The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-01-15
THE OCTOPUS.
Southern Pacific Playing n Freeze
Out Game on Utah Points.


Out Game on Utah Points.
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 1.-THE
Chronicle says:
The Southern Pacific company is
engaged in an interesting game of
freeze OUT with some of its eastern
connections, the bone of contention in
which is the freight traffic of Utah.
The squabbIe between the Southern
Pacific company on the one side and
the transcontinental lines running into
Utah from the east on the other, has
reached such a stage that all the in
genuity of the traffic officials of the
Southern Pacific company has been
eXerted in an effort to win the traffic
fight. Thanks to a strategic move
which evolved from the clear under
standing of Vice President J. G.
Stubs, the Southern Pacific company
has succeeded in accomplishing it's OBJ
ject quite successfully, but the means
employed which have, up to the pres
ent time been kept carefully concealed
from the traffic officials on the eastern
lines, promise to provoke a merry war
and all kinds of strife between the con-
tending lines.
The Southern Pacific company and
the other lines doing business in Utah
were brought to loggerheads a few
months ago when the lines heading
from the east put into effect a reduced
tariff from eastern points into Utah.
The Southern Pacific company wish
ing to see the business come from San
Francisco, thereupon took the view
that it was entitled to make it's rates
from San Francisco to Utah proper
tionately less than the rates from the
Missouri river to Utah as is the mile
age from San Francisco less than the
mileage from the river. A tariff cal
culated on this basis was issued by the
Southern Pacific company, but the
company's connections in Utah refused
to join in these rates. This compelled
the Southern Pacific to withdraw the
Objectionable tariff and the company
put in a tariff to ogden, the terminus
Of it's line in Utah, which contained
rates sufficiently low to enable San
Francisco merchants to pay an add
tional local rate from Oglen to other
points in the state and still compete
with eastern jobbers This state of
things continued until recently, when
the Southern Pacific issued a notice
cancelling its Ogden tariff.
This, however, was only strategic
move on the part of the Southern Pa
cific. For weeks past the traffic de-
partment has been engaged in making
special rates covering all commodities
since there has been dispute in rates.
1t is not the custom for railroad COM
panies to keep their competitors adj
vised as to special rates that may be
issued from time to time, and the lines
doing business in Utah from the east
have thus been kept completely in the
dark as to the competition they had
to meet from the Southern Pacific.
The Southern Pacific has been slash
ing rates in the most vigorous manner
imaginable, and the eastern lines have
been maintaining their tariff rates I'M
der the supposition that the Southern
Pacific had resumed the rates con-
tanned in the Joint tariff in vogue be-
fore the trouble began last fall. This
bit of enterprise has enabled the
Southern Pacific to increase its bust
ness into Utah to the disadvantage of
the eastern lines, and the eastern lines,
it is said, have become suddenly
wrathy at the discovery of this fact