The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-02-21
COULD HAVE
 A MONOPOLY
 -s Railroad Possibilities For United States. MIR. WALKER OPTIMISTIC
 ~e Panama Line of Rail and
 Steamers. With Them Uncie san. aight Put Every Transcontiaental Competitor Out of Business, Thinks Tranc
 Manager.
R. WALKER OPTIMISTIC

Manager.
 | Washington, Feb. 2O.--Testimony be- 1 fore the house committee on intersfata and foreign commerce Investigating the affairs of the Panama Railroad today showed that notwithstanding tho | letter of Commissioner Grunsky to l Chairman Hepburn read to the commits tee Saturday in which 1t was stated | that Grunsky had returned -unopened his first fee envelope as director of l the road. that he had afterwards talk en this same fee and all others accur- ing amounting in all to s250. This 1 statement was made by Vice-President I Drake of the road. After stating in | his letter that he had returned ths ! first fee because he considered 1t was | compensation in violation of the presi- | dents orders, Mir. Grunsky quotes the minutes of the canal commission meet- l ing held just after he had returned the | fee and which contained the state- ment of Admiral Walker that the presi- | dent did not consider the fee "addf- tional compen sation" and that 1t was not in violation Of his own order. Mir. Grunsky, however. did not explain in the letter that he had taken the | fec
 '"The United States could. as the ow- 1 ner of the Panama railroad and Steam ship Line from Colon to New York l establish a line from San Francisco to l Panama and put every trancontlnenta1 railroad out of business
 This was the conclusion of R. L. 1 Walker. general traffic manager of the 1 Panama Railroad and Steamship Llnes after general discussion Of rates at the afternoon session of the committees.
 En Reply to Mann.
 Mir. Mann had asked II 1t was not | the opinicn of the witness that the | Pacific Mail and Steamhip company. controlled by the Union and Southern Pacific railway, was interested i'd keep ing up the steamship rate between | New York and San Francisco and the l above statement was in reply. Mf. Walker said that 1t was not until tao Panama Railroao Company had threat. ened 60 break with the Raelfic Mau | Steamship Company that 1t secured any considerable amount of through l freight. Thirty-six thousand tons a year was wanted and but l2.000 tons were forthcoming. The result of the demand for more had brought tna tonnage from San Francisco to New Yu'k to thirty thousand last year. l The through rate from New York to. San Francisco via the Isthmus. he said, averaged SIP a ton and from San | Francisco to New York $9.76 q ton. l The difference in price was due to the diTection of the class of goods shipped.
 
 | transcontinental railroad rate and was 30 per cent less on carload lots and | 90 per cent less on les than carload lots. He maintained that the railroad 1 property would not be valuable to near the extent 1t was at present should the steamship line from New York to Colon be discontinued.
 A statement showing fees paid to members of the canal commission for services as directors of the Panama Railroad was filed today with the in- vestigating committee of the house committee on interstate and foreign commerce by Vice-President Drake of | that road.
 Stock Dividends.
 The statement also showed dividends on stock of the road held by the com | rnissioners. Admiral Walker received S25O for attending ten board meetings and $475 as dividend on ninety-five shares of stock. Commissioner W. Fl. | Burr received $250 for ten board meet ! ings and $5 dividend on one share oe 1 stock; c. E. Grunsky received s250 for | meetings and a $5 dividend: w. B. Parsons $3e5. for meetings and a s5 dividend; B. M. Harrod received $i25 for meetings and $5 dividend.
 Mir. Drake continued his testimony of Saturday. He took up the. ques- tion of the proposed discontinuance of the steamship line operated in connec- tion with the road and argued against it. He also spoke against moving the offices from New York to Colon.
 As an argument against surrendering the tariR agreement with the Pacific Mall Steamship Company. Mir. Drake said the business of the railroad in 1904 aggregated $106.951 on westbound husi- ness and $67. 900 on east bound business as the result of this contract. More than one-haIf of the roads earning he said. were derived from this source. ,rtEfb "a o-. ment with the Pacific Mail, Mfr. Drake : maintained, would subject the whole Pacific coast to the control of the trans continental railways. Mr. Drake sug@ gested that when all of the stock of the road shall be owned by the Govern ment, it will not be necessary to malIl- tain Board of Directors. as the entire management of the road can be accom- plished by chief executive.
 Mir. Drake filed with the committee a copy of a letter dated January IF. last. giving notice to the Pacific Mail Steamship Company that the traffic | agreement between that company and the railroad would terminate July 2, next. Mir. Drake said that twice this l agreement had been out of force for certain periods On one occasion the railroad had put it's own steamers into the Pacific trade and had operated l them at loss. During the last period of six months of this agreement he had not been informed the Pacific Mail Company had lost $375,00 The ofacar of this company. he said. had then stated that should the agreement be terminated again the Pacific would cease to take Panama business.
 Ground for TermanataeR. The action in giving notice of the 1 termination of the contract was taken by the Board of Directors of the road January 12. last. pursuant to a supple mental agreement between the road and steamship line allowing either par 1 ty to terminate the contract on six months notice if the stock of the roads should be purchased by the United States. This, the letter states is the ground for the termination of the agreement. There are two South 1 American lines which win be put into this trade in the event the Faclfic Mail ]