The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1912-03-21
Report of House Committee Mi
nority Protests Against the
Coastwise Charge
HAND OF RAILROADS
is EASILY DISCERNIBLE
Middle West Would Not Suffer
at Expense of Seaboards
and Gulf
REDUCTION In FREIGHT
RATES CONTEMPORANEOUS
Especial Dispatch 10 The Call

wy YASHINGTON, March 20
"f Five members of the house
w committee on interstate COM
mercc today filed a minority
report on the canal bill, strongly ad-
vocating free tolls for American ships
n the coastwise trade Those signing
he report were Representatives
Broussard, Goldfogle, Knowland,
Doremus and Calder.
Be Toll Gate
The report says in part:
Firmly convinced that the United
States has the right to relieve
American ships engaged in the
coastwise trade from the payment
of toll charges through the Panama
canal, the undersigned members OF
the committee on interstate and
foreign commerce dissent from the
report accompanying house bill 21,-
$50 submitted by the majority OF
the committee.
This BILL in so far as it provides
for levying tolls upon vessels en-
gagged IN commerce between the
states. is entirely new in American
history From the beginning of the
government to the present time,
now that we have appropriated
s427,0eS.236.00 for the improvement
of rivers and harbors and the con-
struction of canals. exclusive of the
Panama canl, 1t has never entered
into the conception OF congress to
erect a tollgate in the path of our
domestic trade for the benefit Of
which these improvements have
been made
The minority enters an emphatic
protest against the abandonment in
this bill of our historic policy of
free commercial intercourse be-
tween the states. This great canal,
built for the American people by
American money, genius and enter
prise, should be forever a free and
untrammeled route with transporta-
tion by and. We can not emphasize
too strongy the eementary PROPOSE
tion that tolls levied upon vessels
engaged in commerce between our
eastern and western seaboards in
crease the amount the transconti-
mental railroads may charge for the
same service.
II vessel en- route from San
Francisco to New York through the
canal were required to pay $1,000 in
tolls. the transcontinentaI railroads
would be largely the beneflciaries
This question affects every ton OF
domestic freight that passes through
the canal and every ton that is car
ried across the country by the rail-
roads.
In comparatively few instances
opposition TO free tolls has devel-
oped In certain localities in the
middle west, based upon the erron-
eous assumption that any reduc-
tions in freight rates between the
Atlantic and Pacific seaboards will
give the Pacific. gulf and Atlantic
coast cities an advantage over the
middle west cities in competing
for the trade. of the intermountain
section of the west.
There might be some ground for
this assumption were 1T not for the
fact that the rail freight rates be-
tween the middle west and the Pa
cific coast never exceeded those be-
tween the Atlantic and Pacific sea
boards, and are frequently lower
ANY reduction in freight rates
forced by sea competition between,
say New Yor kand San Francisco.
is TO be contemporaneously applied
between Chicago. ST. Paul, st.
Louis, Kansas City, and, in fact,
every city of the middle west on
the one hand and every coast city
or town on the other.
Inasmuch as rates between the
entire colInfry east of the Missouri