OCR Text |
Show EVIOEHCE SUSTAINS CBMPLAWT 8F WEST Discrimination That Makes It Impossible to Compete With Eastern Jobbers. SEATTLE, Wash,, Oct. 9. The inter-state inter-state commerce commission continued today its hearing of tho complaint of tho Seattle and Tacoma shippers iicninst tho Northern Pacific and Great Northern railways, in which lower east-bound east-bound class rales aro asked. Merchants Mer-chants of the two cities gave testimony as to the restriction of their territory b' the low rates granted to Mississippi valley jobbers and the high rates charged Pacific coast shippers. S. A. Nourse. a wholesale grocer of Tacoma, testified that freight rates unfavorable un-favorable to Puget Sound mado it almost al-most impossible to compete with eastern east-ern iobbcrs east of the Cascades, Edward F. Baxter, a syrup manufacturer, manufac-turer, said that when ho began business busi-ness in Seattlo in li)02 the rato on finished fin-ished products to Spokuuo territory was 2o cents a hundred pounds. Tho rate had since been increased to 50, then to 713 cents. Ho had been shut out of business cast of the Cascades. The Railroad Side. J. G. Woodworth, traffic manager of the Northern Pacific railroad testified todav before the interstate commerce commission, which is hearing tho complaint com-plaint of the Seattle and Tacoma shippers ship-pers against tho Northern Pacific and Great Northern railroads, that tho domain! do-main! of tho shippers for a radical reduction re-duction of distributive class rates from the coast eastbound was unreasonable. Tho shippers ask for a rato that will let tlinm meet St. Paul and Minneapolis jobbers half way. Mr. Woodworth said that under the reduction of 1G2-:; per cent already offered of-fered 1)3" tho Northern Pacific between Puget Sound and Spokane there would be a reduction in annual net earnings of $oS0,000. The Washington railroad commission had just ordered a reduction reduc-tion in grain rates that would cut off $aO,00n more. la the statements of Northern Pacific Pa-cific earnings for tho past three years, including $;!,2SS.2.:)5 received from other oth-er roads for hauling construction material, mate-rial, and this item of revenuo wus now cut off. Tho distributive class rateii from tho coast eastbound were remunerative Mr. Woodworth admitted, and there would still be a profit after the reduction reduc-tion proposed bv the railroad. The class rates out bf St. Paul, ho naid, were not remunerative and were mudo under protest, he felt, that tho Northern North-ern Pacific was keeping faith with the PuciJie northwest, and was making reductions re-ductions even faster than conditions warranted. |