The San Francisco call., 1913-08-24
Railroad Files Petition Sup
plenenting Wells Fargo
Plea for Rehearing by
Commission
? RULING ATTACKED AS
UNCONSTITUTIONAL
New Schedule Would Entail
Coniscatory Reduction in
Freights, Is Alleged

Supplementing the application of
Wells Fargo & Co., filed Friday, the
Southern Pacific company yesterday pc
titioned the California railroad COM
mission for a rehearing on the proposed
reduction in Wells Fargo express rates
within the state.
The railroad represents that the
planned reductions in rates would so
reduce the earnings of the express
company that it would not be able to
pay the Southern Pacific company its
80 per cent, which it claims is a
reasonable return for the service rem
dered.
The Southern Pacific company as
serts that the nominal 40 per cent
which it receives from Wells Fargo &
Co. is really greater, and is equal to
the 55 per cent paid the Santa Fe. be-
cause of preferential routings and its
obtaining Sc per cent of the state
business. and for other reasons.
This would deny the statement that
by a lower contract rate Southern Pa
sific stockholders were suffering to the
benefit of Wells Fargo & Co. stock
holders.
The Southern Pacific company as
serts that it is entitled to petition for
rehearing upon the following
grounds:
"First-Said decision and order are
beyond the power which has been
vested in your commission by the con-
b stitution and the statutes of the state
of California, and violates the consti-
tuition of the United States, in that
said decision and order confiscate the
property OF your petitioner deprive 1T
of its property without due process of
claw and deny your petitioner the equal
g protection of the law, in violation of
= article XIV of the constitution of the
article 1 of the constitution of the
state of California.
'.Second-That said decision and
order are unjust and unreasonable in
that by said decision and order your
petitioner Is denied the right to
charge reasonable compensation for
the services rendered by it In trans
porting and handling express matter
upon its trains and at its depots. and
in that said decision and order will re-
ouce the compensation now charged by
"a your petitioner for performing said
services to such an extent as to compel
it to perform said services at an actual
loss, and in that said decision and or
commission after proceedings had in
which the evidence introduced does not
sustain said decision and order, and
WHICH SdlQ evidence your D6IlJ1Oner
has not been afforded an opportunity to
test, explain or refute."
ALLIED INTERESTS DENIED :.
Denial is made of the charge con-
tanned in the commissioners order
that the Southern Pacific company is
a principal stock holder of Wells Fargo
& Co. Concerning this the petition
says:
ITO the contrary. your petitioner
a7n - i
express company and the officers and
stock holders of said Southern Pacific
company are not the principal stock
holders of said express company. and
the stock of said express company is
owned, held and controlled by persons
who have no control of said Southern
dif Paciflc +So1 company. and your petitioner
cial manipulation surrounding the ex-
press business, or that any such al
legged financial manipulation has been
made at all possible by the relations
between the express company and your
petitioner.
q FUTURE FREIGHT LOSS
Your petitioner further represents
that the express rates prescribed by
q thee order of the commission are in
many instances but little. IL any high
er than the freight rates on corre-
spending commodities between the
G same points, and that such order not
only directly affects your petitioner s
earnings by reducing its percentage of
the gross rates, but will also affect
your petitioners earnings and business.
indirectly, by diverting to the express
company business which may be prop
erly handled by freight, thereby not
only depriving your petitioner of a
portion of Its earnings from such
freight business, but also unduly bur-
dening the passenger train service of
your petitioner and impeding the ex-
pedition necessary to the proper trans
portation by express of articles which
require expeditions transportation and
delivery"