then began a quiet but
persistent and systematic cutting of rates
by the Central Pacific into Ogden. First
Especial rate was made on one commodity
and then another, until the Ogden jobbers
were in position to buy at San Francisco
more cheaply than they could in the
East, and Ogden thus became a danger
Gus rival to Salt Lake as a distributing
center, and at the same time there was a
falling off in the traffic over the lines en-
tering Utah from the East.
Running south from Salt Lake. through
Ogden, and tapping the busy mining dis
trfct below Ogden, lies a railroad owned
by Salt Lake capitalists, and in order to
shut out Ogden from the Southern Utah
field the full local freignts from Ogden
south were put in force, the better to give
that field to the Salt Lake jobbers, but
without much success, owing to the low
rates prevailing from San Francisco 10
Ogden.
The strained situation continued for
some time, and finally resulted in a con-
ference between all the parties interested
at Denver. Here it was decided by the
railroads TO change the basis of rates from
San Francisco to Salt Lake and Utah COM
mon points to 70 per cent of the rates from
Missouri River common points and Chi
cago. Inere was q strong effort made by
the Salt Lake jobbers to prevent the adop-
ton OF this agreement, as they saw dan
ger remaining to their trade by the con-
cesslon granted to the Central Pacific
Railroad. AT the meeting at which tais
agreement was reached the Southern Pa
c1tc Company was represented by Traffic
Manager Stubs and General Freight
Agent Smurr, and the merchants of San
Francisco by William B. Curtis, then
traffic manager of the Traffic Association
of California.
San Francisco merchants were not long
In feeling the beneficial results OF this ar
rangement, and on the other hand the
Salt Lake jobber found corresponding
ground Tor complaint.
Ever since the ingenuity OF the Salt
Lake lobbers has been at work to devise
some plan to circumvent the San Fran.
cisco merchants, the Central Pacific Rail-
road and the Southern Pacific Railroad.
This is what has made the merchants of
the Mormons' stronghold unhappy-that
IAO OSAOh iObOcl S1lOulQ DC aDl6 TO UNDER
sell them on certain goods, which are first
brought 10 San Francisco from New York
via the Morgan line of steamers to New
Orleans and thence by the Southern Pa
cine railroad, and there sent eastward
again over the Central Pacific line to
Ogden. The Salt Lake 1obber usuallv
makes his purchases and has his goods
shipped direct from New York. but owjno
to the unusually low freight rates prevail.
ing between New York and San Fran
cisco, the freight charges are lower from
New York TO Ogden, via New Orleans and
san Francisco, than they are direct from
New York TO Salt Lake
Here is an illustration. The manufac-
turers of Clark's cotton have houses estah-
ished in many large Cities among them
San francisco, TO which all supplies are
shipped over the Sunset route. If an or.
der is received from Utah it is filled from
San francisco, no matter to what place the
order may be sent originally.
The roads from Chicago and the Mis-
souri, River were powerless to help them
selves or the merchants of Salt Lake, for if
they dropped their rates down would
also go those of the Southern Pacific
Company under the rs per cent arrange
ment.
hus the matter stood for some time.
while the Southern Pacific iobber cut in to
the business of the Utah merchant or COM
PEELED him 10 buy either from San Fran
cisco or, buying in the East, to ship his
goods across the continent to San Fran
cisco by the Sunset route and back by
the Central Pacific, if he would avail him
self of the lower rate
Action was finally determined upon by
the Utah Jobbers' Association, and S. 81.
Love, secretary of the association, was
sent East TO see what could be done with
the Seaboard- Colorado-U Utah associations.
the railroad combination that ope rated
into Utah from New York The situa-
tlon of affairs was laid before the officer 8
OF the association, and for two weeks Sec
rotary Love used his best efforts to induce
the association to come to the rescue of
the Utah people, but his Iabors proved
vain.
de finally resorted to another expedi-
ent, and by dint of energetic work and
stronR arguments succeeded q few DAYS