New-York tribune., 1908-01-17

Cbicaoo They terminate at Dolton. from
which point entrance is made over the Belt
Line Whiting. where the oil freight orig1-
mates, is not on the lines of the Chicago and
Eastern Illinois, which receives It's Whiting
freight from the Belt Line at DoltOn. The
former practice, now discontinued, Ill Sling
tariffs was to make them read from point on
the line of the filing road, and 1T was also gen
eral TO state on the same sheet, that the tariff
would apply to other points, e. e, Whiting.
The Chicago and Eastern Illinois followed
this practice in filing its rate from Dolton,
and making a note on the sheet that 1t applied
TO Whiting. This was In 1895 when this
method of fling tariffs was IN common use
Now let us see IN what way the intending
shipper of oil could be misled and deceived by
the fact that the Chicago and Eastern Illinois
had not filed a rate reading from Whiting
Commissioner Smith contends that conceal
ment is the only motive for such elremtous
arranoement' l. e., that this method OF h1ng
the rate was intended to n1islead intending
councillors of the Standard Oil Company.
Suppose such prospective OIL rehner had ap-
piled to the Interstate Commerce COMMISSION
for the rate from Chicago to East st. Louis
over the Chicago and Eastern Illinois, he would
have been informed that the only rate filed
with the commission by this company was 6H
cents from Doton. and he would have been
further informed, if indeed he did not know
this already. that this rate applied throughout
Chicago territory. So that whether he wished
to locate his plant at Whiting, or anywhere
else about Chicago, under arrangement OF
long standing and which applies to all the IN
dustria towns in the neighbOrhoOd of Chicago,
he could have his freight delivered over the
Belt Line to the Chicago and Eastern Illinois
at DoltOn and transported to East st. Louis at
a rate of 81 cents. Where then Is the con-
cealment which the Commissioner of Corpora
tions makes so much of? Any rate-frOm Dol
ton on the Eastern Illinois or Chappell on the
Alton or Harvey on the Illinois Central, or
Blue Island on the Rock Island, applies
throughout Chicago territory TO shipments
from Whiting, as to shipments from any other
point in the district. SO far from the Eastern
Illinois fling its rate from DoltOn In order to
deceive the shipper. it is the Commissioner OF
Corporations who either betrays his grass
ignorance of transportation customs in Chicago
territory or relies on the public ignorance OF
these customs to deceive the public too apt to
accept unquestioningly every statement made
by a Government official necessarily true,
although. as IN the present instance, care1ul
examination shows these statements to be false.
The final point made by President Mof1ett
that other commodities of character similar
to oil were carried at much lower rates than lS
cents. the Commissioner of Corporations dis
cusses only with the remark that the reason
ableness' of this rate is not In question. The
question is whether this rate constituted dis
elimination as against other shippers OF OIL.
and he also makes much of the failure OF Presl-
dent Moffett to produce before the grand jury
evidence of the alleged illegal acts of which
the Standard Oil official said that other large
shippers in the territory had been guilty. Con-