The San Francisco call., 1898-03-22
JoBBERS AND
 WHOLESALERS
 WILL CLASH Eastern Freight Rate Question Up for a
 Decision. Transeontinental Bureau in Session at Del
 Monte. Large Lobby Sent Out From Cities Beyond the
 Rockies. A FIGHT FOR EXISTENCE. Local Commission Men Striving to Maintain the Present Difference
 in Rates.
Large Lobby Sent Out From Cities Beyond the
 Rockies.
A FIGHT FOR EXISTENCE.
Local Commission Men Striving to Maintain the Present Difference
 in Rates.
Special Dispatch to The Call.

Speclal Dlspatch 70 The Cali.
 DEL MONTE, March 21.-The first days session of the Transcontinental Freight Bureau meeting has come to close, and though little was done aside from electing chairman in the person of R. H. Countiss, yet the promises of hot time to come are roseate in the extreme.
 There will be many vexatious ques- tons to settle, and many clashing in- terests to reconcile, but the grand fight will take place when the question of transcontinental rates on less than car load lots is brought up. This question is one of vital importance to every large jobber in San Francisco, and the opposition that will arise to thwart the efforts of large Eastern houses which have sent their representatives out here to do all in their power to have the ex- isting differences in rates on carload and less than carload lots reduced to the smallest possible percentage if not abolished entirely will be exceedingly bitter The matter, which to those not acquainted with the situation may not seem of paramount importance to the people of the coast. is this:
 The merchants of Chicago, St. Louis and other large distributing centers want no diffeignce in the rates on car load lots and the rates on smaller ship ments; and the greatest concession they are willing to make Is the accept ance of a freight schedule providing less than carload rates that are at the most not over five cents per hundred pounds higher than the rate on car load lots This means that the retail CTS of the coast will be supplied d1- rectly by Eastern houses, which with the difference in rates once abolished, will be enabled to shut out the large jobbers entirely out of the field.
 When the freight representatives ar rived here this morning they were ac- companied by a delegation of gentle men representing large Eastern busl- ness houses and manufacturers who have been sent out here for the express purpose of working together, and, 1T possible, defeating the efforts Of the local merchants to preserve the at pres ent existing rate Among these wise men from the East were A. J. Val landingham and F. N. Johnson or St. Louis and J. J. Wait of Chicago. val landingham is the commissioner or the St. Louis Freight Bureau. Johnson IS interested in the Simmons Hardware ! attached to the Spencer & Bartlett Hardware Company of Chicago.
 To offset the wire-pulling of these gentlemen the large San Francisco job bers sent down this evening delega- tion composed of Brace Hayden of the 1 Dunham, Carrigan & Hayden Com pany; w. R. Wheeler of Holbrook, | Merrill <. Stetson, and A. c. RulofSon and Wakefield Baker of Baker & Hamilton. When these Greeks of trade come together before the Freight | Bureau a tug of war will result which will either stretch the opportunities of 1 local houses to greater elasticity or 1 snap the thread of their existence en- | tirely.
 The present difference in the trans continental rate per 100 pounds on car 1 load lots and less than carload lots ranges from 10 to 25 cents. The Eastern jobber wishes this done away with so that he can send his travellers through the State to deal directly with the small l retail men, and thus ignore completely the big wholesale jobbers of San Francisco and other large coast receiving points, thus adding to his already large profits the l gains which are the rightful Spo1iS or | local wholesalers. The local man wishes the rates preserved as they now are. and would be glad lf the difference | between large and small shipments was
  | sort of protective tariff to shield him from outside competition. To make the | matter clear while the distinction in rates makes it impossible for the small dealer to buy in the East, yet 1t allows the big jobber who receives his goods in immense consignments to sell at a reasonable figure to the coast trade and still make profit.
 The Eastern men claim that the abolishment of the difference in rates would prove of great benefit to the Pa cific Coast at large, as it would allow every dealer. no matter how small, to ignore the middleman and purchase where he pleases and at an advantage as he would be able to reserve to hlm- self the profits which now go to loca iobbers; and competition, by reducing the price at which the goods would he retailed. would gradually bring the commodities to the people cheaper than they are now by just as much as the profits of the local jobbers amount 10.
 The local men, in reply. argue that the retailers will not get tnelr goCos one cent cheaper, but that the oDJect of the Eastern firms is merely to shut them out and absorb the profits which are now made on this coast
 Aside from this question there will he many others that will come up be- fore the freight bureau. The present rate is one hastily thrown together to meet the exigencies of the situation which existed at the time of the war between the Southern Pacific and the Panama line, when it had it's being, and it is full of discrepancies and in- constituencies that need correction and revision.
 Among the representatives of the diff ferent roads now. here are T. M. Schu- macher and J. A. Munroe of the Union Pacific. T. D. Connolly Of the Texas and Pacific, J. A. Reeves of the Oregon ~f IL, Great Northern, J. B. Baird and J. M Fulton of the Northern Pacific, L. M Fletcher of the Missouri Pacific, c. H Markham A. D. Shepard and G. w Luce of the Southern Pacific, George D. Crosby and W. D. Sanborn of the R,,rIir,crtcx, M R McInneS of the Ca