Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-05-17
President National League 81
Commission Merchants
| WAS A WITNESS TODAY
BEFORE SENATE INTERSTATE
COMMERCE COMMITTEE.
Complains Of the Armour Car Lines
Company Because Of Ex-
cessive Charges.

Mr. George F. Mead of Boston, president
OF the National League Of Commission
Merchants of the United States. was the
principal witness today before the Senate
Interstate commerce committee, which is
investigating the railroad-rate problem Mr..
Mead has devoted large amount of study
to the business of the private car lines
from the shippers and commission mans
standpoint. His testimony was heard with
interest, and he was very closely ques-
tionedby Senators Elkins. Cullom, Kean
and Foraker.
Mr.. Mead said he appeared before the
committee as president of the Commission
Merchants National League, a member
of the car lines committee of that body and
as representative of the Boston fruit and
produce exchange, the largest of Its kind
in the country. Mr.. Mead dismissed the
rate portion of the controversy by stating
that the bodies represented by him are in
favor of the principle contained in the
COoper-QuaTleS bill, and that the opinion
given by Attorney General Moody covered
the situation as it was viewed by them.
He then took up the question of private
car lines, speaking with particular refer
ence to the Armour Car Lines Company,
the concern Of which Mr.. Robbins, who
testified yesterday, is president and which
owns and operates 1900 private cars.
Grievance Against Private Cars.
Mr. Mead said the interests he represent
ed were particularly aggrieved by the
Armour car line business, for the reason
that the exclusive contract applied to their
line OF business only, and that the commits
sion men were the people who suffered to
pay the enormous dividends of the private
car lines
Mr.. Mead claimed that the exclusive
contracts between the railroads and the
A NO sy,ac W he a f.
ter concern a practical monopoly of the
fruit and berry business in certain locali-
ties, and that enormously excessive charges
were in consequence demanded. The
charges made by the Armour company for
private car service in localities where the
exclusive contracts existed were 200 and 300
per cent higher, he said, than was the case
before the exclusive contracts went into
effect He gave several specific instances
in support of this assertion.
Mr.. Mead admitted that it was true he
was interested in company capitalized at
S1.OOO,CO which owned only one refrigera-
tor car. This assertion was made on the
stand yesterday by President Robbins of
the Armour Car Lines Company in replying
to a statement made previously by Mr..
Mead with regard to the business of the
Armour lines. Mr.. Mead explained to the
committee today that he and several other
men had secured the patents on refrigera-
tor car which it was believed was of a SUI
perior type to the car now in general use
they had gone down in their pockets and
put up money enough to have a single
constructed. The experiments with the car
were still in progress. The company in
which he was nterested-he was no longer
president of 1t, he said-did not intend to
engage in the private-car-line business. 1t
was merely intended to perfect the car and
sell it to the shippers or railroads or who
ever wanted to buy. He saw no reason,
he said, why commission man shouldn't
have as good a right as any one else to
invent and manufacture refrigerator car
Senator Elkins Surprised.
Mr.. Mead surprised Senator Elkins con-
iderably by quoting sections of the testi-
mony given at Chicago last week in the
hearing before the interstate commerce
commission going to show that the Santa
Fe railroad and the Armour company were
paying rebates at the present time. He
quoted from the testimony of one of the
to compete with Armour & Co. for the
western fruit business he had found it
necessary to pay the shippers a large
bate. Without this the Santa Fee would
not have been able to secure any of the
business, the testimony asserted.
Senator Elkins said that If the statement
with regard to the present payment of re-
bates was true it was a fragrant breach of
the law. but suggested that until both sides
had been heard 1t was not wise nor Just
to receive portions of the testimony at this
time Senator Foraker thought otherwise
but the witness stated that the transcript
of the testimony in the case could be Sc
cured from the interstate commerce COM
mission. This the committee ordered done.
The case, however. Is still open, the COM
mission not having announced its decision
as yet.
Mr.. Mead spoke at some length of the
failure of Armour & Co. to have sufficient
cars in North Carolina for the present
strawberry season. He read from a North
Ca rOlina show that Sfi4 ton worth
of Strawberries had been spoiled owing to
the lack Of cars and had been dumped into
the river. He thought Armour & Co. had
had plenty of warning and should have
been able to get the cars to the berry dis
tricts on time.
The remainder of Mr.. Mead's testimony
was largely a repetition of his statement
before the House committee on interstate
and foreign commerce last fall, when the
Cooper-Quarles bill was under considers-
ton.
Practically Acknowledged Monopoly.
There Is considerable speculation as to
just what effect the testimony of President
Robbins of~the Armour Car Lines Com
pany before the Senate interstate COM
merce committee yesterday afternoon will
have on the recommendations Of that body
with respect to private car lines. Mr.. Rob-
bins said before the committee yesterday
that his company had twenty or thirty ex-
elusive contracts with various railroads,
and practically admitted that monopoly
existed. Mr.. Robbins asserted, however,
that the Armour Car Lines Company was
not engaged in interstate commerce, and
that the government had no right to pre-
scribe regulations for the government of
its business.
1T would appear" remarked Senator
Elkins, at this point. .that you have all
of the advantages and none OF the respon-
sibilities Of common carriers"
-s
Hunt Foxes With Eagles.