The San Francisco call., 1907-01-22
HARTMAN RAILWAY
MERGER PROBED
Interstate Commissioner f..
K. Lane Begins Hearing at
Seattle on Freight Rates
COAST TRAFFIC TOLD

SEATTLE. Jan. 1.-The first hear
ing on the Pacific Coast into the Harri-
man merger was held In Seattle to-
day by Interstate Commerce Commis-
sioner Franklin X. Lane. After Tour
witnesses had testified the hearing was
continued until 10 o'clock Thursday
morning in the Federal courtroom in
Portland Or To show that Hartman
has absorbed and merged parallel and
competing lines in violation of the
Sherman law is the purpose OF the
present investigation.
Ben Campbell, fourth vice president
of the Great Northern and head of the
traffic department of that road, who
was formerly connected with the tratdc
department OF the Hartman lines as
assistant to ]. c. Stubbs. was the first
witness today. Campbell. was at the
head of the traffic department Of the
Oregon Railroad and Navigation Com
pany before the merger wien the
Southern Pacific.
Attorney Severance sought to show
by Campbell that, previous TO the
the Southern Pacific on one hand and
the Oregon Railroad and Navigation,
Oregon Short Line and Union Pacific.
and that after the merger competition
ceased.
The affairs of the Oregon Railroad
and Navigation's Oriental service were
gone into, and it was developed that
tract with Dowen Co. and the Ore
gon Railroad and NavigatiOn's own
line, the Portland and Asiatic, were
operated at loss.
why were the connecting lines es-
tablished?" asked Judge R. s. Lovett.
who was then examining the witness
in defense.
Solely for the purpose of affording
an outlet at Portland in competition
with the Northern Pacific at Puget
Sound ports" said Campbell.
Campbell also stated that the Port
land route TO the Atlantic seashOre
was an impractical one. He admitted
a mild competition between the South
ern Pacific and the Oregon Railroad
and Navigation Company river service
on the Willamette.
w w. Cotton of Portland attorney
for the Oregon Railroad and Naviga-
tion. made the witness state that the
Willamette service above Salem was In
consequential
Tell us about the size OF that skim
mirg dish We operated above Salem,' %
said Cotton to the witness.
About seventy five tons" said Mr..
Campbell.
Severance asked the stenographer to
ACon AAC 4UOtcAANAi -OisoA4t
and explained: DO you mean by that
that it had holes in the bottom?"
Well most of the time" said Camp
bell, laughing.
Campbell stated that the river boat
in question was the Gypsy and she
operated about three months yearly and
carried Il little farm produce at rates
which had been permanently estab-
lished for many years. He admitted
that the o. r. and n. and the Southern
Pacific competed in moving wool to
Eastern markets. Campbell estimate
that OF eastern competitive business
the Union Pacific brings so per cent to
Portland. the Southern Pacific 3 per
cent. the Great Northern 15 per cent
or IS per cent and the Northern Pacific
IS per cent or so per cent.
But in Atlantic scabOard business
the Southern Pacific brings in a much
larger percentage to Portland, does it
not?" asked Severance.
Campbell replied that he thought the
Southern Pacific handled about 20 per
cent of the Atlantic seaboard business
TO Portland. adding that his estimate
was a pure guess.
Summed up. Campbell's evidence
showed that there was competition be-
tween the different Oregon lines until
merged by Hartman. He belittled the
extent of this competition under exami-
nation by attorneys for the Hartman
interests