San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1897-11-20
RAILWAYS PAY TEN PER CENT
COMMISSION TO ALL
STEAMSHIP LINES.
All Immigrants Will Be Billed Fol-
Points Beyond Joint Traffic
Gateway According To In
StrurtiOnS From All
Western Roads.

New York, Nov. 20.-The agreement
which has been entered into by the
railroads and Atlantic steamship lines
for the regulation ofSimmigrant fares
is the most far reaching of all COM
binations of the kind that were ever
organized in this country. In the
first place it takes in not only all of
of the transatlantic steamship lines,
but the coastwise lines extending as
far south as the Gulf of Mexico and
North Pacific, thereby rendering it
impossible for rates to be demoralized
so far as the ocean coasts are con-
cerned.
Furthermore, all of the trans-conti-
nental,as we'll as the western andtrunk
lines are parties to the agreement,
which provides for the payment of the
steamship companies of ten per cent
commission on all steerage passengers
| turned over by the latter to the rail-
roads.
The ticket scalpers' chief sources of
| revenue is now cut off and the rail-
roads the country over agree to turn
over a fiat" commission of ten per
cent to the steamship companies by
virtue of the latter refusing to have
any dealings with outside agents. 1t
means an end to decentralization, and a
| tightening of the screws all along the
line.
| The initiative was taken by the
Western Passenger association, which
has been the leading factor in the
struggle with the outside agents,
| trunk lines and steamship lines that
| has been going on for many years.
For long time the leading ticket
agents were able to influence two or
| three of the western railroads so that
it was impossible to make any IRON
clad agreement.
The trunk lines in future will route
all immigrant passengers destined for
points beyond the Joint Traffic gate
ways according to the instructions Civ
en- by the representative of the west
ern lines. The Canadian Pacific and
| Southern Pacific, which have been the
chief disturbing factors to previous
combinations, have signed the agree
ment and have entered heartily into
the new engagement.
One of the most significant results of
the deal is the decision to advance i'm
migrant fares from New York and
other sea-board cities, such as Boston,
Philadelphia, Baltimore and Newport
News, to the west, beginning December
Is. The advance from New York to
Chicago is from $13 to SIS. Boston is
to have a differential of 81, the rate
from that city to Chicago being $14.
1t is well known that there is more
profit in the transportation of immi-
grants than any other class of passen-
gers, owing to the fact that the poor
est cars are generally used for this
service and it is unimportant whether
the trains travel rapidly or slowly.
The fact is recalled that a number of
years ago during a war of rates bet
ween the trunk lines, the Pennsylvan-
ia railroad carried emigrants for 81
apiece from New York to Chicago.
The ground up which the steamship
companies allege they are entitled to
a commission of ten per cent is that
the most of the steerage passengers
brought over here through the influence
Of their agents in the west and Eu-
rope and consequently the railroad
companies are indebted to the steam
ship companies to turn this business
over to any one railroad, and thus dis
criminate against all the others, as
they have sometimes done in the past. |