The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-06-04
JOINT TRAFFIC HEARING
SENATOR CHANDLER OUTSPOK FEN AGAINST RAILROAD POOLING BILL.

Existing Illegal Trust-The Rights of
 Other Capital Must be Preserved-Com-
 mittee Should be Given Power to Send
 for Persons and Papers.
 Washington, June 3-The final con sideration of the railroad pooling was again postponed by the senate com mittee on interstate commerce to-day. Senator Chandler moved a postpone ment until the first of December, but the motion was not voted upon and a compromise was agreed upon postpon- ing the measure until the next week. ly meeting.
 In presenting his motion Senator Chandler read written statement signed by himself and Senator Till man giving their reasons for seeking to have the consideration of the bill delayed. Among the reasons urged in this document was the general under standing that the tariff only was to re- ceive attention at the present session: also the necessity for various provis- ions by the committee and for careful scrutiny of the recent supreme court decisions bearing upon interstate commerce questions, which would now be impossible.
 | They suggested the importance of an investigation of the issuance of free passes by the railroad companies to &C., ! cDn1nlich tbpir a violation of the existing law and of the probable effect of pooling contracts upon the wages of labor.
 If, they said, "the owners of the combined railroads, organized as one great trust, are to be allowed to obtain from the public annually their cost of operation, being s1,100,000000 and In ad- dition $550, ,000,00 interest and dividends without encountering any competition whatever 1t will be claimed that the owners of other property amounting to $60 900, ,0000,0 900 should also be allowed to | form trusts and do business without competition"
 Another suggestions: "As the bill proposes to make it lawful for all the railroads of the country to enter an im- mense trust with a capital of $11,000,- 000,000 careful investigation should be made into the workings of the already existing traffic joint association. That commission includes the nine different and competing systems of railroads ex- | tending from Chicago to the seaboard, embracing thirtyone of the greatest railroad companies and $2, ,500 900 of capital, which has been in operation | for one and a half years in violation of law. The most exhaustive inquiry in | this direction should be made by the committee with power to send for per sons and papers; and there should be the most thorough examination and exposure of the methods and results of the existing illegal trust before mak- l ing it legal, extending it to cover all the railroads of the country and com hitting to its operations the vast in- terests of the whole people to be affect ed by this transaction. Especially should the vast sAsrial fund of the Joint Traffic association be investi- gated. Each of the thirty-one railroad lines of the association paid into the hands of the nine managers, one repre- senting each system, the sum of $5,00O making fund to begin with of $155, 1000, and has bound itself to make such ad- ditional monthly payments based upon gross earnings as the managers may call for; as well as large sums as fines for lowering rates"
 To this was added a note of concur renee from Senator Chiffon that the time for taking tip the subject was in- opportune and Senator Smith expressed a similar view.