The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-03-28
CONFERENCE OF OFFICIALS.
Traffic Manager Campbell, of the O..
R. & N. In Town.

r. Campbell, general traffic man
ager and E. S. Benson, auditor of the
| Oregon Railway & Navigation COM
pany, were among the railway arrivals
of last evening. The purpose of their
visit is to incidentally meet the new
officials of the Oregon Short Line, but
| far more reaching in its result is the
object underlying the ostensible causes.
General Traffic Manager Campbell s
particular business will be the formu-
lating of a new traffic arrangement be-
! tween his line and the Oregon Short
Line railway, occasioned by the indie
pendent operations of the Utah system
since the segregation. The Oregon
Railway & Navigation company is the
only feasible outlet of the Short Line
to the Pacific coast; it is the natural
ally of the local system. yet the exist
ence of the Northern Pacific and the
Great Northern as coast connections of
the Short Line does not make the Ore
gon Railway & Navigation company
the only possible extension to the coast
Since the Short Line has entered mid
die western territory as the key of
direct traffic between the northwest
eastern points, beside the vast Mis-
souri, and Mississippi railway COM
merce, every connecting line has been
anxious to effect some kind of arrange
ment with it. Neither the Northern
Pacific nor Great Northern have any
other possible means OF transporting
their freight to southern destinations
than by the Short Line The
Short Line, therefore, can die
tate the terms for such traf-
flc either to the Great Northern,
Northern Pacific or o. r. & n. The
terminus Of the last road is at Hunt
ington where it connects with the
Short Line. 1t has no other eastern
outlet and is a competitive line with
the Great Northern and Northern Pa
clfic for eastern and coast business;
the Short Line is not; a northern
branch of its spreading tendrils going
TO Butte where it touches the Great
Northern and Northern Pacific. From
every point of view the Short Line has
tremendous advantage in being the
entering wedge between these three
great northern systems and the Union
Pacific. 1t holds the winning card on
any possible traffic arrangement This
is the situation and may in some de-
gree help to make more apparent the
significance of the visit of the o. r.
& n. officials at this time
The old agreements and contracts of
the Union Pacific system have become
void through the independence of the
Short Line and therefore imperative
at stated date.
When President Carr was on the
ground simply as the chairman of the
reorganization committee it will be re-
called that he said in an interview
with The Herald that every old obli-
cation would have to be broken-that
the Short Line under its new director
ate would be strictly an Independent
system and would form its own tariff
contracts with dependent lines. One
of his terse and prophetic remarks
was that the Short Line would treat
other lines with equal fairness These
are points merely revived as an in
dication of the policy of the Short Line
in dealing with the roads which must
now come to it for a beneficial tariff
1t may also help the public to appre-
ciate the Importance of the o. r. & n.
visit.
Auditor Benson was seen last even
ing at the Knutsford and responded
to an inquiry regarding his
presence here. Mr.. Benson said that
the visit was of a business nature but
he was not prepared to go further into
details.