REPLY OP JOHN W. GARRETT, President of the Baltimore and Ohio R. R. Co. TO ILLIAM H. VANDERBILT, /- Central and IIwU<>n River R. R. Co. SEPTEMBER 30, 1881. REPLY OF JOHN W. GARRETT, President of the Baltimore and Ohio R, R. Go. U TO WILLIAM H. VANDERBILT, President of the New York Central and Hudson Rivzr R. R. Co SEPTEMBER 30, 1881. Reply of JoJin W. Garrett, President of the Baltimore & Ohio R. R. Co., to William H. Vanderbilt, Presi- dent of the New York Central & Hudson River R. R. Co. Baltimore, September 30, 188 1. On August loth last, the " New York Tribune " published, under the head of " Railroad Interests Mr. Vanderbilt on rates He speaks his mind freely The position of the Central Matters that must be settled before the war can end " a series of statements made by Presi- dent Wm. H. Vanderbilt, in which was contained a most gratuitous and unjust attack upon the Balto. & Ohio R. R. Co. On the i2th of August President Garrett stated, in a dispatch published by the Associated Press, that his attention had been called to this publication, and, as several days had elapsed without any correction having been made, he assumed that President Vanderbilt accepted the responsibility of having made the statements ; that those in refer- ence to the Baltimore & Ohio Co. were absolutely contrary to fact, and that, in view of the importance of the subject, he would, after ob- taining the necessary statistics, present the case through the press in a manner which would cause the public to understand the history of .the course of the New York Central Co. The developments, since that period, of the policy and " methods " of the New York Central & Hudson River R. R. Co., and of the roads controlled by President Vanderbilt, have produced such grave and needless losses to the railroad interests of the country, and such de- rangements of its business affairs, that the requirement is absolute for the statements now submitted. The last meeting of the Presidents of the Trunk Lines was held at the office of Commissioner Fink, in New York, on June i6thand iyth 1 88 1. After some hesitancy and delay on the part of President M175603 Vanderbilt, a resolution was finally unanimously adopted, " that the three gentlemen composing the Board of Arbitration up to the first of June, 1881, be elected for the ensuing year." And further, to meet the views presented in regard to that Board by President Vanderbilt, it was " resolved, that when a decision in any case submitted to the Board of Arbitration is unanimous, the same shall be final ; but. when not unanimous, the question shall be referred to the Presidents, with a statement of the differences of opinion ; and the Chairman shall call a meeting of the Presidents as early as practicable thereafter to con- sider the same." The question of forming a Trunk Line pool for east-bound business was discussed. President Vanderbilt stated that the business of the Lake Shore and New York Central Roads, of both of which com- panies he was President, had been " stolen by competing lines." He indicated Chicago as the central point in connection with which the " robberies " of his business had been committed by cut rates and violations of the Trunk Line agreements. The President of the Balti- more & Ohio Company called upon Commissioner Fink for the statistics of the east-bound business from Chicago. It was then shown that the Baltimore & Ohio Co. had lost nearly one-half of the business to which it was entitled ; that the Pennsylvania and Erie Cos. had gained about the difference lost by the Balto. & Ohio Co., and that the Lake Shore and New York Central Companies were largely short of their agreed percentage of the Chicago business. President Garrett then asked the Commissioner to state by what route that traffic had been diverted. It then appeared that the Mich. Central and Grand Trunk Roads had carried the freight to which it was claimed the Lake Shore was entitled. President Garrett then called the attention of the meeting to the fact, quoting only the same harsh term used by President Vanderbilt, that the "robber" of President Vanderbilt of the Lake Shore and N. Y. Central Roads was President Vanderbilt of the Mich. Central Road. When these statistics were produced, President Vanderbilt expressed entire ignorance and astonishment at the development of this fact. The Baltimore & Ohio Company, through its honest efforts to maintain rates, lost a large portion of its business at Chicago. As charges had been previously made of an undue increase of the grain trade of Baltimore, without the slightest personal unkindness, but simply in order to present facts, President Garrett called the attention of the meeting to the point that, in the summer of 1879, President Vanderbilt had permitted another Company (the Canada Southern, of which he is President), to carry grain from Toledo by that most circuitous route, and via Harrisburg and the Northern Central Road to Baltimore, at four cents per hundred pounds, making thereby a heavy loss the actual cost of transportation being much greater and thus also carrying grain to the port of Baltimore, about the growth of the trade of which President Vanderbilt had so frequently publicly professed his anxiety and alarm. President Garrett also called the attention of the meeting to the fact that when time contracts had been made, contrary to the agreements of the Trunk Lines, the New York Central Road had frequently carried an immense quantity of grain at ten cents per hundred from Chicago to New York, when, in consequence of the quantity being much greater than could be handled by the New York Central and other lines that had made such contracts, the Baltimore & Ohio Co. received, upon shipments so large as to occupy its entire equipment, twenty cents a hundred from Chicago to Baltimore. Notwithstanding these undisputed statements of facts, when a plan was presented at that meeting, recommended by the Trunk Line Executive Committee, for dividing the east-bound traffic of the five Trunk Lines (which included the Grand Trunk of Canada), with an amendment to the plan of the Committee to meet, as far as possible, the views of the New York Central Co., for a contract for a fixed period, so that the article, as amended, would be, namely, " that this agreement be enforced for three years, commencing April ist, 1881 ; but if any changes take place meanwhile in the relations, extensions, connections or conditions of the parties to this agreement, which should be justly considered as influencing their relative amounts of traffic, then the parties desiring- a change may call for a readjustment upon thirty days' notice preceding the close of the first year, and thereafter upon thirty days' notice preceding the close of each suc- ceeding year during the existence of the contract ; and if not had or conceded, the question shall be submitted to arbitration within thirty days thereafter ; but that no claim be considered that is based merely upon the amount of tonnage forwarded or transferred by any of the roads during the operation hereof," the Baltimore & Ohio, New York, Lake Erie & Western, and Penna. Railroad Cos. voted in favor, and the New York Central voted against the amendment, and the motion was declared lost, as unanimity was required. The New York Central offered the following: " That the percent- ages due to each Company be determined upon the quantity of like freight carried by each of the Trunk Lines during the calendar year 1880, except as to the Grand Trunk Railway, which Company, not having had its own connection from Chicago east during the whole of that year, may refer to the Board of Arbitration as to what percentage it shall be awarded on that account ; and in case any increased per- centage is allotted to said Grand Trunk Railway, the Arbitrators shall decide how much shall be taken from any of the Trunk Lines to make the same good." This substitute was unanimously adopted. The New York Central proposed " that all that part of Article Twelve following the words 'April ist, 1881,' be stricken out, so that Article Twelve would read ' that this agreement be in force for three years, commencing April ist, 1881.'" The Baltimore & Ohio, Erie and Pennsylvania Cos. voted " No," and the New York Central voted "Aye." The amendment was declared lost. President Jewett then offered the following amendment to Article Twelve : " That this agreement be in force for three years, commenc- ing April ist, 1 88 1. But, provided that if in consequence of the building of new lines; or forming new connections, or conditions, the traffic of either of the parties hereto is thereby increased or dimin- ished, the subject-matter of a proper division of such increase or decrease shall be 1 eft for future adjustment and agreement ; and if the parties cannot agree, then to be referred to the Board of Arbitration ; but no claim shall be considered that is based merely upon the amount of tonnage forwarded or transferred by any of the roads during the operation of this contract." The Baltimore & Ohio, Erie and Pennsylvania R. R. Cos. voted in favor of the amendment. The New York Central voted against it. The amendment was declared lost. A vote was then taken upon the report of the Trunk Line Execu- tive Committee as a whole, including the foregoing amendments. The Baltimore & Ohio, Erie and Pennsylvania R. R's voted "Aye." The New York Central voted " No." The motion was declared lost. The following resolution was then offered : " Resolved, Whereas, the Presidents, failing to adopt the report of the Executive Commit- tee, providing for the pooling of east-bound traffic ; and, whereas, several amendments thereto were offered, some of which were adopted and some rejected, therefore, upon motion, it was Resolved, that the said report, with all of said amendments, be referred to the Board of Arbitration, with the request that they, in connection with the Com - missioner, enquire into the same and the subject-matter thereof, and report to the Presidents a plan for pooling such traffic, with such other recommendations touching the same as to them may seem just and proper." The Baltimore & Ohio, Erie and Pennsylvania Rail Roads voted "Aye." The New York Central voted " No." The Chairman declared that this resolution did not require a unanimous vote, as from its nature there was nothing contained in it which bound the party opposed to it. What do these proceedings show ? Clearly that the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad Company, alone of the Trunk Lines, refused to submit any differences whatever to a Board of Arbi- trators composed of Charles Francis Adams, Jr., David A. Wells and John A. Wright, and when their decision was only to be regarded as final if made by their unanimous vote. It is proper, in view of the thoroughly unsupported attack made on the Baltimore & Ohio Company by President Vanderbilt, to state that during the protracted meeting of the i6th and lyth of June, notwithstanding the distinct statements made by the President of the Baltimore & Ohio Company of the "methods" and action of the New York Central Road, not a single charge was made against the Balti- more & Ohio of bad faith, or failure to meet the requirements of contracts. On the contrary, there was no dissent to the specific state- ments of the thorough integrity of action of the Baltimore & Ohio Company in regard to all the subjects presented, at these meetings, for the consideration of the Presidents of the Trunk Lines. Before replying particularly to the statements made by President Vanderbilt, it is proper to say that President Vanderbilt himself could not have been surprised at the general comment which was unques- tionably excited upon the part of parties well informed about railroad management, over the claim that the New York Central Company was a railroad company of exceptional virtue, and with a well-founded grievance. It is admitted that President Vanderbilt of the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad, of the Harlem Railroad, of the Lake Shore Railroad, of the Michigan Central and of the Canada Southern Railroads, wields great powers for good or evil. But do his powers for evil exceed those of the President of the New York, Lake Erie & Western Railroad Company, of the President of the Pennsyl- vania Railroad Company, or of the President of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company ? If governed by caprice, by prejudice, by a sense of irresponsible power, or by erroneous theories, the managers of either of the great trunk lines should determine to break down rates one- half, as was done by President Vanderbilt, will that officer say that the power for evil of those colleagues, or either of them, is not equal to his ? The history of this meeting of the Presidents of the Trunk Lines shows that there was predetermination on the part of President Yan- derbilt to accede to no terms except those dictated by his supreme will, and, therefore, the record which has been traced of that Trunk Line meeting places the responsibilities for the evils which are pros- trating many of his western and other western connections upon President Vanderbilt ; and if results show that the profits of the Michi- gan Central and the Canada Southern should not make satisfactory divi- dends ; if the net earnings of the Lake Shore should be unsatisfactorily reduced, can the verdict of those who may be dissatisfied with these results, and who are interested in those roads, be other than that they are the necessary fruits which have followed the policy so dis- tinctly adopted by President Vanderbilt, a policy that he alone shall dictate and govern ; that his Company must be the supreme and final arbiter of subjects that affect not merely the Trunk Lines of railway, but the interests of cities, of States, and of the whole country. In order to do no injustice to President Vanderbilt, and to meet distinctly each point presented by him against the Baltimore & Ohio Company, he is quoted as follows : " Before we are through there will be a great many things to be settled. Take the Baltimore & Ohio, for instance, which was allowed eight per cent, of the New York business. That road cut on every hundred pounds of freight it carried, in order to get even that eight per cent, of the business. What right has the Baltimore & Ohio to any New York business at all ? It is not a New York road, and is not entitled to any of the business. The roads to Baltimore and to Philadelphia have built up those ports at the expense of this city. It is about time that an end was put to it. They have been allowed dif- ferential rates to those cities. If they can cut rates to New York they have no need of the differentials. I do not say these will be abolished ; I do not know ; and I have no propositions to make to anybody. But a good many serious questions have got to be settled, and I guess the present is just as good a time as any." President Vanderbilt says : " Take the Baltimore & Ohio, for instance, which was allowed 8$ of the New York business. That road cut on every hundred pounds of freight it carried in order to get even that Sfc of the business." At the Presidents' meeting, when President Garrett called attention to the waste, by the large rebates being paid by competing lines on New York business, he also called attention to the striking fact that the Baltimore & Ohio Company had 10 not paid rebates on a single pound of freight during this protracted period of heavy cutting, but that it got more than its 8% c /c the agreed portion at pool rates, thus proving that the Baltimore & Ohio was a much more advantageous line for many points, and was entitled, as it always believed, to a much greater percentage than it had received, provided it would offer the same reductions that its competitors were known to give. The Gen'l Freight Agent of the Baltimore & Ohio Company addressed President Vanderbilt, on August roth, a communication in which he said on this point : "At the Presidents' meeting, which was held on the i6th of June, I was asked by President Garrett, in your presence, if the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Co. was not maintaining rates on west-bound traffic from New York. I replied that the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad had maintained rates upon west-bound traffic from New York since December, 1878. When I made the statement to yourself and President Garrett that the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad had maintained rates from New York since December, 1878, I stated what I knew, and can prove, to be true. I do most earnestly protest against being classed, by you, with the professional liars who have so long disgraced the traffic transactions of the country." Thus, instead of the Baltimore & Ohio Road "cutting on every one hundred pounds, in order to get even that eight per cent, of the business," it is shown that, hampered and restricted as it has been, with other companies paying large rebates, the merchants of New York, and the merchants of the South and Southwest and the West, find it their interest to use this route for the benefit of their trade and of the commerce of New York and the commerce of the country. The managers of the Baltimore & OhioCompany believe, that if the direct and valuable facilities of the Baltimore & Ohio Road (more direct and more valuable, in many cases, for the regions it penetrates than any other line) could be fairly and properly used by the merchants of New York, instead of eight and one-half per cent., twenty-five per cent, of the business of New York would be com- 11 manded by that route. What follows? President Vanderbilt says : " What right has the Baltimore & Ohio to any New York business at all ?. It is not a New York road, and is not entitled to any of the business. The roads to Baltimore and to Philadelphia have built up those ports at the expense of this city. It is about time that an end was put to it." What right to any New York business ! Not a New York road ! On the same theory, what right has the New York Cen- tral Road to any Boston business ? The New York Central in the same sense is not a Boston Road. The Baltimore & Ohio Road at present terminates at Baltimore, 185 miles from New York, and uses direct connecting roads between Baltimore and New York. The New York Central & Hudson River Road terminates at the Hudson river, and it uses the Boston & Albany Road for 201 miles to reach Boston. Can it be explained why the New York Central Road is entitled to do Boston business and the Baltimore & Ohio Road has no 'right to do New York business ? Further, whilst the Baltimore & Ohio Road reaches directly through its own lines, many points, great en- trepots and centers of trade in the West, which the New York Central does not reach by its own lines, shall any one question the right of the New York Central Road to do business at Pittsburgh or Columbus, at Cincinnati or Louisville or St. Louis, or any of the numerous points which the New York Central Road does not even profess to reach by New York Central lines ? " But the roads to Baltimore and to Philadelphia," says President Vanderbilt, "have built up those ports at the expense of this city." How true is this statement ! Look at the marvelous opulence and progress of the metropolis of the new world, New York ! But is it to be the only city in the United States that is to prosper and progress ? Are the States and cities of the South and the South- west and the West to depend upon one city the great city of Manhattan Island ? Alas ! for the prosperity of New York, if such views as those presented by President Vanderbilt were to govern the sagacious merchants and citizens of that metropolis. 12 Baltimore has grown and Philadelphia has grown. The Baltimore & Ohio Road, from its origin in 1828 to this hour, has given to Bal- timore a loyal and faithful support in doing what is judicious and best for the regions penetrated by its constantly expanding lines, thus alike serving that city and those territories. And that road and the city of Baltimore, without jealousy and without envy, have likewise aided the growth of New York ; and reciprocally, all our great cities in our vast, prosperous and growing country will be needed as entrepots of commerce, and each will thus continue to prosper. " It is about time," President Vanderbilt pronounces, " that an end was put to it." An end to what ? " To building up Baltimore and Philadelphia at the expense of this city." At no distant period, President Vanderbilt will learn that honorable and open and wise competition between railways will build up New York and Phila- delphia and Baltimore, and other cities and centres of business, and build up and advance the interests and prosperity of our common country. He adds : " Those cities have been allowed differential rates," probably meaning also that " it is about time that an end was put to " these differential rates. Even at the command of the mightiest, water will not run up hill. The laws of trade enforce their power. Geography will not vary its distances to meet the command of even the most powerful. Does President Vanderbilt mean that the con- sumer, the producer and the merchant of Cincinnati, and of the region which it represents, shall pay for the transportation of its imports and exports for 578 miles from Cincinnati to Baltimore as much as from Cincinnati to New York by the N. Y. Central Road for 867 miles ; and does he mean that the whole South and Southwest, the West and the Northwest, shall be required to ignore distances of hundreds of miles in their favor, by lines that can be worked as cheaply per ton per mile as the N. Y. Central road, to accommodate the wild and reck- less demands of those who have not properly considered the princi- ples and the interests involved ? It is not the Baltimore & Ohio, or the Pennsylvania, or the New York, Lake Erie & Western, or 13 the New York Central R. R. Co., but it is the interests of the vast populations connected with these lines, and the sources of the com- merce of the country, that are entitled to and will have the cost of transportation adjusted in proper relation to distance. Ii" this cannot be attained, because of unwise management of those who represent the stockholders in these organizations with such vast capital, then the people in their majesty will determine that they will exercise their power to overcome the follies of railway managers who attempt to throw aside the laws that should govern in fixing the charge for transportation in proper relation to distance, and thus maintain the rights of great territories, and of the 50 millions of people whose interests are involved. The Baltimore & Ohio has the advantages of distance to Baltimore as compared with the New York Central to New York, namely : MILES. From Chicago ...... 140 From St. Louis ...... 249 From Louisville 289 From Cincinnati ...... 289 And from all points South of Baltimore, viz : the distance from Baltimore to New York . 185 It also has proven, for a series of years, that its expenses of operating show it to be the cheapest road of the Trunk Lines, and to quote from evidence given before the Special Assembly Committee on Railroads of New York in 1879 on behalf of the New York Trunk Lines : <( It is the cheapest road of the Trunk Lines to operate, from the fact that it runs a great portion of its distance through most valuable coal fields. Whilst the New York Central is paying three or four or five dollars a ton for its coal, the Baltimore & Ohio can bring it right out of the pit and dump it into the car of the engine at a cost possibly of 80 to 90 cents a ton. The advantage it has in point of fuel far overbalances any advantage the New York Central may have in grades." The entire statements and arguments of President Vanderbilt and President Jewett and the officers of the N. Y. Central and N. Y., L. 14 E. & W. Roads before the Special Assembly Committee on Railroads of the State of New York, conclusively show the thorough absurdity and wrong of attempting to ignore the important differences of dis- tance in favor of Baltimore- and Philadelphia in fixing the rates for transportation to the respective cities, without regard to those important and controlling differences of distance and consequent costs of trans- portation. Perhaps President Vanderbilt may not be prepared to accept the plain truths which have been stated, and therefore it is proper to refresh his recollection, and to call the attention of all who are interested, to his statement upon this subject of differential rates to cities. Presi- dent Vanderbilt is quoted from his undoubtedly well considered and deliberate letter to the Chamber of Commerce of New York of April 1 8th, 1878, namely: " GRAND CENTRAL DEPOT, NEW YORK, April 18, 1878. George Wilson, Esq., Secretary Chamber of Commerce. DEAR SIR : I am in receipt of the resolution of the Chamber of Commerce adopted on the 4th of April. There is a grave error in the assumed facts upon which the resolutions are based. The New York Central & Hudson River Railroad Co. has not entered into any combination to discriminate against New York or its merchants in freight charges in favor of any other port. On the con- trary this Company has endeavored for years past to do away with the differences which have heretofore existed, and in concert with the Erie Railway succeeded after a long and desperate struggle in abol- ishing about a year ago these discriminations. This result placed the New York shipper upon an equal footing, and gave to him the same advantages as were enjoyed by the merchants of any rival city. Certainly no more could be reasonably asked. To require the New York roads to carry freight to and from the West, at a rate which would disregard the excess of cost of transportation from Philadel- phia and Baltimore to and from foreign ports, would give to New York merchants such advantages as would destroy the commerce of those cities. Their roads could not submit to this; nor would those cities permit them to, until they. had been exhausted in the struggle to maintain a fair equilibrium. The New York roads have put this city on an equality with the most favored rival. To this position 15 they are thoroughly committed, and they will stand by it under all circumstances ; the rest remains with its merchants. So long as their opportunities are as favorable as those of any other port, they can compete successfully with all comers. They do not need, nor ought they to ask, their rival roads to precipitate war of extermination on behalf of a principle which is opposed to all established rules of trade. Such a contest would permanently injure the roads, derange all business during its continuance, and result in no good in the end. Respectfully yours, WM. H. VANDERBILT, President." Desiring to do the fullest justice to President Vanderbilt, and as a matter of logical inference, it is impossible that mere want of know- ledge, mere ignorance of the rights, principles, and duties involved in these great questions, could possibly govern him in representing the great interests which have appointed him their presiding officer. The only grave reason for this protracted irregularity in railway manage- ment is of another and more serious character. President Vanderbilt gives as a specific reason for his course, whilst really there has been, as he accurately states, " no war of rates ; that he knows of no war, and that he is fighting nobody ;" that he wishes to make railway property so unprofitable that the building of lines parallel to his will be stopped through the inability of parties connected with them to raise the money for their construction. Very clearly did the Presidents of the Trunk Lines see, at the meeting, the proceed- ings of which have been presented, that President Vanderbilt is seriously alarmed at some very important changes that are taking place in the railway interests and connections of the country. He is gravely alarmed to find that New England, which was formerly subject to his control, in rates, through the connections of the New York Central Road, is being opened for the competition of the Pennsylvania and the N. Y., L. E. & W. and the Baltimore & Ohio Roads. He sees too, that his imperial sway over the cities and the regions upon his lines through the State of New York is about being affected by the construction of rival lines. But is President Vanderbilt philosophical ; is he wise, and does he display such foresight as should 16 distinguish a manager of such extended interests, in adopting this obstructive policy^ this policy designed to be destructive of railway interests, in order to prevent that competition which capital and the interests connected with vast populations have decided to establish ? He may break down the weaker roads of his own system ; he may injure the earnings of some of the great properties entrusted to his manage- ment in such a manner as to stop their dividends, but his own statement shows that there is no reason that parallel lines to the N. Y. Central should not be built, for he says the N. Y. Central Road <( is perfectly ' satisfied" with things as they are. "We are doing a great deal of work and we are getting our money." "The Central can hold its own in both freight and passenger business for a little while any way. I am perfectly satisfied, and when people get tired of this thing they can come to me. I have no propositions to offer." What is the effect of this statement ? It means, though other lines may fail to make money, that even at low prices, such are the vast aggregates of local and other trade at the com- mand of the N. Y. Central, that line will be prosperous amid the disasters of other companies. Thus he practically endorses the wis- dom and foresight of the capitalists who have determined to build a parallel line from New York to Buffalo and the West. Surely Presi- dent Vanderbilt has not so deluded himselfas to believe that his efforts to prevent the construction of a rival line to the N. Y. Central road are in the interests of the people of the State of New York or the merchants of New York City. What New York wants is a line parallel to the New York Central ; what the country wants is a parallel road to the Neic York Central. If any line has grown through the power it possesses by its passing through a series of great cities from New York to the North, and from Albany to Buffalo ; if any line has gained sue strength that it can step forward and through its,_ President say, I will strike the rights of the railway interests and of the people of this country by reducing the rates of transportation to such unprofitable figures that rival lines will be prevented from being built, then it has reached a position when the whole interests of the country will be benefited, and all will t>e gratified to see a parallel line which 17 will divide that vast business, and bring the N. Y. Central road within the ordinary conditions of railways that should serve the country at moderate and reasonable prices, and prevent it from exercising such power as can destroy the railway rates of the country, thus affect- ing properties which should have regular, reasonable and properly remunerative rates, alike for the interests of the producer, the con- sumer, and the proprietors of the properties. When this policy was presented to President Garrett, he objected to it as unwise and disas- trous, and as calculated not only to lead to temporary but to great permanent evils. It would arouse the whole country to feel that com- petition must be encouraged so as to prevent the abuse, by a few con- trolling parties, of interests too immense to be needlessly and injudi- ciously jeopardized. President Vanderbilt's colleagues, representing other Trunk Lines, perfectly understand his embarrassment, his anxie- ties and his difficulties ; but certainly they cannot sympathize or co- operate with him in his extraordinary and destructive modes or relief. Does President Vanderbilt's action even temporarily benefit the trade of New York ? Heretofore, the so-styled wars of rates have always proved injurious to the commerce of New York. When the Penna. and Baltimore & Ohio roads have been required to take very low rates for the transportation of grain, the result has been, with singular uniformity, that the business of the New York & Erie Canal has been seriously diminished, and that "transfers of enormous shipments of grain to Baltimore and Philadelphia have taken place, so that the aggregate receipts of New York have been thus seriously damaged, and great gains have been made by the ports of Baltimore and Phila- delphia. It will be well for those interested to examine, in these " wars of rates," whether the New York canals, and the trade of New York, have been benefited by the policy of President Vanderbilt, under con- sideration. The injudiciousness of this breaking down of rates to an unremun- erative standard is shown, very distinctly, by the statistics in regard to the tonnage and revenue from through traffic over the four Trunk 18 Lines during the months of July and August, compared with the corresponding months of last year, namely : July 1880 Tonnage " 1881 August 1 88 1 1880 July 1880 Revenue " 1881 August 1880- 1881 Decrease Increase Decrease Decrease 1,041432 972,297 69,135 966,253 963,707 2,546 $2,958,300 1,908,075 $1,050,225 $2,709,976 1,668,606 Revenue lost in two months . This decrease is actually of net earn- ings, and at the same rate would be for one year ..... $1,041,370 $2,091,595 $12,549,570 The Baltimore & Ohio Company has bettered and strengthened its lines by double and triple tracks, with steel rails and by increased plant and improved connections, and is constantly augmenting its useful- ness and service to the regions with which it is connected. It passes through territories full of mineral, manufacturing, agricultural and commercial resources, so that, even in this period of needlessly and recklessly low through rates, it maintains and increases its traffic. It is also adding to its equipment, and effecting satisfactory results. Its great plant is not only occupied, but it is literally without an idle wheel upon all its extended lines. With cities and territories allied to it since its foundation and during its progress, and identified with interests which, in times of difficulty, loaned their credit and resources in aid of its construction, it is not to be supposed that it will surrender their rights. Surely President Vanderbilt is mistaken if he includes, as he apparently did, the Baltimore & Ohio Co. when he said, 19 u When people get tired of this thing they can come to me : I have no proposition to offer." The Baltimore & Ohio Co. has common sense, justice, experience, and the interests of the peoples whom it represents, as the basis of its policy. It has also the interests of its share- holders to protect. President Vanderbilt will find that he must yield, not to the Presidents of the Trunk Lines, but to principles of common sense and common justice, and thus aid in restoring the reasonable pros- perity of the railways of the country connected with through business, especially of the West, and cease to think that assertions about the interests of New York, based upon empty delusions, will control in- terests of such magnitude and importance as those embraced by the Trunk Lines of the United States and their connections. President Garrett trusts that the demonstration is perfect, that it is injudicious to attempt to prevent other railways from being built, either parallel to or competing with the New York Central system, by reducing the rates for through transportation to unremunerative standards ; that it is clearly against the interests of the city and State of New York and of the country to resort to such illegitimate means for the purpose of preventing increased accommodations to the im- mense populations and sections of country bordering upon the N. Y. Central lines ; that if the policy were reasonable, or just, or patriotic, it must necessarily fail, because it is against the interests of New York to maintain a monopoly of transportation through regions where such immense and increasing traffic must be provided for, and when it is impossible that the growing populations and commerce of the country, and particularly of New England and of the city and State of New York, can fail to imperatively require the increase of competition and of accommodation. As has been repeatedly demonstrated, the Baltimore & Ohio and the Pennsylvania R. R. Cos., in connection with their respective ter- mini, can fully take care of their sections and of their interests ; and as New York itself is deeply allied with the transportation of traffic by these powerful organizations, the unsound position taken by Pres- ident Vanderbilt in saying "What need is there of a conference ? There is nothing to confer about. The war in rates ! I know of no war. I am fighting nobody!" is apparent. He has shown that a rail- way manager, of his great wealth and power, is a dangerous factor in damaging, needlessly, leading interests and industries of the country, and that, too, when he knows he can agree to and re-establish proper rates ; or, if he cannot agree, that with the organization already effected, he can refer any difficulties of rates, or the distribution of business, to arbitrators of skill, experience and honor, and thus arrange at once to join the other railroad managers of the country, in acting upon principles of fairness, justice and good sense, in connection with all the great interests affected, by the establishment of judicious and suitable railway tariffs, and thus withdraw from his isolated position, which he must now surely perceive can be fruitful of no good, but only of harm. 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