The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-08-02
MAY Be An inquiry
INTERSTATE COMMERCE. COMMITS
SION MAY INVESTIGATE Al
LEGGED ILLEGAL CONTRACTS
RATES ARE BEING sLASHED
Traffic Managers Busy Collecting
Evidence of Broken Agreements
on the Part OF Their
Competitors.

Local traffice officials are greatly agi-
tated over a rumor that the interstate
commerce commission Is contemplating
taking action against the railroads and
the shippers of St Paul and Minneapolis
and other Western cities on account Of
illegal contracts existing between the
railroads and the shippers.
The resolution adopted at a meeting in
St Paul last Monday of the executive
officials of the Chicago-St. Paul lines
was of special interest to the inter-
state commerce commission. The reSo-
luton was as follows:
Resolved, That all protective or guar
anteed contracts, or other obligations at
variance with authorized published rates
shall be withdrawn and Cancelled at
once, and all interested shippers or con-
Signees notified that such arrangements
will not be continued. In case there are
any contracts that cannot be Cancelled
without compensation to the shipper or
the other party, they shall be filed with
Chairmen Ristine and Parker in such
form and within such time as they may
prescribe, and by them cooperating with
each other. IN the event that they can
not get rid Of such contracts or obliga-
tons they shall call together the lines in
uereSted in the traffic involved for the
purpose of taking action to protect ali
Interested. -
The first sentence in the resolution is
a frank admission that the railroads
have entered into contracts with ship
pers which are illegal. The provision
made therein for the cancellation of such
illegal contracts is nullifed by the re-
mainder Of the resolution, providing for
the future action of all lines in case the
Illegal contracts are not Cancelled.
A prominent local railroad official was
asked yesterday by the G o be if mis-
road was now maintaining the published
tariff rates.
We'll" said he, IF you promise not
to mention the name of my road l will
tell you that we are not maintaining the
published tariff rates, nor is any other
St Paul road, and furthermore, no st.
Paul road will do so, either; that is to
say, not until after Dec. 81. The roads
are at present watching each other like
hawks with the purpose of fixing up q
few charges to spring on each other at
Mondays meeting. OF course, the rOaSs
will all solemnly declare that they have
stuck TO the tariff rates since last Mon
days meeting, and at the same time VIII
look askauCe Wnen their rivals make the
same statement. Oh, there is lots of
fun ahead yet"
Traffic officials OF the lines composing
the Central Ere ght association held a
lively meeting in Oh -caGO recently.
Despite the agreement made in New
these lines that no more cut rate con-
tracts should be made, numerous charges
of secret rate cutting were made at the
Chicago meeting.
THE outlook is for the worst demon
alzaiion of freight rates every known"
said a traffic official of one of the most
important lines from Chicago to the
East. Tho agreeTn5 MT signed by all the
presidents that there should be no more
secret rate cutting was Violated within
forty-eight hours by some of our COM
petitors. The agreement to advance
rates was just as Illegal as toe secret
cutting of rates. There is a marked de-
cline in the general volume OF contract,
ana perhaps this fact has caused some of
the roads to throw discretion to the
winds and instruct their agents to con
tract for all the business in sight That
policy is being pursued by many of the
subordinate officials and it is not rea-
sonable to suppose they would do so il
they were in any danger of losing their
jobs on account of ii. The only road
which suffers by the breaking of traf-
dc agreement is the one which adhered
to it. To those uninit ated it would seem
strange that the worst rate cutting is
being done by some OF the strongest
lines"