Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1906-05-21
MONDAY EVENING. MAY 81. 1906.

MONDAY EVENING. MAI %l' l0Vo'
IN VIEW OF the astounding revela-
lions Of graft among Pennsylvania Rail
road officials, and the fragrant discriml-
nation against independent coal shippers
and the public during last weeks hear
ines before the Interstate Commerce
Commission, the important question has
been raised, says the Philadelphia North
American, "What means will the Cas-
sstt management take TO square itself
with the public and the stockholders OF
the corporation, whose interests have
been betrayed and whose confidence has
been outrage1?" President A. j. Gas
satt, in public statements, gave positive
assurance that rebating, car discrimina-
ton and other traffic evils had been
banisbed from the Pennsylvania system,
and he repeated his assurance in person
10 the President of the United states.
Yet it has been shown in an investiga-
ton touching upon only limited sec
tion of the soft-coal producing fields that
rank discrimination has been practiced,
crushing the life out of independent
operators and rObbing the public OF the
benefit of competition. Furthermore,
the Chief benefciaries of Pennsylvania
Railroad lavoritism have been the So
called "Cassatt companies" the Ber-
wind White Coal Mining Company and
the keystone Coal and Coke Company,
aud their methods of distributing graft to
railroad officials from low to high were
so notorious as to preclude the excuse
that they were unknown to the response
BILE managing officers of the company.
In the three days hearing which closed
for the week on Friday no less than
seventeen Pennsylvania Railroad officials
appeared in the testimony as having
accepted 1924 shares of stock in coal
companies, besides hundreds OF other
shares not enumerated in the testimony
and the surface was only scratched
How deeply this system OF graft has
spread among officials of the railroad
may be seen from the fact that the stock
distributed among these thirteen officials
has par value OF nearly a half million
dollars and market value much in ex-
cess. of that figure. Commenting on
sbis state of affair the North American
continues:
In several cases the recipients of the
stock received dividends therefrOm III
excess of the salaries paid them by the
railroad Under such circumstances II
would be only natural to expect that the
interests of the coal companies which
paid them such fat remuneration tor
"favors" would receive consideration in
precedence TO the interests of the rail-
road company, the public and indepen-
dent coal producers. Scarcely more
than a year ago A. j. Csssatt, summon
ed TO the White House for conference
on railroad rate legislation, positively
assured President Roosevelt that there
was no discrimination, no favoritism, no
payment OF rebates or other allowances
on the Pennsylvania Railroad. This
corporation, o. Grating the greatest trans
poraton system in the world, was be-
ing conducted along lines of strict hon
esty and equal dealing. Such were the
assurances given by the president of the
PENNSYLVANIA Railroad to the chief exec
utive OF the nation Not only was his
company good and its management clean,
when on Mr.. Cassatt, but he was so
anx Gus 70 see the square deal" policy
carried out to the letter by all railroads
that be offered to back up President
Roosevelt to that end with the entire
organization of the Pennsylvania Rail
road.