Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-13
Transcontinental Railroads
on the Administration.
REDUCTION IN RATES
CHAIRMAN SHONTS TO BE ELECT
ED PRESIDENT OF COMPANY.
After Next Monday Will Be Operated
Government Controlled Freight
and Passenger Route.

1Etimaton was given today that the trans
| continental railways are getting ready to
! bring pressure to bear upon the admins
| tration to prevent sweeping reductions in
| transcontinental freight rates by the Pan
| anna railway and it's connecting steam
| ships soon to be operated by the govern
| ment. Representatives of a number of
| roads are said to be in Washington now,
| but are rather discouraged at the prospect
| of accomplishing anything, as the admin
| istration is going ahead with it's plans.
| A New Yorker who is familiar figure
! ON Wall street and in touch with financial
and railway interests was in town today
| and told Star man that the Importance to
shippers of the acquisition of the Panama
railroad by the government has not yet
been fully realized. He said the government
has the power, being in complete ownership
of the road and the connecting steamships
to slaughter freight and passenger rates
between New York and San Francisco and
to give powerful demonstration of gov
ernment ownership of transportation facil-
ities
Material Lowering of Rates.
This informant of the Star went on to say
that the transcontinental lines are fully
alive to the situation and that they will do
every thing in their power to induce the
administration not to put the rates too
low. He expressed the opinion that the In
evitable result will be the material lower
ing of rates by the transcontinental lines.
The meeting of the Panama Railroad
Company, to be held in New York next
Monday, at which Chairman Shonts of the
isthmian canal commission will be elected
president of the railroad company, and
that property will, a result of the cleo
ton, pass, along with it's steamship lines,
absolutely into the control of the United
States, is regarded as being very inn
portant step in the regulation of all trans
continental freight and passenger rates 1t
is said that once the government takes con-
troll of the Panama railroad and steamship
lines, the route will be opened to all ship
pers of freight and to all passenger traffic
at prices sufficient to pay operating eX-
penses maintenance and enough to allow
for the creation of small sinking fund
On the Pacific end of the water haul the
route will be, until July y. under the con-
troll of the Pacific Mail Steamship Com
pany by reason of an exclusive contract
which that company has with the Panama
Railroad Company. On the Atlantic end or
the water haul, however. the government
will take immediate control and put its full
fleet of nine steamships into opera ton.
Heretofore only four steamers have been
operated between the isthmuS and New
York.
The Practical Result.
The practical result of this will be that,
beginning soon after next Monday, there
will be in operation between New York and
San Francisco, and, therefore, between the
Atlantic and Pacific coasts, a government
controlled, and, practically, a government
owned, freight and passenger route that
will be thrown open to all shippers upon
equal terms and at a freight rate that alb
soIutely eliminates all dividends. Hereto
fore the line has paid 33la per cent and
over The estimate now is that the New
York-San Francisco freight will be, by the
new route, about 81 per ton, as against
something like 50 per ton heretofore
charged by the transcontinental railroads.
Similarly the passenger rate will be cut
from about S115 to something like 500 from
New York to San Francisco meals in
cluded OF course the capacity of the
route for doing business is limited but
when the Panama railroad is double track
ed as it is announced that it will be soon,
very large volume of business can be
handled.