The times., 1899-05-10
RAILWAY MEN HERE
TO DISCUSS Rates
Many Roads Concerned in To-
days Conference.
A Hearing Before the Interstate
Commerce Commission.
Southern Shippers Complain of Al
legged Determination "A Salts
factory Agreement Expected.

A distinguished party of Western rail-
way men reached Washington over the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad last night to
attend the conference to be held in this
city today at the instance of the Inter-
state Commerce Commission. Included in
the party were Paul Morton, Second Vice
President of the Sante Fe: j. NJ. Hannar-
ford, Third Vice President of the Northern
Pacific; A. d. Miller, Second Vice Presi-
dent OF the Great Northern; F. B. Clark.
General Manager OF the Great Northern:
]. A. Monroe, Freight Traffic Manager of
the Union Pacific; c. II. Chappell. Vice
President and General Manager OF the Chi
cago and Alton; T. p. Shonts, President
and General Manager of the Indiana, Hi
nois and Iowa; C. IL. Ackert General Man
ager of the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern; T.
II. Simmons, General Freight Agent CT the
Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern;
f. B. Clarke. General Traffic Manager Of
the Great Northern; ]. A. Munroe, of the
Northern Pacific; George b. Harris, Sec
ond Vice President of the Burlington;
Howard Elliot, of the Burlington; S. NJ
Adsit, General Freight and Passenger
Agent of the st. Joseph and Grand Island:
Edward S. Washburn. President and Cen
eral Manager of the Kansas City, Fort
Scott and Gulf, and ]. T. Clark, Traffic
Manager of the Chicago. st. Paul, Mime
apolis, and Omaha.
| More than sixty railways were invited
| to send Representatives to this meeting,
| embracing those south of the Ohio River
and east of the Mississippi and such of
| those west OF the latter river as are fac
| tors in the export trade of the gulf. The
| subject for consideration at the confer
| ence will be the readjustment of both pas
| senger and freight rates II seems that
many business men OF the South have COM
| planned that discrimination was shown
| against them in the shipment of products
10 Southern ports. Cotton producers in
Georgia, South Carolina. and other States
claim that they have been charged more
| for short haul to the gulf than for ship
ments to the Northern cities. An endeavor
Will be made to have the various interested
| roads formulate schedule to be regulated
| according to distances. Business men in
| the Eastern States await the outcome of
| the conference with interest, as they claim
| a proper adjustment OF rates Will greatly
increase their trade. 1t is expected that
some understanding will be reached that
| will be favorable to Southern shippers.
| Paul Morton, Nice President of the Atchi-
| son. Topeka and Sante Fe, and one of the
| best known railway men in the country,
| is at the Shoreham. In discussing the
| proposition to consolidate all the Eastern
| railroads under three great systems, ue-
| scribed in The Times yesterday morning.
| he said: Il read the dispatch very care
| fully. Personally | do not know if such
a plan is under consideration. but l am
| convinced that 1t would be an excellent
one. The Pennsylvania. the Baltimore and
| Ohio. and the New York Central are the
| greatest of the Eastern roads, and would
| naturally be the three systems which
would absorb or control the lesser roads.
| Consolidation will be the solution of many
| of the great railway problems Railways
must consolidate as the Industrial concerns
| are doing. There are more railroads than
are needed. They are running many more
| trains than are necessary. Between any
| two important cities in the country there
are double as many trains as can do the
business satisfactorily. This means large
| outlays to do work twice that is only
needed once. 1t means that earnings are
| cut down tremendously
| Mr. Morton said of the present depres-
| sion in the stock market: The country is
as prosperous as it was a month ago. The
railways are earning as much money. There
| is no intrinsic reason why stocks should
| not be worth as much today as they were
then. There will be great advance in
prices when the Wall Street manipulators
| finish with their game"