The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-07-12

rate and routing arrangement between
Washington lumber manufacturing
points TO Salt Lake and the intermoun-
tain market via Portland and the Hill
and Hartman roads was told eXclu-
sively in The Herald Of July 8.
President Merrill spent three days in
Washington at the hearing on this
matter and he brings back the infor-
nation that eventually the through
rate and routing agreement will be en-
forced over The two roads and Salt
Lake and intermountain wholesalers
can then buy lumber from either the
Oregon or Washington mills, where
they are now forced to buy solely from
the Oregon manufacturers.
The Washington manufacturers
called for the hearing held by the COM
mission. They asked for the imme-
giving as their reason that on account
of the shortage of cars and other
equipment on the Hill lines they could
not move their stocks to market and
had been forced 10 shut down their
mills
The commission met June H. II and
13 and denied the Washington mills
their petition for the present. The one
ground upon which they based their
refusal was this-that Hartman can
not at the present time furnish the
Oregon manufacturers with cars
enough to move the lumber stocks they
have on hand. To enforce a through
rate and routing agreement between
the Washington manufacturing points
aud Salt Lake over the Hill and Har-
riman lines would mean that the Ore
gon manufacturers would be given less
cars than they now receive; they would
be in worse shape than ever to move
stocks 10 market; the Washington
manufacturers would not get enough
cars TO benefit them materially, and
altogether the situation would only be
made more complicated than it is at
present
No Objection to Competition.
This was the contention advanced by
the officials of the Hartman and the
Hill roads and by the Oregon manu-
racturers. They succeeded in estab-
fishing it completely. The Oregon
manufacturers raised no question as to
the right of the commission to enforce
the through rate and routing agree
ment ultimately, nor did the railroad
officials. Neither did they question the
fairness of opening the gateway and
giving this section of the west a COM
petitive market from which to buy.
ton to represent the western retail lum-
/ bermen at the hearing.
While thel commission refused to
grant the petition of the Washington
manufacturers for immediate relief,
they intimated very strongly that
eventually the Portland gateway must
be opened, and then went even further
and indicated that they have in mind
the ultimate enforcement of through
I
ments upon all railroads of the coun-
try between all manufacturing points
and all common consumption points in
given zones" he said Yesterday.
One OF the most important things
brought out at the hearing, according
to President Merrill, is the fact that
While the freight traffic of the west
has increased by hundreds of per cent
the past year and two years, the rail-
roads have increased their equipment
90 80 and 40 per cert only.
Car Shortage VIII Come.
From the estimates and figures
given before the commission in Wash
ingtOn as to the equipment of the Hill
and Hartman roads in the west at
present, and the amount of freight of
all descriptions to be handled this fall
and winter, there is absolutely no Ques-
ton but that we will be confronted by
car shortage this year of unparalleled
severity" declared President Merrill
emphatically yesterday.
On top of this prospect has come the
positive information that lumber freight
rates are to be raised and 10 per cent
this fall. Probably by Sept. l and pos
sibly not until Oct 1.
The railroads will not deny the report
of the prospective raise. They put their
position thus-labor has gone up all
over the country, every commercial
commodity has increased in price,
while freight rates have been lowered
instead of increased for years. We can't
build cars without money, and it takes
more money to build them now than