Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-10-11
SOUTHERN RAILWAY
President Spencer Before the Indus
trial Commission.
BENEFITS OF CONSOLIDATION SHOWN
Points to His Own Line as an
Example.
NO DISCRIMINATE RATES
NO DISCRIMINATING RATES


| Mr.. Samuel Spencer, president of the
| Southern railway appeared before the
| Industrial commission in session this morn
! ing in the Bliss building on street, oppo-
| site the Capitol.
| Senator Kyle of South Dakota chairman
! of the commission, today left for Aberdeen,
S. D., in order to be there when President
| Mckinley arrives next Saturday. Mr.. Kyle
| will not return to this city until November,
! when the commission will continue the TAX
| ing of testimony. Mr.. Philips. vice chair
| man, presided today. Senator Mallory led
| in the examination of the witness.
| Mr.. Spencer said he had been in the rail-
| road business for thirty years. In addition
| to being president of the Southern railway
| he said he was connected with the Erie
| Chesapeake and Ohio, Chicago, Milwaukee
| and ST. Paul and Northern Pacific rail-
| roads. The Southern road alone has about
| 10000 employees.
The Roads Employees.
The witness said that if it is known that
| a man uses intoxicating liquors he is not
| employed on the Southern road. They keI I
| list of discharged employees, but that
| list is not given to any other railroad COM
| pany. He believed the old method of black
| list had pretty thoroughly died out They
! confined their efforts to determining what
| man should work for Them and they did
| not interfere with any mans future en-
| ployment on some other road if discharged
| from the Southern.
| He thought any law prohibiting the run
ming of trains on Sunday would be very
| Objectionable.
Sunday Trains.
| Senator Mallory remarked that this was
| done by law in Georgia, and that the law
| had been sustained constitutional by
! the United States Supreme Court
| Mr.. Spencer said that if railroads will
| avoid running freight trains on Sunday
| when practicable any law on the subject
would be very Objectionable. In Georgia,
he said, they are allowed to run trains car
rying perishable freight on Sundays. The
| objection to stopping all freight traffic on
Sundays was largely on the ground that it
would prove very expensive to the rail-
roads, as the stopping of all such traffic
at a given hour would make it necessary
| to provide extensive carsheds and sidings
for the accommodation of such trains. Any
| law that would prevent farmers getting
perishable produce to the markets very
promptly would cause loss to the farmers.
He said the Southern has no objection
to having its employees organized. They
have benefit associations for them sus-
tanned by money deducted from their sala-
rieS. They employ great many coored
men firemen, but they do not get as
| much wages do the white firemen. The
difference of wage is about 10 per cent.
This was accounted for by the fact that
the white tiremen are promoted and event.
ually become engineers, while the policy
of the road today is not to make engineers
of colored men. He said the Southern
railway paid Its employees about the same
| as other roads in the same section for a
similar class of work. Market conditions
determine the amount of wages paid TO the
men, The climate and the fact that less
tIlf.r hiy0tr md oil ROY
north affect the amount OF wages paid to
| the men. Labor throughout the south, he
| said is lower than it is i'll New York.
| Automatic Couplers.
Mr. Spencer said today the Southern
| railway has air brakes on 711a per cent Of
it's freight cars and automatic couplers on
| 81 per cent of its cars. They equipping
| the cars at such a rate per month as TO
| complete the work of equipping the cars
| with automatic coupers and air brakes
by January l, 1863 the end of the extension
of time granted the roads for completing
such equipment by the interstate commerce
commission. The automatic coupler had
| been of some advantage In the saving of
| life, but to what extent it had prevented
accidents he could not say. large num-
| Der of accidents. he said, are caused by
carelessness of the men, who become ac-
| customed and indifferent to the handling
| of dangerous instruments. The coupler re-
suited in saving of labor.
| Mr. Spencer knew Of no instance in which
| the arbitration laws of 1898 had been ap-
! piled to the settlement of a dispute.
Ticket scaping, he said. lessons the IN
| come of railroad and is the basis for
| frauds on their treasures. and should he
| done away with. He regarded it as Illegal.
| The roads are required to maintain It's pub
| lished tariff by law. and the business Of
| ticket scalpng results in cutting tue pub
| lished rates.
| Opposed to All Passes.
| The free pass system, he said, had grown
| to be an abuse throughout the entire coun-
| try, and it was an abuse on the Southern,
| as on other railroads. though he did not
| think it was great an abuse on his line
as on some other roads He should like to
| see a statute passed which would prevent
| any man using pass. He would carry this
| reform far to prohibit the issuing of
| passes by one road to the officers of an
| other road.
| ranged that / would have to pay my fare
| whenever l got on railroad train, even
| on my own road, said Mr. Spencer. IF
| We're travelling the business of the
| Southern company | could be reimbursed
| for the expense incurred. That is a very
radical view of the question, but a radical
| measure is required to do away with the
| free pass system.
| Methods of Determination.
| He thought railroad Determinations are
| now practiced in various forms. The cause
| of these determinations was the desire on
| the part of roads to get business without
| letting other roads know how they were
doing it. There is great variety of meth
DDS that are used to secure these discrim-
| nations. The enforcement of the law re-
quiring railroads to charge only the pub
| lished rates was very important. He would
not object to allowing licensed government
| inspectors examine the books of the
| railroad companies to that they were
| not violating the law He believed in ap-
plying the criminal provision of the inter-
| state commerce law. The best way he
| knew of to enforce law to prosecute
those who violate it, He had disagreed
with many of his business associates in
taking this view Of the matter. He knew
that employees in other Industries are not