The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1900-07-22
WHY THE COMMISSION ACTED.
The Twenty-Five per Cent Reduction in
Railroad Rates Discussed.
cause OF the New Move to Remedy the Texarkana-
shreveport situation, AS Explained from
Austin-What Railroad Men Saw
cBY l.. A. pETrr.)

Austin, Texas, July 21-It is amusin,
to read that the traffic managers of IN,
Texas lines were astonished BY the rail.
road commissions order providing for .
20 per cent reduction in local rates OIL
commodities carrying lower interstate
rates to Texarkana than to other conn.
mon points.
Por weeks and weeks the commiss;o,
naS oeen waiting on these people and TAXI
ing seriously their promises to make an
honest effort to straighten matters ont of
leAarkana. 1t has conferred with Them
ana they have conferred with each other
WHY IN the end, to come forward witb a
conIesslon Of inability or rather an IA
tu4eslon OF unWlillngness to take auvthlnR
-he decisive step In the direction or
enS rld or the discriminating rates
prevailing on the northeastern hordor ~,
me state. When after numerous goinvs
anu comlngs TO and from st, Lonls Oh
ago ana New York the representatives
'ue oouthwestern lines sent a commit
10 report on what they had in
'heIr wisdom concluded to offer as A RENE
dy for the troubles growing ont ~ tba
leXarkana situation, 1t was found tba,
ealu committee had little save A Iot ~
1,e'i giess verbiage to offer to meet the
uiiicu4ly Inc chairman thereof frankly
S aeu tnat practically nothing had naen
uohe and ventured the assertion maj
Aotning could or would be done to ma.
.el laIlg change rate conditions al the
....u aSVeFn gateway The source OF the
trouble was at Shreveport he asserted
and until some change in that ci4v;s $40
indication of the possi-
DlIity OF which was glven-was made IL
was useless, In his opinion, to tinker with
The TeXarkana rates
1t was suggested, however. that re-
auction in fourth class rates from Paris |
TO IeXarkana and Intermediate polnts
might help matters out and authority to
make II was asked. Had the commission
ADOPTED this 1t would have stepped into a
rap. If the rates between paris and Tev-
arkana lad been reduced the predicate
or reductions from Greenvile to Jeffer-
'oh and from Tyler to Marshall and sur.
her along down the line would have nam
dlu' In less than no time rate matters
throughout the State would have been in
IN awful tangle and the traffic men would /
AVE mad something to abuse the commits
ion about sure enough
In making a % per cent reduction sll
round on commodities which come into
,exarkana at reduced rates the commits
ION adopted the only course promising
satisfactory results In the matter. All |
ne railroads can do as an Offset is to re-
uce the interstate carload rate to COM {
non points 20 per cent or restore the c
arts Jefferson Marshall rate. To reduce
ne rates into Shreveport % per cent. as 1
mas been intimated they might do would i
e put TO give evidence of the hypocrisy L
tnelr professions OF desire to maintain
ites and preserve their revenues. So far !
the railroads themselves are concernad 7
be question of preserving revenues is |
ever considered except when the commits
on attempts to bring them TO time for y
'crlhcing said revenues in efforts TO get =
lsiness to the injury of unfavored ship
IT'S ana localities and 1t is ridiculous TO y
EAR Texas traffic men who are breaking y
leir necks to get cotton to haul from =,
lreveport to Galveston at 81 per bale, -
TX about revenues, when to handle said
tton they must haul 1t through Texas OF
mmon point territory from which So Il
tie to Galveston prevails. M
1t is also ridiculous to assert that the dl
'Xas lines have no control over the "a
reveport and Texarkana situations. a,
ithout them such situations could not be lii
Gated, Their earnings under the Texas n,
riffs Offset the shrinkage in the revenues ca
their interstate cousins caused by the
Xarkana and Shreveport rates as we'll in
by other low interstate rates which an
always forthcoming when there is in in
state business to move. Ca
In other words, so long as the commits co
N can be intimidated into maintaining bu
lifts, so long Will there be a good mar tn
! left upon which to cut interstate rates. ge
ats the plain truth OF the matter and ca
this talk about interstate rate wars tn
Ing caused by commission Disturbance co
a N n N a N q N , . . - .