Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1897-04-03
the RAILROAD SITUATION.

1t is said that the western railroad
managers have hit upon plan to evade
the Sherman antitrust law which knocked
their associations into q cooked hat last
week. They will make no attempt to re.
we these organizations under the old
form, which was generally thought
might be the outcome of rather serious
situation from a railroad standpoint at
least. As substitutes for the old asso-
Citations, bureaus of information are to
be established, conducted separately, one
for passenger and the other for freight
business. The general traffic officials OF
all the important western lines have been
called together for meeting during the
coming week, at which the details of the
project will be arranged, and the scheme
placed upon a working basis. Through
the agency of the new organizations the
railroads expect to keep informed as to
what the rates of each individual road
are, and also keep posted as to any
change in rates that these lines may make
from time to time. With information OF
this character constantly at hand, Joint
tariffs can be published by the bureaus
and shippers and travellers can be in
formed what the through rates are
Otherwise each road would only publish
rates over its own lines, and shippers, in
order to find out what the through rates
are, would have to secure information
from all of the different roads over which
the business is to 20.
Then again, it would involve an enor-
nous expense to publish thousands of
individual tariffs. It will be easy enough
to make uniform tariffs without holding
meetings for that purpose. The roads
can send voluntary information as to
what their rates really are, to the bureaus,
and in case the rates do not jibe, the
various roads can be visited by the
bureau chiefs with view of securing
uniformity of rates. This scheme does
not, however, provide for maintenance
of rates.
No agreement is included in the project
as to this important issue, and among
many we'll informed railroad men both
east and west, a general decentralization
of rates is looked for in the near future,
1t is difficult to see how any other result
can come of the situation as it exists to-
day. Rates are maintained only by agree
ments between the various lines to charge
a certain sum for hauling freight or pas
sengers-no more and no less. Years of
experience have demonstrated this to be
the only feasible method of preventing
disastrous rate wars, and even under such
agreements, decentralization has been
frequently precipitated by attempts on
the part of the roads to undersell one
another in the general scramble for busl-
ness.
With these agreements abrogated alto
gether, as is proposed under the late bu
reau of information project outlined
above, and every check in the matter Of
holding rates at a certain specified figure
removed, rate slashing will commences in
earnest, and continue until something is
done to prevent it, either by mutual agree.
ment, legislative action, or some other
course, beyond the lines of past expert
ment. 70 conduct this business, with it's
diversified interests, conflicting upon
every hand, and reaching out in all direc.
lions for traffic, without agreements as to
transportation charges, has been found
impossible in the past.