Show RATES TO BE investigated government help asked asaei in railroad tariffs president taft has promised to look into the matter at once railroads alarmed washington april 21 president taft ta ft today took up for investigation and promised to act at once on a complaint filed with him alleging that the western railroads are dis discriminating crimin at against salt lake city and other intermountain cities in the matter of freight rates rate sand and are violating the antitrust anti trust laws the charges were made by senators smoot and sutherland and representative howell all of utah they asked that the matter be taken up by the department of justice rather than by the interstate commerce commission the papers hied filed alleged that mr harriman shows no respect for any law but the federal the papers declare the harriman lines are enormously profitable and include a petition from commercial bodies in utah saying that discrimination has been carried on for many years and that the roads have steadily increased rates and eliminated competition 4 hier rates it 13 b sun bo o i bling bi ing c a ged feil tor ter freight from chicago missouri river points and denver to the utah territory than for much longer haul to pacific coast cities these rates sa sas s the petition are without warrant of any competent court ur or commission the roads specified are the cju southern thern pacific the union pacific the oregon short line the oregon load navigation company the san pedro los angeles adit like the denver rio grande the missouri pacific the colorado midland the colorado southern the chicago burlington quincy the chicago rock koek island S pacific arid and the atchinson topeka S santa fe it is stated that on cocoa beans the rate per car from chicago to utah is while for the same ear car all the way to san francisco the charge is on only ay on a car of nails the charge from chicago to utah is 13 1 and train from chicago to san 0 only on a ear car of printing paper the rate from chicago to utah is 13 and to san francisco only the salt lake tribune has the ollow pg to say as to the efforts of the railroads to get the big bie shippers to call off the investigations which have been promised i the he vigorous letter of protest recently transmitted to prisident taft through representatives in III congress against the rank diacri mina tion against salt lake city ogden and provo on the part of the railroads in the matter vl freight rates already has begun to blar fruit I 1 it t Is boated upon the bat authority that harriman called upon several of the larrean shippers in salt lake city saturday and add urged them to hold oil off for a time upon the matter of agitating the freight rate question adding that the company now was considering the mat matter tt er of a new ijes schedule and that everything would come out satisfactorily ter iv to the shippers in good time you cc one of the representatives aties is 13 quoted as aa a ang ang this is an ail immense undertaking and it will take time to look into the sch schedules coules anti and rearrange them but ou may rest alured surd that we are doing our utmost and thit that the matter will be ar arranged ringed at the earliest eirl e iest possible date but how long will it take asked one big shipper who has become weary veary of eing trimmed oh about six months month I 1 should judge the harriman representative re P replied and what er are we going to do in the meantime 7 the shipper queried the cepl to this question upon the part of the th railroad representative was not recorded there is but little nu citi estion that the salt lake representatives are acting uder u der in aru t ns r died diree direct from the of the harn man roads in chicago and the utah shippers are highly elated over the fact that mr harriman finally has taken cognizance of the fact that the fight for a square deal taken up in behalf of the utah shippers by the commercial club traffic bureau is no soft gloved affair but a contest to the finish if president taft will follow this matter up there may be some relief from the enormous rates paid by the people of utah for goods brought from the east the jumbo company paid over for a car of stuff from ohio which is ib a prohibitive freight rate and the strong hand of the government should be exercised for t th relief needed |