Los Angeles herald., 1907-01-23
Commission Exposes
Bribery of Road
Employees
Shippers Charge Railway
Men ExtOrt Unfair
Bonuses
Lumbermen Say They Have to Buy
Cars or Be Disseminated Against.
Practice Is Very
Common
BY Associated Press.

BY Associated Press.
SEATTLE, Wash, Jan. 22.-Evidence
indicating that lumbermen have been
paying money to railroad employees to
have cars spotted" on their tracks
was introduced before Interstate Com
merce Commissioner Franklin K. Lane
at the hearing this afternoon in the
car shortage investigation.
Charles NJ. Patton, president of the
Reliance Lumber company and presi-
dent and secretary of the Atlas Lum-
ber and Shingle company, made the
statement during the course of his ex-
animation. To say the evidence of Mr..
Patton was a sensation would be put
ting it mildly.
Mr.. Patton had been given some facts
and figures showing that there was
an apparent discrimination in the dis
tribution of cars at Tacoma among the
mills.
How do you account for this dis
crimination?" asked Commissioner
Lane.
'Only that somebody was buying
cars replied the witness.
''What is a common salutation among
lumber men concerning this purchase
of ears?" asked Austin E. Griffith, who
was conducting the examination for
the lumbermen.
WELL a very common salutation
among lumbermen is What is the price
today?" said Mr.. Patton.
THE price of cars runs from 81 to S.
a car. The practice on the part of the
railroad employees in selling cars has
been eliminated in the northern part of
the state, but still fourishes in the
south"
Practice Very Common
How common is that salutation
among the lumbermen?" queried Com
missioner Lane.
"Oh. it is very common" replied the
witness. 1T is almost a joke. Some
weeks ago the superintendent of our
mill at Tacoma saw very large car
being switched around. He asked the
conductor If we were going to get that
car. The conductor asked him how
much 1t was worth to him.
II have given strict orders that we
are not to buy any more cars, and the
superintendent said that while we
wanted that car pretty badly we were
not going to pay for it. The conductor
said that 1t was worth $40 to him, and
we did not get the car"
On cross-examination e. j. Cannon,
attorney for the Northern Pacific.
wanted to find out the names of the
shippers who paid for cars and the
names of employees. who had received
the money. Commissioner Lane de-
INJURED about going into the matter
ana remarked that that was matter
for the railroad company to investi-
gate.
But we dispute that any such prac-
tice exists" said Mr. Cannon.
"The commission has testimony
from all over the country that thu
practice is a pretty universal one"
said Commissioner Lane.
The matter ended there.
Shortage crippIes State
multitude of witnesses testified
before Commissioner Lane today about
the car shortage and the Gripping ef-
feet 1t has had on the industries of
the state, Not only We're the lumber
men put on the stand. but, Senator
Pauhamus told of the sufferlng of the
Puyallup berry growers and the
troubles of the wheat farmers of East
ern Washington were gone into.
The lumbermen contended that
while the car shortage was particular
ly acute at the present, there had never
been a time for years when they got
all the cars they had wanted. The rate
at which cars moved was gone into and
1t was shown that this has steadily de-
3. creased from an average daily move
ment per car of 94h miles in 1903 to 36
miles in 1906.
No attempt was made to dispute the
car shortage by the railroad attorneys
They sought to show, however, that
the present paralysis of traffic was the
result OF the floods in November
More than one hundred lumbermen
from various parts of Western Wash
ington were present at the opening of
the session to push their charges that
the Hill roads had failed to deliver
more than 35 per cent of the cars re-
quired to handle the timber products of
this state
Rival Attorneys Clash
From the beginning the proceedings
We're exciting, a clash occurring be-
tween General j. M Ashton, repre-
senting the lumbermen. and Attorney
Cannon of Spokane. representing the
Hill roads. State Senator Paulhamus
OF Pierce county was the main wit
ness for the lumbermen and sought
10 show that shippers have lost tens
or thousands of dollars during the
past year by the failure of the Hill
lines TO furnish cars. Attorney Cannon
objected to great deal of Paulhamus'
testimony ana there were frequent
clashes between counsel.
John G. Lawrence, member OF the
washington state railroad commission
and State Senator w. II. Paulhamus OF
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