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Show UTAH RAILROADS CONSIDER LOWER BUM RATES Oregon Short Line Official Invites Commercial Mining Min-ing Committee to Pare Way for Induitry Benefit nsr agent of th Denver St Rio Grand. Th diousion, which was tart averal weHia ago by th atatement that deduotluna of from 2Va to 1 prr cmt In P.lvcr valuta wera being made by a melt era, but th clrcumntanre of which waa fully explained by amelter official a, aa due to (he Increaee In bullion freiirht rate, waa yeaterday extended to iht pronpect of a reduction of theee ratea fnr the purpoee of obviating ob-viating the deduct lona lmiioiiejl aa a method of increnalnf am-Iter rherae to offeet th Increase In the transportation transpor-tation coita on bullion. C. C. Boawell, who had been named I a, eoramltte of on to conduct an In qulry Into th altuatlon. praented a statement based on Information obtained ob-tained from Secretary Mack n ale of lb IT tab chapter of th American ml nine; conareaa, and which coincided with the atatement mad recently by th amelter officiate aa to the reason A .wductlQ In tii freight rates on, bullion from the Bait Lak valley and 1 other Western smelter renter to Eastern refineries la now being considered consid-ered by th executive of th trunk line roads, and It ta probabl that these ratea wilLt reduced, but to what extent ex-tent cannot be predicted at thla time. Thla Information waa yesterday Imparted Im-parted by John A. Reeves, general freight agrent of the Oregon Short Line, to membera of th mining commute com-mute of th Commercial club at their weekly luncheon and meeting. The meeting waa devoted exclualvely to the ore and bullion rate situation aa It affecta the mining Industry of Utah, (and beside Mr. Keevee. there were present by Invitation, Harold W. Prlckett, manager of th Traffic 8er vice bureau of Utah, and D. W. Bobbins, Bob-bins, assistant general freight and paa- ore prxruucvrt, INCREASE EFFECT SHOWN. Mr. 'Prlckett gar figure a ahowlng to what extent th mining Industry waa affected by the Increased charge I Hiring the period of th highest bullion bul-lion rates and amelter charge were Imposed, he aald, only hlghgrade ore waa ahlpped to the smelt era, while th low grade ore either wa left In th minee or thrown upon the dump. H alao declared that the railroads were 1nera by the loea of ore and bullion shipments, and he alluded to th fact that a number of voluntary reductions In the ratea on orea to the Sal Lak valley smellers had resulted In a heavy Increase in shipments. It waa atated by Mr. Prlckett that a reduction to fie In the bullion rate would afford con-alderable con-alderable relief to the mln opera tore. Mr. Keeve began hla re mar km by aaklng Mr. Prlckett If the amen era had ever asked for a reduction In the ratea on bullion, to which Mr. Prlckett replied re-plied that ao far aa he waa aware they had not. Mr. Reeves referred to this circumstance, and'declared that, aa usual, the miner wer paying the Increased In-creased bill. Just aa the farmer are compelled to do when the ratea on farm products ar Increased. AlL ROADS MUST ACT. H then mad th announcement that the railroad ex ecu t tree have under un-der consideration the question of a , reduction in the bullion rate but eald , that th matter could not b settled by any on road, but must be pasaed upon by several connecting lines. , lie alluded to the fact that copper bullion now being shipped aa ballast from coast porta through the Pansma canal to Eastern refineries at per ton, with I&.M per ten aa the rate from Halt Lake City to Han Francisco, or a total of M . aaelnst the all-rail rat of $K , and Intimated that this condition con-dition might be one of the cause for the Kast and West trunk line considering con-sidering a reduction In lb bullion ratea. In reply to a question by Acting Chairman Adktnson, Mr. Reeves predicted pre-dicted that there would be a reduction In bullion ratea but to what extent he could not say, but he declared that there was no prospect of a return In th near future to the prewar freight rate. "' Mwlen th railroads are taken over by the government, salaries and wajre 1 raised and rates reduced and th ' deficit comes out of th national tress- j ury. everything will be fln, but I don't want to be In the railroad business when that time cornea" declared Mr. Reeves, with a smile. It waa eu rented by Mr. Reevea that Mr. Prlckett, whose remarks he complimented, com-plimented, formulate a resolution, based upon the statistic he had presented, pre-sented, to be submitted to the mining committee, requesting th Interstate commerce) commission to authorise a reduction of $1 M to 92 In the bullion rate, thla resolution, if adopted, then to be referred to himself and Mr. Rob-bine, Rob-bine, who would aubmlt it to their executives. ex-ecutives. The auggestlon waa adopred after Mr. Prlckett bad agreed to prepare) th resolution. Mr. Robhlns re trie ted hi remarks to an Indorsement of Mr. Revee atatement and eu exeat ton, and afterward after-ward the three guest wer given a vot of thanka |