The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1901-05-08
(By the Associated Press

(By the Associated PreSS)
Washington, May THE Industrial
Commission today egan it's May meeting
with F. ]. McGovern, of Atlanta, Chair
man Of the Southern Classification Com
pany, as the first witness. Mr.. Meow
ern stated that there are AZ rail and
steamship lines in the committee and that
it covers the territory South of the Poto-
mae and the Ohio Rivers and East of the
Mississippi Rivers. He said that the or
ganization had been effected in 1899 and
he contended that except in the items
of ircn and steel the advances in trans
portation rates have been technical rath-
er than real. He declared that the com
mittee had no purpose of liking rates on
carload lots so as to build up the job
hing trade of the South at the expense of
outside points.
Explaining the changes in classification
since the matter had been placed in the
hands CT his committee Mr.. McGovern
said that previous to that time there had
been many incongruities and it had been
necessary to remove many of them and
in cases in which there had been advances
they were made largely because of the
prevailing extraordinary conditions. The
general advance in price of railway ma
terials and supplies for instance had been
an influential factor In many other cases
the previous ratings had been unreason-
ably low. For these reasons there had
been three different revisions of the clas-
sification since 1899 The rates on iron
and steel had been materially increased,
but Mr.. McGovern contended that there
had been no genuine general advance.
He referred to the charge made from
a. r.
been an increase in the rates on about
200 articles. Mr.. McGovern said that
the assertion had grown out of the fact
that the committee had abolished the car
riers risk column in the classification
sheet, putting ali articles in the limited
liability list and making an advance of
70 per cent where the common law liza
bility bills Of lading were issued. This
he contended was no advance because
while the common law guarantee could
be secured under the old system without
extra charge, it was not demanded in one
case cut Of hundred. On the other
hand, there had been reductions in the
rates on other articles which were far
more radical than these advances were
Celebrating his testimony concerning
carload rates, Mr.. McGovern took occa-
sion to contradict the charge that his
committee had attempted so to arrange
them as to build up the jobbing centers
of the South He admitted that there
might be cases in which the charge for
the short haul is greater than that for
the long haul. but said he could recall
no such instance But. if there had been
such an exception it had not been due
to any deliberate effort on the part OF
the classification committee. 81 deny
most positively and emphatically" he
said, that the classification committee
has made any effort to discriminate
against New York or Chicago or any far
off jobbng point, in the interest of in
terror jobbing points of the South, by
reducing the rates on carload lots. We
have no intention of preventing the out
side shipper from doing a jobbing busi-
ness at small points in the South. nor
of aiding the outsider shipper at the