The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-06-06
PRESIDENT WILL
HEAR THEIR SIDE
Three Railway Men VIII Hold
Conference With Taft Re-
garding That Injunction
DECLARE SHIPPERS
WERE GIVEN NOTICE
But Wickersham Has Given Elk
ecutive Real Facts and Has
Fortified Him With Sta
tistics.

"StAASSio S, IL e.. June g.
arranging their conference with
President Taft for O'Clock this ar
ternoon. when the stock market viii
nave closed, and declining to discuss
their plans In detail three railroad
presidents arrived here to-day TO pro-
Test against the governments intunc-
ton suit holding up increased freight
rates In the Mississippi river terri
tory.
Il. r. Ripley. president of the Santa
re, was at the head of the deiega-
ton. with 3. r. Felton,. president OF
the Chicago Great Western. and f.
A. Defano, president OF the Wabash,
rs his hackers.
The Impression prevailed here to-
day that II was purposely arranged.
30 that possible fiat refusal on the
part of President Taft to put any
limitations upon the action, the de-
partment Of Justice would be an
nounced too late In the day to affect
the market
Ripley positively refused to give
out any statement, saying he would
not talk for publication until after
he saw the President
Without gong into details, Prest-
dent Deiano said that 1t would be
their purpose to Justify themselves
and to convince President Taft and
Nat@ 1A$pa aEs al LHAt III ItAAl& the
tariffs complained of by the shippers
the Western trunk line committee had
not changed the practice which has
been in vogue for the last fourteen
years.
Nothing Secret.
HE denied that the presidents Of
the roads had acted secretly or that
the shippers I'm the Western territory
mad been kept uniformed of the
rates In the proposed new tar.ff. He
said that 1890 copies Of the tariff
had been printed and distributed
among the shippers, and that the
roads had receipts for them. This
number was larger than that required
by the law. lie said.
This statement that the shippers
were furnished copies of the new tar
LIN as early as May ] liz In direct con-
Met with that of the representatives
OF the shippers appointed at the oma-
Ia meeting who came To Washington
last Monday and declared that IL had
been impossible for them to obtain
those copies prior to May IL
Attorney General Wickersham to-
day prtmed Taft with the facts on the
governments side OF the case. An
swering the charge OF tnconsistence.
he pointed out that both houses of
Congress have absolutely refused TO
adopt the recommendations Of the
President for the legaliz!ng OF traffic
agreements. and for that reason the
law upon the subject remained un-
T changed and had to be enforced. The
roads should have realized this, he
maintained. He lief, with the Presi-
dent a mass of figures compiled by
the Interstate Commerce Commission
and a copy OF the charges made by
Western shippers.
Railway Arguments.
IT was learned authoritatively that
the arguments the railroad magnates
will present TO President Taft will be
as follows:
First That the increases in tariffs
to date affect only a minute part OF
the entire freight
Second. That there was no agree
ment of any kind whatsoever be-
tween the railroads in the legal
sense. All that happened was that
zone railroad gave notice to others
that 1t would increase rates. and il
the railroad notified desired TO take
the same step, 20 well and good"
Third. That tho present uncertatn-
~ OF the situation Is disastrous to
the credit OF the railroads and is
undermining the value of securities.
The railroad presidents declare that
statistics showing earnings above net
expense of maintenance are mislead-
ing In that railroads. in order to bor-
no wmoney. must pat up securities
axgregating at least c5 per cent. above
the amount borrowed. For this rea-
son they argue that reserve rs ne
ceSsary to their credit.
1t liz understood that the railroad
men believe that the agitation had
its beginning in the tariff. They de-
clare that II the country had been
satisfied with the tariff law there
would have been no "andeFeaFrent
Of suspicion on the part of the pub
lie as TO any move the railroads
might make
Former Senator John G.. Spooner,
counsel for number OF midwest
ern railroads, and Walker d, Hines,
chief counsel for the Santa Fe. were
heard to-day in conference with the
railroad presidents.
At the White House President Taft
spent large part OF the day in pre-
pairing for the visit of the railroad
men, Senators Crane. Curtis. Depew.
Brandegee and Bourne were among
the callers who talked over the SUBJ
tect with him.
Tho general impression at the
White House seemed to be that there
would be no variation from the pro-
gram or Attorney-Genera1 Wicker
sham. After long conference with
the President, Senator Depew ire
publican OF New York; said:
THE railroads should have pre-
scented their case to the Interstate
commerce commission and not have
precipitately announced a great In
crease In rates at time when the
country Is passing period of ex4
citemAnt in railroad matters. II the |
railroads were confident that they had |
4 strong case In support of the pro-
posed increase. with their wages In |
creases and surface improvements |
that have been ordered, they should |
have gone to the commission and |
avoided this situation. II y probable /
that bef0rAS thie matter u finally do
IT, ntll %tll haxe