The San Francisco call., 1910-04-15
SHIPPING men
MAKE APPEAL
To THE SENATE
Bates & ChesebrOugh, Tired
of DaIIying of Dickinson, Ask
for an investigation
War Secretary's Protection of
Pacific Mail interests
Is Opposed

All tho correspondence that has
passed between Secretary of War J. NJ
Dickinson and Bates q Chesebrough ot
this city. relative to the admittance OF
a steamship line to operate in compe-
tition with the Pacific Mail between
Panama and San Francisco. has beer
forwarded by the local firm. following
the refusal of the secretary to allow
them conditions under which they could
do business, to the senate committee
on interoceanic canals to be considered
by that body. This may be the means
of bringing Dickinson before that com
mittee for the second time He was
grilled for an extended hearing by the
company when he granted the Pacific
Mail steamship company, last Novem-
her, an increase of from so to 20 pei
cent on the tariff on all through freight
and thus obtained for the govern
ment but 80 per cent
In view of a general defense of the
war secretary that has been tele-
graphed over the country from Wash
ingtOn during the last few days the
local steamship firm has presented the
course Of the negotiations between II
and Dickinson, and put plainly the
sweeping declarations the secretary
makes
H. s. Bates Of the firm of Bates &
Chesebrough said yesterday:
Secretary Dickinson's apparent
Interpretation Of the open door pol
icy is his present arrangement with
The Pacific Mail steamship COM
panE. It is obvious that conditions
under which one company with
monopoly IS operating can not be
Identical with conditions where
there Is competition and two COM
panies or more are operating.
AS an example of this let US cite
the Instances where we asked Sec
retary Dickinson If he would give
.us half of such available cargo
space as he might have. leaving the
Pacific Mail steamship company to
receive the other half. and this half
only 10 be guaranteed US up to the
time third competitor might enter
the held. Secretary Dickinson re-
fused this reasonable request on
our part, stating that the Pacific
Mail had no agre Sment for half
the available space.
What We would like TO know is
now could any sane man believe
that they would have a contract
for half available space, when.
under their present agreement.
they are entitled 10 and receive all
Of the available space. so far as
they can gather cargo to fill same.
secretary Dickinson demanded
ll-aL we Don0 ourselves 10 carry out
our contract. One Of the clauses of
this contract was to the effect that
we furnish $4,000 tons Of freight
year. We naturally took it. as / be-
lieTc any one would, that the sec
retarN was requiring US to bond
ourselves TO furnish the 10000 tons
annually. so we requested that the
secretary agree to carry the 10000
tons annually. This he refused TO
do. saying il would be showing us
preference. and so we wired ask
ing under what conditions he would
allow US to conduct steamship
line
Now the secretary in his state
ments merely tells of the request
we made that he agree to carry our
10000 tons a year. He does not
mention that we afterwar,i asked
for his own terms These terms he
did not give until forced to DO so.
and then they effectually prohibited
US from going into business.