The Savannah morning news., 1904-02-02
TIP. A. To FIGHT
SOUTHERN RY.
WON'T ACCEPT COMPROMISE.
WANTS FULL INTERCHANGEABLE
MILEAGE OR NOTHING AT ALL.

REFUSED 10 Accept proposition for
interchangeable Mileage Over
Southern, Central of Georgia and
Georgia Southern & Florida as
Long as 1t Had u String Tied to
It-Vice President Finley of south
ern and Chairman CrandaII of the
II. p. A. Railroad Committee Dis
cuss the Matter in Full.
The T. P. AS of Georgia will not ac-
cept the limited interchangeable mile
age that the Southern Railway has
offered over it's own system, the Cen
trail of Georgia and the Georgia South
ern and Florida.
From now on it will line up solidly
with the national officers of the order
for an interchangeable mileage that
shall embrace all the roads now in the
compact in this and other sections of
the country.
The Southern offered the limited con-
cession including the Central and the
Georgia Southern and Florida, with the
provision that the 7. P. A. should make
no further effort for additional privi-
leges. Mr.. Max Krauss. who is the
chairman of the Railroad Committee of
the Georgia Division, T. P. A., and also
a member of the national board, recon-
mended that the posts of this state ac-
cept the concession without, however,
subscribing to the conditions attached.
Even the limited interchangeable
mileage offered would have been of
considerable benefit to the members of
the Georgia division. though not en-
tirely satisfactory. But as it would
have been of little use outside Of
this state, and as the national commit
tee is fighting for a mileage that will
be of benefit to the members of the
order as a whole. and not limited to
any particular part of the Southern
Railways system, the Georgia Division,
through it's representative Mr.. Krauss,
has decided not to accept the compro-
mise but to join issue with the national
body in its fight, and give that organi-
cation it's solid backing.
Why Southern Refuses.
The Southern position in refusing full
interchangeable mileage is set forth by
Mr.. w. w. Finley, second vice presi-
| dent, as follows:
First. That the adoption by the
| Southern Railway Company of an in
| Interchangeable mileage ticket with all
| the lines south of the Potomac and
Ohio rivers, and east of the Mssis-
| sippi river. would cause the Southern
| Railway to enter into what is practi-
cally a partnership with all of these
| roads, Notwithstanding that in other
i
| joint through traffic relations with
| some of those roads or might not, for
good traffic reasons, desire to have such
| traffic relations. The Southern Rail-.
| way would thereby be placed in an
| inconsistent position in declining to en-
| ter into other joint through traffic re-
| lations while maintaining such rela-
lions as to interchangeable mileage
| tickets.
Second. That under the system of
| interchangeable mileage tickets as pro-
| posed, a passenger might not make
more than one trip, and that one of
short mileage, over the Southern Rail-
way at 212 cents per mile, while, on
! the same train a passenger holding
single trip ticket and travelling between
the same points, or travelling the same
| distance, would be charged cents a
mile. Under these circumstances the
| Southern Railway could not escape the
accountability for a charge of unjust
discrimination that might be made by
| the passenger paying cents a mile,
and it would be debarred in such event
| from claiming that in transporting the
passenger holding a mileage ticket at
| the lower rate that it was justified in
| doing so by reason of the greater
| amount of transportation sold to the
passenger using mileage.
InsoIvent Road Could Sell.
Two of the other four reasons adj
vanced are that it puts it in the power
of railroad with a very small mileage,
| or in the power of an insolvent road, to
sell an unlimited amount of transpor-
| tation, collecting the proceeds of such
sales. 1t will often be the case that
| little or none of the travel will be done
over the road selling the ticket and,
| in the case of sales by an insolvent
road, subjecting the Southern Railway
to the risk of not being able to collect
| from such insolvent railroad for the
| transportation over the Southern Rail-
way.
At the present time the revenue de-
rived by the Southern Railway from
| the sale of mileage books is approx
mately LIP of it's entire revenue derived
| from passenger traffic. The Southern
| Railway has always regarded mileage
| books as applying chiefly to local traf-
| fic and the placing of 1-12 of its passen-
ger tIaff1c-this 1-12 being chiefly, if
| not entirely, local traffic-under inter-
| changeable mileage tickets that might
be sold by other lines, does not seem
| to be a measure which the Southern
Railway ought to be called upon to ac-
| cept.
Mr. Finley gives number of other
reasons for the position of the Southern
in regard to the question at issue and
concludes by saying it would be I'M
reasonable under the circumstances
for the T. A. p. to take such drastic
measures as he has reason to believe
they have in contemplation.
Is Not n Partnership.
Mr. F. w, Crandall, chairman of
the Railroad Committee of the National
Board, T. p. A., in replying to the rea-
sons advanced by Mr.. Finley, states
that the members of the National
Board claim that the contention that
an interchangeable bureau is a part