The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-03-09
COA.l.OPERATOR|S|'I.
SATISFIED: !. !. ]. J.
Get Everything They Want ant
y Many Will Not Attend Wash
ingtoit citing
RAILROADS BAC ( 60 DOWN i \ \


(Froin Our Regular orrespoident.)
WASHINGTON -. March s,-T III
conference OF coal operators from tho
New River and Flat Tpp fields. which Will .l1
DO held here to.morfow Is not expected
to BE- of nearly 80 great Importance as as!
was thought when the conf ference Of last
week I'D journed. It Is understood that the.
ina,fngementSof the Norfolk and Western
and fthe Chesapeake and ONO, which
rondA haul! all]it coal from the mincs
m these two fields have y assured q the
operators that tho increa SO In. freight
rates s5on coal to Underwater. which was
to have gone Into effect on the 10th In n
STINT will not be made. In conseq uence,
tho meeting here will hardly be fully ut
tended. one or the best known Of the
operators OF the Flat Top,
Hleld, wired a friend in this city yestcri-
day, Twill not see YOU Thursday. /. no
need Of comforting: got all we wa
si;s II Is not believed that the management OF
the pennsylvania. which controls the Two
Virginia roads, saw the unwlsdom8 OF at
Tempting to Increase the rates on coal
for Underwater, but that 4 It rcceded be-
cause of the threat OF the operators to
use every particle Of their Influence y,
an { fort to induce the President to call
an extra session Of Congr ess imme diately,
for the purpose OF enactlng q rate regu-
lating law, i n case the advance In freight
was $}l,,ade This line Of action agreed
on In the conference last week, and III
dicated In this correspondent nee at the time
ana II confirmed in3i ARsocla ted Press dis
patches last night, Violently had g !. most
potent effect pom the abroad men r:'l
Railroads Not Afraid. ,.a5
@tYou, may set At down that there;
viii be mo rate regulation bill passed at
the next session OF Congress, said ian
official Of q WesternFrallw ay company az
the Raleigh. In this city, to-day. Rail
way men have become easy on that score.
The House was IN a very rad lcal mood
at the last session and passed o. bill
more unjust than even the most fearful
railroad man ever 4 feared. The Senate
demonstrated Its conservatis Ism by refus-
ing to act In Il hurry and deciding to In
yestigate the whole subject in a thorough
manner. e are not afraid Of the re-
suit N T.
VI Senator Elkins,SS who IS cha irma n 81 th 9
Committee S on ID Interstate ~ and w Foreign
Commerce, is arranging for his commit
tee to- set to work probing into the SUB
feet Of rates. under the resolution dopl-
"a BY the Senate directing the commit
tee 10 sit through this sumner invest St
eating rate regulation, and the az yisabil-
ity Of a law a brogating the old doctrine
81 the liability of employers for IN
juries to employees resulting from the
negligence Of fellow servants .E t Is n OF
the purpose ofsthe committee to travel
in the course of the lnvestig lion. but u 70
81 t In this city and hear ra II 70 ad !, men
and others from all over he count y DIS
cuss Il He subjects which are being ! ooked
,1o fan
may make one or two trips to other cities,
but there Will be no junkettin ne, 6 says Sen
atori IIlkins, and the commit tee will prose-
cute the Investigation Of the important
subjects in hand N as thoroughly and as
carefully as possible. Ia itt5 H .i5
Elkins Not Enthusiastic.
Senator Elkns says as he has "a ways
said that there should be rate ®ula-
tIon.f but IS he has done from the first.
he Enterprises objections, and It ls belle eyed
lie will go no a further than to recon-
mend that the Congress strengthen the
law gallst the granting Of rebates. He
contends that this law, add ed, S. as AZ his
amendment to the act est blishing the
Department Of Commerce and La Dor 4 Is
all that Is needed to solve the rate prob
lem, and & all @that35is needed to regulate
"a tcs. He has overlooked the fact tina
SIX railway systems now control pract
.cully8 every line east Of the Mississippi,
and that at is in their power: to fix rates
whicha,would be prohi bi tive we're 1t not
that the ltuse OF the transpo ton Ines
Is a necessity. It is said BY the flat Top
and New River coal operators that ono OF
the chief reasons OF the Q clion3 Of the
pennsylvania In opposing to adYa 4 IN the
rates on Goa was to- depreciate the value
OF the mines in order to gain control u Of
I'theim.5s1t is said he Pennsylyani has
l5purchased in the past week large tracts
q developed coal pro perry near Thurs
mond wv. Ma, In the New River field, and
THAT this Is only the beginning OF a. syss
tematc attempt to gain control OF the en- an
| tire field ;3s}3 ..s5s5 sis ri,
The strlctest enforcement Of the law
against the granting OF 4rebat ties Will \ not
! help a case of this Scharacter+-a, monopoly
founded upon q monopoly Of transpor
ton lines to market. n '5S Z II 4