The San Francisco call., 1909-06-10
WHEELER BLOCKS
INJURIOUS RATES
New Spokane" Schedule Held
Up Pending Hearing on
Pacific Coast
Entire Question to Be Thrashed
Out by Commission in
the Fall
ISeecial Dispatch TO The Call

WASHINGTON, June civilian r.
Wheeler. traffic representative of the
commercial organizations of San Fran
self tonight as well satisfied with the
arrangement made today by the inter-
state commerce commission for the
hearing of the intermountain rate cases
Commissioners Lane is at work trying
to induce the entire commission to visit
the coast in September, and the chances
are that he will succeed. Wheeler said
tonight:
THE fact that the interstate COM
merce commission has postponed the
Spokane case, evidently with the inten :
ton of considering all intermountain
rate cases at one time or rather under
one head. emphasizes the Importance
of this case to San Francisco, and calls
for alert and united effort on the part
of the San Francisco business interests
| if they hope TO retain their advantages
as an ocean terminal. The plans set
on foot by the interior railroads, #
consumnated. would mean that the
manufacturing and jobbing business
built up with so much labor at Pacific
coast points from Seattle to Los An
geles, would be swept away and trans
ferred to Chicago and other interior
centers No more vital question has
ever confronted the businessmen of the
Pacific coast.
TO PASS ON ALL AT ONCE
Il am very glad that the hearing of
! the case has been postponed until fall,
! for the reason that the intervening g
time may be we'll employed in arousing
! -;-{1
ing The hearing of all these matters
under one head is practical and expe-
ditious. Now it is UP to the coast to
make it's strongest showing in support
| of the contention that water competi-
tion should be ruling factor in fixing
intermountain and through freight
rates.
Mr. Stubbs' remarks in urging the
commission to grant hearings on the
| fundamental question involved in the
Spokane and related cases were well
to the point. The railroads know as
we'll as we do that this question will
not be settled until it is settled right.
They know that a contest is inevitable
and they are anxious to have it over.
1t would merely prolong the agony to
hear and decide each of these cases
separately. The same principle will
apply in all of them, and after the com
mission has held hearings at Spokane,
Seattle. Tacoma Portland, San Fran
cisco, Reno, Salt Lake, Los Angeles
| Phoenix, and possibly other points. the
whole question may be determined in
one opinion.
EAST Co-oPERATEs
"In a nutshell, the question underly-
ing all this contention is whether
Pacific coast ports and terminals shall
ho Of baf
situation in securing railroad rates
based on ocean competition, or whether
intermountain points shall have as low
rates as If they were maritime ter
minals. If the latter contention should
prevail, the distributing business of the
Pacic coast cities would be destroyed
and such interior centers as Chicago
would supplant San Francisco business
up to the very banks of the Sacramento
river"
| Wheeler has aroused the commercial
organizations of New York Boston
Philadelphia and Baltimore, and repre-
sentatives from those cities were or
hand today to join Wheeler in combat
ting the railroad plans to build up Chi
cago at the expense of Atlantic and Pa
cif1c terminal cities.
Among those present were: N B
Kelly of the Philadelphia chamber OF
commerce; S. S. Pratt, New York cham
Der of commerce; Bernard N Baker
Baltimore chamber of commerce; s. c.
Mead, Merchants association of New
York; D. o. Ives, Boston chamber OF
commerce. They made Wheeler spokes-
man of the ocean terminal cities, and
| he, with J. N. Teal of the Portland
chamber of commerce, was ready to
proceed with argument today. All
sides, however, expressed satisfaction
with the temporary arrangement pro-
posed by the interstate commerce com
mission.