Show AMERICAN COMMERCE The Question of Common Carriers in the United States INuw I I PLUMMERVILLE ELECTION STEAL The Story of the RobberyIndictments Found Forest Fire Brush FalsehoodsIt was j f New YorK May IThe Senate inter katc commerce committee resumed work this morning President Uobcrts of the Pennsylvania railroad testified that since the United States began to regulate railroads by special spe-cial the latter has been placed at a disadvantage in competing with those of Canada The effect of the Grand Trunk baa being independent of the legislation wSfch affects those of the United States is a constant menace to the latter I dont know that at present that the Canadian rocds do any injury to American Ameri-can commerce but they are in a position to do so at any time the managers see fit What advantages have the Canadian roads over those of the United States1 The Canadian Pacific is heavily subsidized subsi-dized by the government to encourage the development of the country Both the Grand Trunk and the Candian Pacific draw their supplies from England free of dtty dttCan Can roads in the United States be operated oper-ated as cheaply as the Canadian roads There is considerable doubt as to the answer to that question What remedy have you to suggest as an amendment to the law that would place the American and Canadian roads on an equal footing I think any foreign corporation doing business should bo subject to the same Jaws as the roads of our own country If the Canadian roads arc permitted to carry trafne in and out of the United States they should be made amenable to the laws Of course we could not oblige foreign roads to conform to our laws when out of the countr bu while they do business within cur boarders the same law should apply to both In fat 1 am not sure that loreign roads stioulu be allowed the privileges they cnjoj in this country even if under these conditions I cannot quite understand vdj foreign roads should be allowed to go Tu and out of the United States while foreign vessels are not allowed to do coast Business with this country Senator Gorman There is a move on foot I undestand to constuct a through < > ne from tue Pacific to the Atlantic coastto OJiuett at either cud with a sudsidized lined line-d steamers its object being to take the trade that comes from China and Japan and transport it to the eastern coast What < bance in your opinion do American roads stand of controlling this trade Uobcrts American roads have the first cad on such trade at d under equal conditions condi-tions with the Canadian roads could control con-trol it1 Roberts was inofavor of pooling as only the different rads in the combination would keep the agreement under the old system of pooling certain roads kept part of the contract but other conditions wove violated U By Senator Blair Then is not the true Armncipleof railroad business combination rattier than competition Hoberts Hardly I am in favor of fair competition under proper legislation If this could be brought about it would be much better than any pools President W C Van Horn of the Cana flinri Pni ifii IVM I < nllpH TTr wri1uul thn Canadian Pacific from Halifax to Vancouver Van-couver thence by a line of subsidized sWjaers to China Japan and Australia traU Zyf Canadian roads compete with the i American roads for trade from San Francisco Fran-cisco China Japan and Alaska and borne of the trade from Ontario to Manitoba Senator nil mVhiat percentage of your traffic is tikcn from the United States Van HornI do not know the exact figures but aside from the coal percentage it is very small The transcontinental trade from China Japan and the western part of the country which comes over the Canadian Cana-dian Pacific is constantly increasing It pets 10 or 12 per cent of all the western 1 and Pacific trade The impresson is general said President Presi-dent anfI that the relations i of the j Canadian Pacific road with the government I a e exceedingly intimate but I assure you ne relaticns are anything but intimate mid not as cordial or intimate as those between the Penn y vana road and the government at Washington Then nearly all our rails an 3 material come from the United States Altogether we have no advantage of the American although labor is somewhat Sljcipcr with us A great amount of our coal comes from Pennsylvania and Ohio and therefore costs us more than it does your roads Van Horn was followed by President and Gneral Manager Newell of the Lake failure Michigan Southern He testified that his roads suffered severely from the i irfupetitive practices of the Canadian I rovds and offered to furnish the committee I with documentary evidence of the unfair dealings and method of the Grand Trunk I railroad in particular which he said was one of the largest carriers out of Chicago Chairman Cullom accepted his offer I President and General Manager Led ard 1 of the Michigan Central said his road was losing business rapidly by reason of the fact that the Canadian roads were practically practi-cally free to do as they pleased while our own roads are governed by the interstate law Ledyard was quite bitter against the Canadian railroads and favored special legislation against them |