The San Francisco call., 1896-09-11

place Stockton on an equality with Port
Costa in the matter of exporting wheat.
This, it is claimed by the Valley road
people, cannot be done. To attempt it,
they say, would be to drive all the busi-
ness of this character to the Southern Pa
cihc, whose differential between Stockton
and Port Costa is only 80 cents, and thus
the Valley road would lose this business,
and not pound of it would pass through
Stockton, as it would be taken out of the
valley by the way or Lathrop. On the
other hand, should the Valley road re-
duce its rates from valley points to Stock
ton by 10 cents, the GU. would promptly
be met by the Southern Pacific and the
present differential between Stockton and
Port Costa would thus be maintained,
without any advantage having accrued to
the warehousemen of Stockton.
eve are perfectly helpless in this mat
ter" said Vice President Watt of the
Valley road in speaking of the condition
OF affairs OF which complaint is made (;
land the people who are stirring up this
feeling against US know perfectly we'll that
we are not at fault. Their motive is purely
selfish and the attack upon US simply ma
liclous. There are two interests whose
representatives principally are instigating
this antagonism. These are the Stockton
Warehouse Company, owned by Girvin q
Eyre of this City, and the Union Trans
portation Com pany, of which Mr.. ellis
of Stockton is president and mana ger.
The coming OF the Valley road has tended
10 interfere, in their opinion, with the
profits they had been making previous to
| Its advent.
Zone of the big savings effected for the
farmer by our road was the abolition OF
the switching charges at Stockton, which
were 10 cents a ton. The Stockton Ware
house Company had a special contract
with the Southern Pacific Company
whereby they paid the railroad only
cents ton. and were therefore in posi-
ton to make 10 0cents more ton on all the
grain they handled for the farmer than
the other warehouses of Stockton. The
loss OF this advantage to them is what
makes them sore against our road. They
/ lose sight, however, of the fact that what
was their individual loss is The gain of
every farmer who now ships wheat out OF
/ the valley.
The animus of the Union Transporta-
ton Company is even more apparent.
| When we were ready to begin operating
! our road we made an arrangement with
/ the California Navigation and Improve
ment Company to handle all our business
between Stockton and San Francisco as
! this com pany was the only one equipped
to handle the business. Manager ellis ot
the rival transportation company acknowl
/ edged that his company did not have an
adequate equipment to give the service re,
qulred, but he desired that we should re-
! frain from billing shipments through tC
/ San Francisco and that we should dumI
our freight at Stockton and let the riva
companies there fight for the business
| But this we could not do in justice 10 the
! patrons of our road, who could not be ex
pected to employ an agent at Stockton tC
look after the trans-shipment of theil
freight from there.
manager Gillis of the Union Transpor
tation Company makes no secret to us o
his feeling against the Valley road fol
having made this contract with his riva
and mas stated to me personally that ht
would use every effort in his power to in
/ jure the interests of the Valley road"
Another of the Valley road officials
stated that Mr.. Girvin of the firm of Cir
! vim & Eyre was personally circulating pc
/ titions in this City pledging merchant,
! who had freight for valley points to shiI
it oyer the Southern Pacific. Similar petit
! tions, the officers of the Valley road have
information are being circulated in and
about Stockton.