The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1911-01-04
A COMPROMISE
ON FREIGHT RATES
Considerable Reduction I'm
Rates to Charleston.
MINORITY REPORT
BY BANKS CAUGHMAN


will be Considerable to Mill People
are Not Ready to Say that ii will be
Sufficient.
More knowledge of freight rate in
tricacies than most persons possess is
required to determine ;,e precise ef-
feet or neaning of the South Caro-
lima railroad commissions ruling, is
sued Thursday night, upon the peti-
tion of ll3 out of the 179 cotton mills
of the State for reduced rates on cot
ton piece goods to Charleston from
interior textile Centers; but ii may be
fairly said that the decision is a COM
promise, as between the petitioners
and the carriers-a compromise not
unlike that made by the commission
under similar circumstances in 1902.
Reduction is Considerable.
unonlcially, it is said that the new
circular effects reduction Of approx
imately 20 per cent. From Columbia
the new rate is is cents, per hundred
weight as against 23 cents. From the
Spartanburg group rate of "a cents
is applied, in contrast to former
rate OF 30 cents.
The reduction granted is not so
great as that which was sought, but
it is sufficient to encourage the mills
to make good in their promised effort
to develop Charleston as a great tex
tile concentrating, finishing and dis
tributing center
What the Mills Asked,
What the mills chiefly asked. i'm
their printed petition of so pages, was
specifically this: That the commission
put into effect commodity rate of
20 cents on carload lots and 22 cents
on all other shipments of cotton piece
goods, from the South Carolina mill
points, embracing the Greenvillle
group and the Spartanburg group, to
Charleston; and commodity rate of
lj cents on carload lots and like
rate of is cents on all the other ship
ments of cotton piece goods, from the
Columbia mills to Charleston, making
tariff of rates from the other mill
points in the State to Charleston, on
that basis"
The Compromise of 1902.
The 1902 compromise, which was
much like that made in this instance,
was the result Of a petition by the
mills asking that the existing rate of
30 cents per hundredweight to Char
lesion be reduced to n rate of "a cents
from Spartanburg and is cents from
Columbia as basal points, and also
that greater dispatch in the carriage
of shipments be required. The com
mission compromised as between mills
and carriers by promulgating a rate
of so cents from the Grcenvlle group
OF mills and % cents from the Spar
tanburg group to Charleston. I'm ad-
dition a freight schedule of 81 hours
from Piedmont mill points To Charles
ton WAS ordered to be established
Charleston Terminal Charge.
One plea of the petitioners i'm the
present case the commission ignores.
This was that the terminal charge of
throe cents per hundrcdweight at
Charleston be eliminated 1t Was CON
tended by the petitioners that the
Charleston Terminal company's sys-
ten ought to be considered as "A part
OF the Atlantic Coast Line and hence
should be operated under the rule
@ovorning continuous mileage
The Minority Report.
Commissioner Caughman's minority
report says i'm substance that the
board has not had time to consider
properly the petition; that Commits
sionor Sullivan died i'm the midst of
the hearings; that the matter ought
20 be considered in connection with
the revision of classification and break
rule already before the commission.
and that the writer hopes to be able
within the next ten days to give to
the public his 'many reasons" for m-
Willingness to agree to the reduction
asked for
Commissioner Caughman votes to
dismiss the petition without preiu-
dice, for the present for the follow
ing reasons:
The commission has before ii now
a general reduction on classes as we'll
as the fivc-mile break in South Caro-
lima.
"lnasmuch as these two petitions
filed with the commission for reduc-
tiOn occurred ahout tho CANA date