The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1901-07-25
THE COMMISSIONS ANSWER
To Criticisms of Its Course Regarding Hear
ing on Fuel Petroleum Rates.
Governor Sayers Arraigned for Having Intimated
That There Had Been Neglect of Duty
Part of the Commissioners

| ter was undergoing an Investigation. For
! houle, reason the governor gave this corre-
| sp3ndsnce TO tho press on the same or
! LonoWing day. The governor has since
taken occasion to correct one statement
mute IN the report Of his speech. that
| Win reference to rates on crude oil from
Plttsburg. "a, to Austin. a statement that
] certainty needed correction, and says that
ms comparison related to the rate oil
! tanks. Ihat however. appears to us as
Wholly irreleyant--to the matter Of rates
! on crude oil. Besides. the authorized cor
Fectou 70 as erroneous as the original
stHlement Imputed TO him, In the correct
"a statement given out by the governor he
hAys that the rates on oil tanks, from Pitts
Dnrg, "a 10 Austin, Texas. are GO cents
per cwt., rs against IS cents from tCorsl-
cana The facts are that the rates from
lllSnmrg no Austin on oil tanks. X. D..
n nee SSH cents r Per cyl as Against % cents
! or from Corslcana to Austin
Neither In his note TO the commission.
nor In his speech at Cuero nor elsewhere,
so far rs We are advised, has the COVER.
nor assigned one solitary fact In support
81 his charge lie perhaps knows. or ought
10 Know. some Of the legal methods tn he
employed In the ascert0lnment Of what
constitutes reasonable rate He has often
gone before the commission in respect to
| 9ther matters relating to railroads. and
dlsregardng all questions Of proprlety II
uveS, seem that his duty to himself and the
pubic. and common fairness to the com
MISSION would have suggested that he
oughl TO nave gone before the commission
| ana assigned some facts. some reason In
NLpnOit or ms charges. or TO have manfred
| Of the commission some explanation or rea-
son TO justify the present rates on crude
on, before going 10 the public with Sc.
we're arr0ignment Of the commission and
even then furnishing nothing to snstain
MS complaint. His purchasing agent has
Deen before the commission and notwlth-
I Standing an invitation from the commits
sion to point ont any Just cause of com.
paint at the present rates on crude oil
ne WIS unable or unwilling to Doint out
any error 10y the commission He claimed
mat he dealt with oil at a delivered price
and could not undertake 10 say what was
@ ~, was not reasonable, rate, reasonable
dllke 10 shipper and carrier.
Two distinct charges are made hy the
governor; one that the existing rates are
essnrlly extortlonate, and the other that
its duty.
In s97. crude oil having been discovered
OF Corsicana, II was contemplated that a
considerable quantity might he used for
iuel purposes In order to facilitate and
encourage the use and the handling OF this
commodity, the railroad commission took
up the matter and gave two public hearings
ana as . result promulgated commodity
tarlu No q establishing rates on crude
petroleum for fuel applicable % an portfons
o. the State. Al that tine, iaktpg into con
sluFrNllon me tarin as a wnole. the com
mission believed the rate reasonably low
the tarlm is arranged on mileage scale
Tor a distance Of 30 mNos reaching at
Inat point a MAXIMUM rate. In common
Poiht territory, Of II cents per cwt on
single lines Of railway. and is cents per
cWi. when shipped over two or more sep.
crate limos Of railway. II is one Of the
tow tariffs upon which the commission re.
fused to permit any advances as resuit
Of The compromises Of the injunction suits
IN lSlo We have mover seen anywhere
any tarln that is lower on this commodltv
We believe the tariI Is lower than any
state or Interstate rail tarlff that prevails
elsewhere in the Union For a distance of
100 miles, single line. the rate Is in Iowa
- cents per cwt.. Illinois u cents Kan.
saS IL cents and I'm Texas 8 cents For Soo
miles single line, the rate in Iowa is 142
cents; Illinois 10. 30 cents Kansas % cents
and IN Texas 10 cents. In California ey
cept for short hauls. the rate is Uniform
ana Is ~ cents per barrel and unwords
me average haul ls stated 10 be- obout
@o miles and the rate is approximately *
cents per cwt. with terminal charges Of *
20 - per car usually in addition In
IeNas the rate for q similar distance, single
barrel. '' 'eu'S per
We give below the offclal single urs
rates Issued by the Pennsylvania railroad
system the greatest railroad svstcn1 In
me world. on crude oil from the oil dcIds
reached by that line TO New York pbiia
delphia and Raltimorc. "' una
Inc Following are the present rites In
cents per 100 pounds on Crude or fuel
biStd3leum. between the stations named,
together with the mileage between sach