Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-06-20
STICKNEY TO RENEW FIGHT
Great Western Presidsat Will Reopen War.
= fare Against Elevation Charges.
SPEECH BEFORE COMMERCIAL clUt
Declares Neither Railway Nor shipper
Can AHord TO Continue This
Practice, which Amounts
20 DISCRIMINATION.

10 Determination.
President stickney Of the Chicago Great
Western told the members OF the COM
mercia club and their guests Al dinner
Tuesday that he proposed to reopen The
fight against the elevation charge" on
: Arain entering Omaha, Notwithstanding the
= srstate Commerce commission could find
nothing unlawful IN it, and he said II the
Omaha Grain exchange or any of its men,
bers desired to Join him IN his tight nc
would be very glad but at all events he
a proposed to make the fgln,
This declaration Mr.. stlckney made in the
course or an address before the club and
1t caused great Interest.
Mr. Stickney began his address by re-
citing the prevalence OF rebating prior to
the enactment OF the original interstate
commerce law in 1887. and the efforts that
had heen made to break up the practice
through prosecution. The features of the
pending rate bill dealing with the crime
Of rebating were explained. and the fact
emphasized that the new law makes II
obligatory on the attorney general of the
United States TO prosecute any known case
OF discrimination arising under the law.
This brought him TO the consideration Of
the elevation charge" concerning which
he said: ... .-s
Under the provisions OF this law. II we
were disposed to disregard our moral obliga.
tons as good citizens, II seems to me that
from the business point Of view neither
afford TO continue these practices.
Accordingly; ! have directed the traffic
Railway company TO change the form Of its
tariffs. and instead Of publishing rates from
which X GsRS 100 is nS t. be be PAID back
publish the net rate which II will charge
and keep There will be- nothing returned
effect. These net rates will be the present
rates. less the ia cents per 100, so the actual
4 rate will be the same FOR Peavey & CO.. and
FOR. the Transmlssissippl Grain company
(which received IL cents per 100 rebate. as tC
everybody else This is the law, and the
law must be, obeyed.
Whether Che other lines will publish their
Great Western / am not informed, but the
decision Of the court in the packers cases
which have dust been decided, is a warning
or not the taritfs or arrangements under
which they make shipments are legal OF
selves by assuming that the tariffs made
by the railway companies are legal
Union Pacific Practice.
The present custom OF collecting certain
tariff rates for the transfer Of grain, and
afterwards paying back ~ cents per 100 as
an elevation" transfer" loading" OF
unloading charge, had its origin with q
road company with Peavey & Co in 1899
which became effective some time during
Council Bluffs was completed whereby the
Inion Psetnc company agreed to pay C
- of Ia cents per 100 for all grain shipped
--EoTer the Union. Pacific lines which was un.
gvsded ins6 the Peavey elevator This con.
tract was a secret contract, the transfer
charge not being mentioned in the published
tariffs Oflthe Union Pacific road, and made
was some timeDf cannot RSt" tel how long
before the secret leaked out, and the Unior
made IL pnblo by mas pubfsStpr The thls sse
charge allowed Peavey,& Co. in their tariff,
and giving the same allowance for unload
contracts were made with the Transmissis
sippi Grain company at Council Bluffs, anC
with a Peavey elevator at Kansas City.
Some time. probably In 1904 the Atchison
topeka a. Santa Fe Railway company made
an informal complaint to the Interstate
Commerce commission, on which the Inter
state commission summoned the Union Pa
cihc railroad and Peavey " Co. to show
cause why the contract should not be Sc
aside and the commission, on the partia
statement OF facts, which was presented
TO them. found that the contract was legal
and that the payments made thereunde
by the Union Pacific were legal
Other Roads Forced In.
Thereupon the Chicago & Northwester
company, the Chicago, Burlington
pany the Atchison. Topeka & Santa n
company and the Chicago, Rock Island
to'hpdhNp lAits IN NeDfaSk
and Kansas parallel and competing wit
the Union Pacific lines, felt compelled I
meet the rates thus made by, the Unio
Pacific company BY secretly paying Il
cents per 100 TO the large shippers Q
II grain upon their lines But as all OF thes
~ companies had lines extending east an
- south from Missouri river points and wer
DESTROYS of preventing their grain froT
stopping at the markets of Omaha an
Kansas City. they refused to pay ~ cent
per 100 out Of their rate between the graf
and Kansas City, but paid the allowance
out OF their through rates from the graf
fields to Chicago, st. Louis and the gul
ports, Under this arrangement IL is ev
dent that all grain which stopped at IN
market towns OF Omaha and Kansas eli:
was Handicapped TO the extent of IN cent
per 100 In respect 20 rates, a handica
which, II continued. II is evident woul
have ultimately destroyed the grain maj
kets al Omaha and Kansas City,
Under these conditions, in order to Pre-
tect the grain markets OF Omaha an
Kansas City and to secure a fair shaT
OF the transportation OF grain Prom Nil
souri, river points TO Chicago and Mime
apolis and other points, the Chicago Ores
Western company, which has no lines Yves
OF the Missouri river. felt compelled bot
4 In the interest OF Justice 70 the grain dea
= ers and the markets az Omaha and KaI
similar allowance on Shipments betwee
y these points and more eastern market
reached by its lines upon all grain whic
had not received such allowances like n
Peavey grain, between the grain fields ar
Omaha and Kansas City.
But the Chicago Great Western road Ia