Smyrna times., 1907-02-20
PENNA. RAILROAD
MEN INDICATED
Only Fifteen Employees Received
Graft" From Shippers.
NO FAVORITISH WAS SHOWN

New York, Feb ia mistaken
public opinion. misinformed as to the
facts. because of the publication of
portions. and not the whole, of the tes.
timOny of the witnesses before the in
terstate commerce commission, and.
therefore. basing its conclusions upon
insufficient premises. has done grave
injustice to the whole service of the
Pennsylvania Railroad company. That
service is of more than 60 years
growth; it is constituted, in the main,
of educated. trained and self-respecting
men. whose honorable lives have won
the esteem of those who know them
best; it has it's traditions of loyalty;
and it has had. in its successive Of
fcers. examples of unselfish devotion
to duty and steadfast adherence to the
right"
This in brief is the report of the
special committee appointed by the
board of directors of the Pennsylvania
Railroad company nearly year ago
to examine into the facts connected
with the acquisition and ownership by
officers and employees of the company
of stock or other interest in any COM
pany the holding of which could af-
feet the performance of their duty or
the company's duty to the public. The
alleged acceptance of gratuities by
employees of the company also was in
quired into by the company AS a re-
suit of it's examination of 2505 officers
and employees, including every officer
of the several companies whose indi-
| vidual action or whose order to any
| subordinate could effect any discrimi-
nation, the committee reports it found
that 266 had interests in coal or other
| corporations or firms or with indi-
| viduals. With the exception of Is, all
of these had acquired their interests
| by purchase. The Is admitted that
they had received gifts of shares or
interests in various corporations, and
their names have been reported to the
presidents of the several railroad COM
panies for appropriate action.
On the whole, the report vindicates
the officers and employees of the Penn
sylvania railroad system.
Allegation of favoritism to certain
shippers of freight, mainly coal, are
treated at considerable length by the
committee. which sums up the result
of its investigation of this subject with
the statement that there has not been
and is not on the part of the railroad
company any discrimination as be-
tween shippers in the facilities given
for the exercise for that legal right"
Much of the trouble which led to the
allegations, the committee believe, was
due to the so-called individual cars. In
1906 there were 27,500 individual cars
in service on the Pennsylvania rail
road. For the use of these cars the
railroad pays six mills per mile loaded
or empty and charges the regular
freight rates on the loaded cars. The
individual cars cause suspicious OF
preference and lead to "unfounded, but
veXatious," charges of discrimination
While recognizing all the disadvan
tages. however the railroad company
has not yet seen it's way clear to dc
away with the individual cars The
| iCdoOH SANCn iOi u
discontinue the individual car service
is that equipment cannot be provided
rapidly enough to meet the growth o
business.
On chages of discrimination to ia
vored shippers in the bituminous Goa
fields, the committee quotes the repor
of a company of expert accountant
: who made an investigation of the mat
ter. The accountants report declare
that the officers of the railroad com
pany have fair operating or other rea
| sons to present in explanation of sucl
: seeming preference and discrimina
tion."
TRIED TO STEAL LOCOMOTIVE