The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1899-07-14
RAILWAY DISCRIMINATION
Complaint of Charles
ton Business Men.
INTERSTATE COMMISSION

Railways Discriminating Against
Charleston In Favor Of Norfolk-Hard
to Get Any Facts As 20 Rates Out Of
the Railway People-Testimony offs
Western Railway MAN Places the
Blame on Southern Railways.
Washington, July 10.-The interstate
commerce commission today began the
hearing Of the discriminating freight
raet case in which the Charleston. S. C,
bureau of freight and transportation
appears as complainant against the va
rious railway lines connecting Charles
ton, Norfolk and Wilmington with
points west and south. There are about
forty individual roads named as de-
fendants-the Southern, the Atlantic
Coast Line Association, the Seaboard
Air Line and the Baltimore and Ohio.
The charge is the long-standing COM
plaint of Charleston that discrlmna-
ing rates are made by the railways
in favor of Norfolk and against Char
lesion, both on products from the west
and for foreign and coastwise ship
ment and for railway distribution from
Norfolk to other southern points,
The hearing began today before Com
missioners Clements, Proutty and Cal
houn. There appeared for the COM
plainants j. p. K. Bryan, counsel, and
o A. Smith, manager of Char
lesion freight bureau. Counsel for the
defendant carriers was Edward BaX-
ter.
Among those present at the hearing
--~-~ VIY:IT:~-- $4,000 ~sao1
agent of the Chicago and Eastern uh-
nois railway; J.. NJ. Culp, traffic mana
ger of the Southern railway, and II. w.
Glover, traffic manager of h Seaboard
Air Line.
The first witness was S. F. PARROT,
chairman of the Southeastern Freight
Association. His examination develop
ed the fact that this association was
the successor of the Southern States
Freight Association and this in turn of
the old Southern Railway and Steam
ship Association.
Mr.. PARROT said that a good many
arrangements of the latter association
were still in force as to the rates from
the west to southeastern seaboard
points. He was not fully conversant
with the way these rates had been
made. Changes in rates were usually
| discussed at the meetings of the associ-
alton, although it did not undertake TO
make and enforce them.
w. H. Fitzgerald, commissioner of
the Virginia Railway Association, was
| called, but he added very little to the
knowledge of how rates to h south
| Atlantic ports were made. His asso-
| citation, he said, consisted of h At
lantic Coast Line and the Southern rail-
| way, the Seaboard Air Line having
been a member but three years ago.
| His office, however, had nothing to do
1 rvnt ryn-t0rn hy,n oh y0foC Yaarn1x W
publishing and compiling the rates CIV
en- by the Individual roads.
| unSe for the Charleston freight
bureau endeavored to find on what prin-
cipal the rates into Charleston were
made, but Mr.. Fitzgerald after an
! hours questioning could only say that
they were compiled by John A Ryan,
one of the ate clerks in his office. Witt
ness said he gave no instructions as
to how the compilation should De mad
| and did not review the work after it
| was done. If the work was not salts
factory to h individual roads. they
could call attention to it. Otherwise,
the clerks compilations stood. Mr.. Fitz-
| gerald at first said that it would be
impossible for the southern railways to
reduce the the western through raj
| to south atlantic ports without reuuc-
ing the local rates to interior points,
| as it would interfere with the long and
| short haul provision established by the
interstate commission. He a~fterward
admitted, however, that the fact of
waiter competition by the great lakes
and Atlantic coas steamship lines ap-
| piled to Charleston, Wilmington and
Savannah as much as it did to Nor
folk.
Mr.. Bryan said he begged TO Co.. the
attention of the commission to the fact
that one of the railway people would
l pIVQ Qnv avDl q MOI inr Ynf tho fhnnrxy III
der which rates were made to favor
Norfolk and discriminate against 9TH
er southern ports, although the freight
schedules showed this state to exist.
Mr.. Fitzgerald said that while he did
not know just how the rates were ar
ranged, he felt sure they were ar
ranged on a fair and equitable basis
with no view to injuring Charleston.
a BOMBSHELL IN THE RAILWAY
CAMPS.
h last witness of the day was c.
S. Fulton, secretary of the Ohio River
Central Traffic Association. He fur
nished the surprise Of the hearing by
shifting the whole responsibility for
high discriminating rates against the
sourh tlantic ports to the shoulders OF
the southern railway lines. He said
that the roads north and west of the
Ohio had for ten or twelve years main
tanned a standing offer Ito pro-rate the
through freight charges to the south
Atlantic ports with the railways south
Of the Ohio on a strict mileage basis.
Mr.. Baxter, counsel for the defend.
ant carriers, asked If it were not a fac
that the northern roads wanted Il
maintain their own mileage rates and
make all the reduction on the lines soutt
OF the Ohio.
Mr.. Fulton said that this was not tbs
case and read a letter of his own, writ.
ten in 1897. making the offer TO pro-rat;
on a mileage basis. This offer, he said
had been ignored. The letter was plac-
Ell in evidence. He said in reply to al
inquiry from Commissioner Clement
that the distance from Cincinnati Il
New York was very nearly the same a.
from Cincinnati TO Charleston and tina
the roads Of the association had beer
quite willing for a long time to turn {
part Of the Atlantic seaboard traffit
through the Ohio river gateways, blu
that they had received no encourage
ment 10 do 50 from the roads south
o. the river.
The hearing Will probably continu
through tomorrow. The arguments il
II = ~ 4n ~