Arizona republican., 1916-02-06
RULED COAST SHIPPING
 BARRED RIVALS
Republican A. p. Leased Wire1

lHepupItcan A. r. Leased Wire NEW YORK, Feb. 5.-The South ern Pacific Railway company so dom mated steamship traffic in 1909 that the Philadelphia and Gulf line, or ganiZed in Philadelphia to handle freight between gulf ports and the Atlantic seabOard was unable to par ticipate or charter vessels and subse- iquently went into receivership, ac- cording to testimony offered before Interstate Commerce Commissioner Mayer today in the hearing on the duplication of the Southern Pacific to continue control of it's Morgan line steamships under the Panama Canal act.
 Frederick Groves of Philadelphia, i who promoted the Philadelphia and Gulf line and was it's first pres lident, testified that his company had rates with the Pennsylvania railroad and railroads in the southwest and was offered a large amount of freight but that opposition by the Southern i Pacific made it impossible to obtain ships. Efforts to charter them even on the Pacific coast met with failure he said. Mir. Groves appeared as witness against the application "The Southern Pacific bounded us and crippled us in every way" he testified The persecution was sys- tematic and continuous"
 1 He said he believed that with the Southern Pacific on the seas it would be impossible to get dollar to op- crate an independent line between At Ilantic and Gulf ports but that if the Southern Pacific was divorced from the Morgan line, the field would be attractive and profitable. resulting in q greater development of water traf- fic north of Galveston.
 Prior to the formation of the Phil adelphia and Gulf line, the witness said he shipped goods from New York to gulf ports by way of 8alti- more. The New York and Baltimore 1 Transportation Company in which he was interested, took the freight as far as Baltimore and the Southern Pacific the rest of the way Under Ithis arrangement. Mr. Groves ex- lplained. the goods went on one bill lof lading and the two companies split the profits The witness said he de- handed and got an increase in the share of profits turned over to his company. This led to a quarrel dur ing which the Southern Pacific put on Iso called fighting ships" to compete with the New York and Baltimore. It
 was then that he organized the Philadelphia and Gulf line, he ad- mitted
 Cross examined, MT Groves was un- able to name any individual represen- Itative of the Southern Pacific who tried to prevent, as he had charged, the raising of subscriptions to form lthe Philadelphia and Gulf line. His
 Information regarding the impossihil- ity of getting ships came from his brokers, he said, and he admitted he ihad not tried to buy vessels from the
 Southern Pacific
 W. M. Harrison of Philadelphia, lsecretary of the Delaware Traffic As
 sociation, asked that the Morgan line
 and the Southern Pacific be divorced so that Philadelphia might get the
 benefit of free competition.
 Representatives of Galveston, San
 Francisco, Baltimore, Boston, and
 New Orleans favored a continuation
 of the roads ownership. w H lChandler manager of the traffic bu l. lreau of the Boston Chamber of Com
 merce. said a separation would be Iagainst the interests of New England shippers. as the attitude of the South ern Pacific had been to give them
 benefit of the New York date.
 Theodore C. Brent, general mana
 ger of the New Orleans traffic bu- reau, declared that any interference with the roads control would be little short of a calamity" but that
 an alleged discrimination in rates un- favorable to New Orleans should be
 remedied He asked that the com
 mission have hearings in New Or
 leans to consider the rate question.