The San Francisco call., 1906-10-24
ARE STILL POOLING
ARMY TRAFFIC.
Interested Roads Construe
Section Five of New Rate
Bill to Suit Themselves
Is NOVEL

The foreign agents OF the lines that
have not been participating in the
soldier and the sailor business have
been speeulating as to what effect the
new rate bill will have on tais traffic
This discussion was started owing 10
the sailors on the Wisconsin being paid
OF on Monday and going East, and the
hope was expressed that there would
be free fight for this business. The
sailors were doomed to disappointment.
however, and now the statement is
made that the~new bill is mot such A
terrible thing after air and liable to
the construction which best subserves
the interests of the line making the in
terpretation
OF course the law is strin gent when
ever and wherever il serves the rail-
road and if an unfortunate man who
mad been in the habit of getting passes
East should approach a railroad oficial
and ask for this favor the law would
be hurled at him, and he would be
asked If he wanted to have the giver
OF the pass sent to jail Discrimina-
ton is what the Hepburn bill aims to
suppress, and also pooling. But, ac-
cording ITO the Interpretation placed
upon section 5 of the new law by the
interested railroad officials there has
been no pooling in the sailor and the
soldier business. while the lines who
worst Kind of a pool.
DIVISION OF BUSINESS.
The men on the outside say the in
terested lines give the defenders of the
country ticket for $3.50 less than
70 others, and they further say that the
business is divided up on the following
basis. Ogden gets so per cent; Moiave.
that is the Santa Fe. 27k per cent Ell
Paso' 10 per cent. and Portland the bal
ance 1t can be imagined that the out
side railroad man who has no chance
of sharing in this business is anxious
70 know how the interested roads. who
profess desire to comply with the
law, still pool this business
Both the interested roads. the Santa
Fe and the Southern Pacific, do not see
how they are evading the law or break
ing it. Perhaps this is one of the mat
ters j. C. Stubbs is considering. for
he has sent word that nothing definite
has been done and nothing definite can
be done until the committee of experts
to be appointed by the railroads has
conferred with the commission. This
committee has not as yet been ap-
pointed, but Mr.. Stubbs believes that
when 1t does meet great good will
come from the conference
When a high official of the Southern
Pacific was asked If the pooling of the
soldier and the sailor business was to
continue he said that the law was not
exactly understood by the agents of
the lines who did not share in the
business.
GUARDIANS OF SOLDIERS.
IF they think they are going to get
a share in this traffic there is another
think coming to them, he said de-
cisively. THE interested railroads
have been as father and mother
to these poor soldiers and sailors. They
have saved them from all kinds of
sharks. and they have worked solely
in the interest OF these brave lads.
They have worked SO hard that for
them they are enabled to see again
their fathers and their mothers, their
sweethearts and their wives, may be,
and all this is forgotten by the roads
who ought to aid us in our good work.