Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1910-01-26
HARBOR BOARD
DEMANDS LOWER
RAILWAY RATES
CHARGES FROM PORT TO LOS
ANGELES EXCESSIVE
COMPLAINT FILED WITH STATE
COMMISSION
Because of Discrimination Much Of
Freight Destined for Los Angeles
Is Sent BY Way of
San Diego

Initial steps were taken yesterday to
do away with the excessive rates
charged for transportating freight be-
tween San Pedro and Los Angeles
when A. P. Fleming, secretary OF the
board of harbor commissioners ap-
reared before the state railroad COM
mission and filed complaint in when
the commission is asked to eStabllsh
stations for receiving and dlscharSlng
freight in the territory now a part OF
Los Angeles as a result of annexation.
Copies of the complaint will be served
on the Southern Pacific and the SAT-
Lake route, and replies will be MADE
by those companies in ten days. A
hearing will be had in thirty days.
when a definite decision will be
reached.
According to the complaint the es-
tablishment of public team tracks LOT
the receipt and discharge of frelght'
is the only method of solving the PROP
lem which now confronts merchahts
doing business in Greater Los Angeles
If the stations are established, run rec
ognition of Greater Los Angeles as
unit city will be given by the ran
roads. This is one of the points for
which the harbor commission mas peeh
fighting for a long time.
In the complaint an equitable rate
for switching cars from one statlon 10
another is also prayed for. II the ue-
mands of the commissioners are grant
ed the rate will be the same between
all points. Thus the exorbitant local
rate between San Pedro and Los An
geles will be eliminated and the great
tonnage destined for Los Angeles ana
interior points now being received
through the port of San Diego will be
received direct in Los Angeles through
its own port of San Pedro.
Rates Should Be Same
It is argued in the complaint which
was read to the commissioners py
Secretary Fleming, that by virtue Oh
fhe election of August %, 1909, san
pedro and Wilmington became integral
Darts of Los Angeles. AS such, 1t is
argued San Pedro and Wilmington are
entitled to similar treatment at the
hands of the railroads and the same
freight rates as the various parts OF
Los Angeles, enjoyed before consol-
dalton.
THE charge now made by the South
ern Pacific company for switching al
freight except crude oil in the old
limits of Los Angeles, is % cents ton,
or minimum of SIS a car. On crude
oil it is $40 a car. These charges are
considered unjust and unreasonably
high. For transporting freight OF all
kinds between San Pedro and Los An
geles. the charge is 81 ton. On lum-
her it is $1.20 a ton. The rates or the
Southern Pacific and the Salt Lake
routes are the same.
If is alleged in the complaint that,
although Los Angeles is a maritime
citv and that during the year ending
January l, 1910, the total tonnage OF
the Port of Los Angeles was LABS 527
tons. or about one-fourth the tonnage
of San Francisco, terminal rates have
been denied local shippers. In other
words shippers must pay the through
rate from any point to Los Angeles
h-rbor and then pay in addition the
local rate of 50 per ton between Los
Angeles and San Pedro. This 1t is
declared, is a manifest injustice and
means the ruin of commerce for Los
Angeles harbor.
San Diego Favored
By way of comparison it is cited in
the complaint that the Santa Fe rail-
road hauls freight from San Diego to
Los Angeles, a distance of 127 miles,
at the same rate that the Southern
Pacific and Salt Lake routes charge for
hauling freight between San Pedro and
the business center of Los Angeles,
distance of twenty-four miles. 1t is
declared rs per cent of the through
freight destined to Los Angeles har-
Dor, is diverted so as to go through
the port of San Diego. This is alleged
to be unjust discrimination against the
commercial and consuming interests Of
Los Angeles.
In conclusion the complaint recites:
"That the distance from River sta
ton to University station in the city
of Los Angeles is seven miles, and
the distance from River station in the