The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1899-05-09
Glven a Hearing at a Meeting of the State
Railroad Commissioners.
The Case of Stockton Presented by
George M. Sperry and That of
the Railroad Company by j. G.
Under Amusement by the Com
missioners.

SAN FRANCISCO. May ). - The
Board of Railroad Commissioners to-day
gave hearing to the contention regard
ing Freight rates pa.Nce1- the people
of Stockton and the Southern Pacific
Company. Stockton was represented
by Colonel George NJ. Sperry, 2. NJ.
Weber, Louis Frankenheimer, w. B.
Harrison, SigiSmund SchWaDacner, H.
j. Corcoran and r. D. GiTvIn.
J.eC. Stubs spoke for the railroad
interests, being seconded by HERNIA.
Eppinger and George w. McNear,
warehousemen of Port Costa.
Colonel Sperry presented the case for
Stockton, reading from a carefully pre-
pared statement the argument which
his people make against the proposed
lowering of rates on wheat from points
in San Joaquin Valley to Port Costa
to the detriment of Stockton.
During the course of the argument
which ensued H. J. Corcoran arraign-
ed the railroad company for it's atti-
tude toward Stockton for years past.
He held that in making rates on any
commodity the railroad men always
gave Stockton the worst of it. AS one
instance he cited the rate on grain
from Byron to Port Costa. This is 80
cents per ton for thirty-seven miles,
While it is 81 per ton to Stockton, thir-
ty-eight miles, and under the same
conditions
Mr.. Stubs, for the railroad COM
pany, entered a formal protest against
the reduction of grain rates. He as
serted that the rates were reasonable
and just, according to any standard of
measurement that might be applied.
The rates of his company. he said, were
lower than those of other companies
operating on this coast or in the MIDI
die West-they were below the average
and did not return fair profit on op-
Grafton, no dividends being paid. 1t
had been found difficult to meet inter
est and expenses He did not think
it was fair to change; that discrimina-
ton had been questioned before, but
not upheld. Some rates are forced on
the company by competition, and
whenever a rate is questioned it is
measured by these low rates.
The Stocktonians claimed that the
differential between Port Costa and
Stockton had been reduced to which
statement Mr. Stubs entered a denial.
When shown a tariff sheet on which it
was shown that to meet the rates of
the Valley Road the company had
dropped a charge of 10 cents per ton
for unloading the grain at Port Costa.
Mr. Stubs said that the warehouse
men were charged this instead of the
shippers, as in the past For this rea-
son the differential, which was on its
face supposed to give Stockton it's pro-
portion of the traffic, did not in reality
have that effect. When the Valley
Road first entered Stockton charge of
10 cents ton was made by the South
ern Pacific Company for switching
The warehouses We're on the water
front and some distance from the main
line of the railroad. This was always
an additional charge not contemplated
when the differential was fixed at ~
cents per ton. When the 10 cents per
ton unloading fee was dropped at
Port Costa it reduced the differential
practically to 40 cents. This had the
expected effect of sending the bulk of
trade to Port Costa
the Commissioners took the case
under advisement