Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1917-10-22
S. P. Company
FavorS Thru Rates


the establishment Of through rates
which the lumber dealers Of the viii.
lamette valley are seeking, but has
been endeavoring for two years tc
bring them about through negotia-
tions with the Great Northern and
the Northern Pacific, is the gist OF
Gu interview recently given out by
G. W, Luce, freight traffic manager
Of the Southern Pacific Company.
The Importance of the lumber in
dustry to the well-being of western
Oregon is such that Mr.. Luce's an
alysis of the situation should prove
Of great public interest.
Hearing was recently given at
Portland by representatives Of the In
terstate Commerce Commission to a
complaint filed by lumber shippers
along the Southern Pacific's lines in
Oregon. This complaint asked that
the commission require the Northern
Pacific, Great Northern, and Chicago,
Milwaukee & st. Paul railways to
join the Southern Pacific in through
rates on lumber to points on their
lines in Minnesota and North Dakota.
At this hearing the willingness of the
Southern Pacific to grant the relief
prayed for by the Willamette lumber
men was brought out.
The situation as explained by Mr..
Luce is this: The policy of the Hill
roads has been to refuse common
point rates on lumber from points on
the Southern Pacific in Oregon for
lumber destined to local stations on
their lines in North Dakota and Min
nesota Thus the Willamette lumber
men are shut out of northern terri
tory by unfavorable rates.
On the other hand, the northern
mills may enter the southern terri
tory because of the fact that through
rates on lumber apply from stations
on the Northern Pacific and the
Great Northern to points on the Ore-
gon Short Line and Union Pacific In
Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska
and Kansas via Silver Bow and
Butte, Mont. These through rates
are identical with rates carried from
points on the Southern Pacific in Ore
gon to points on the Short Line and
the Union Pacific in the territory de-
scribed, Thus mills in Washington
can enter the same territory served
by western Oregon lumbermen, while
the latter can not compete with
Washington mills in the latter's own
territory.
The Willamette valley is confront
ed with a difficult problem from
every angle, for in 1915 the Inter
state Commerce Commission granted
Portland's demand for equal rates
with the valley toeCalifornia, though
the Southern Pacific has endeavored
to give the Willamette lumbermen
rate of 80 cents a ton lower than
Portland to San Francisco and con-
tiguous territory.
The Southern Pacific did this, ac-
cording to Mr.. Luce, because it has
long recognized the fact that the in
terror rail mills in Oregon south of
Portland are surrounded on all sides
by the most keen competition. Port
land mills, shipping into California
by water, are able to keep the rail
mills out of this territory, and went
east to Utah and beyond Thus the
Willamette mills are confronted with
competition all around.
The lumber from Oregon, says Mr..
Luce, is a different class than that
produced in California, and competi-
tion is one of transportation, not Of
lumber as a class. The Southern Pa
cific has been doing everything possi-
BILE to create a rate condition that
would enable the mills on their lines
to enjoy equal advantages with those
on other roads, but has encountered