The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-11-29
FREIGHT RATES
To Be RAISED
Trans-Continental Officials Are
Planning TO Make an
Advance.
WILL AFFECT PACIFIC
COAST POINTS ONLY
Interstate Commerce Commits
sion Has Not Yet Indorsed
Proposed Schedules.

"I believe that"tbo railroads and the
interstate commerce commission are
trying to get together, that they arc
trviug to agree on uniform rate. that
will be Just to all parties. 1t is a big
work out, The railroad companies are
not trying TO eyade the law, but the
people of the country should try and
be Just to the railroad companies. i
have no official information as to tho
contcnts of the news dispatch, but L be-
ljeve that tho problem will be worked
ont TO the Justice of aIl concerned +"
This was the statement of j. A. Reeves.
general freight agent for the Oregon
Short Line, last night upon information
Of press dispatch from Chicago. The
dispatch follows.
Planning all Advance.
Trans continental railroad officials In
session in Chicago arc planning an ndN
vance In freight rates between Chicago,
New York. Boston and other eastern
points and the Pacific coast. The ad-
vance contempIatcs increases amounting
TO 20 and 3G per cent according TO a
news article published here today A
plan Is contemplated which will increase
the rate between Chicago and the Pacific
coast, but also viii cut down materially
the advantage over Chicago which New
York and Atlantic seaboard shippers have
enjoyed in the past. THE rates from Chi
cago and New York to tho coast here
toforo have been the same. Under the
proposed schedule, not yet iDdorscd by
the interstate commerce commission, the
rate from Chicago TO the Pacific coast
is raised 80 cents a hundred pounds, but
New York has dollar added TO the
tariff its shippers now pay or freight
from there TO Pacific coast points.
The trans continental lines arc now i'm
conference over their proposed through
schedule Increases. In their effort they
seek shelter under the amendment to Tho
long and short haul clause of the inter
state commerce law. effective February
IL
Why the Increase.
The railroads seek This increase az
an alternative. They say they do not
want to be forced BY the government TO
reduce their rates TO intermediates points
In the west. which in some cases arc
higher than tho existing through rates
TO the coast. Their alarm In this direc-
ton, the roads claim, Is Justified by the
action of the interstate commerce com
mission in the Spokane rate case, where
the original rate from eastern points
eQualcd the through rate TO coast points
plus the local rate from the coast back
10 Spokane. Tho interstate commerce
commission reduced the through rate to
Spokane first TO an equality with that
TO coast points and later TO ten cents
lcss than that To The coast.
Tho railroads will ask the Interstate
commerce commission first to maintain
the existing rates. Falling that, they
VIII throw their whole energy into an
ebort for an Increase of existing through
rnres 10 The Pacific coast 25 or even 33 ! 3
per cent. tentative schedule of rates
now under consideration, advances tho
nrst class rate from New York TO Pacific
coust cities from s3 10 81 per hundred
pounds. with corresponding increases on
the lower Of tho five numbered and five
letiercj classes. The rates to interne-
diate points are TO be graded between
these igures. On this basis the first class
would be approximately $3.50 instead of
s3. as at present.
The principal railroad systems involved
IN the plan for rcadJustment OF the west
ern rates are the Hartman lines. includ-
Ing the Union Pacific, and the Southern
Phcltlc; The 1Iil lines. the Great North
ern and Northern Pacific: the Gould lines.
including the Western Pacific and tho
nSn,er , Rio Grande; the Atchison. To-
rcka y Santa Fc, and the Chicago, MIL
"aukec Il 81. Paul, although ncarl--
every railroad In the United States moro
or less will he affected.
What Stubbs Says
We simply are working on a plan to
present TO tho commission a tariff that
WIZ not conflict with the amendments
fourth section OF the interstate com
merce act" said j. c. Stubbs, traffic di-
rector OF The Hartman lines, yesterday.
Nothing has been decided upon, and
any rates thus far considered merely are
tentative"
a 1918 first class scale has b.a dis
cussed and also a 81 scale" sold another
trafiic official. "Thcre Is nothing tangi-
pic yet 10 present The roads are con-
siderluS t~o general plans. One is to
charge higher rates to intermccisto to
points as ut present. and the other is,to
establish uniform graded scale for class
rates, based on the commissions rates,
winch they prescribed as reasonable 10
the intermediate points Taking sS 30 az
reasonable for Spokan> and Salt Lake
Citys The rate to the coast would be
somewhat higher, or course, and New
cago. although the difference would be
somewhat less than the local rate OF rs
cents from New York to Chicago