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About The morning Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1899-1930 | View Entire Issue (April 1, 1908)
33rd YEAR. NO. 79 ASTORIA, OREGON, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 1803 PRICE FIVE CENTS A SWEEPING REDUCTIO Is Made by the Railroad ( , Commission. - DISTRIBUTIVE RATES The Case Was Portland Cham ber of Commerce Against the 0. R. and N. Co. REASONABLE TIME ALLOWED The Order Herein Must B Confined to the Rates Put In IsM The Class Rates Between Portland and Points In Oregon. SALEM, Of., March 31. Bated ort 4he findings that there is no increase in the present commodity rates be tween Portland and points in the state of Oregon either by way of cancellation of present commodity rates or direct increase, the Railroad Commission today gave its decision in the case of the Portland Chamber of Commerce against the 0. R. & N. Company, in which a sweeping re Auction is made in the distributive rates between Portland and points tast of The Dalles, but the rates be tween Portland and The Dalles are not disturbed. The plaintiff is given permission to reopen the proceedings should it see fit. The reduction of rates is made up on the folowing basis, according to class: "Between Portland and points east of The Dalles within the state of Or egon the first-class rates should be ascertained as follows; Reduce the present rates by an amount equal to one-sixth of the difference between 25 cents the rate of The Dalles and the present firstclass rate to such point. For instance, the present 'first class rate to Umatilla is 85 cents. The difference between The Dalles rate, 25 cents, and the Umatilli rate, 85 cents, is 60 cents. Deduct one fifth, or 10 cents, which makes the new rate 75 cents. "The other class rates between Portland and points east of The Dalles should bear the same relation to the first class as. in the distance tariff, namely, 1-100. 2-85, 3-70, 4-60 5-50, A-50, B-40, C-30, D-25, E-20 per cent of first class. Present rates should not be exceeded on any class. This will necessitate a shading of the old tariff into the new for about 15 miles cast of The "Dalles. "A reasonable time should be al lowed to prepare and file new tariffs, and the ten days' notice required by law should be waived. "Of course the' order herein must be confined to the rates put in issue the clas9 , rates between Portland and points in Oregon. During the hearing and argument it was con tended that if reductions were to be made u. the class rates attacked in this pr cccding, the same reductions should be made in the distance tariff and sf Vited commodity rates !.. ,., : i T- this nrnnneitinn we agree at ve recommend that the defendant j .ake similar adjustment 1 it list'innA tariff nnrl th vnrirma filiated commodity' rates, such as r. i and wool in the State of Ore , As those rates were not at lie in this proceeding, we can now ,Iy ask whether the recommenda,- . . - J ! L f .1, - Jim fon tor an uujusuhcih m mc us ance and commodity tariffs will be followed , voluntarily?" General Counsel W( W. Cotton of the O. R, & N. t advised of the adverse d' fr of the commls sion by a ' am representative. He said K O aid be impossible to determine without a careful compila tion as to how sweeping a reduction in the revenues of the road the ruling will mean, He immediately took the mailer up- with General Freight Agent R. B. Miller and they will probably have a statement ready by tomrorow. . The new relationship of other rates to the new first-class rate as out lined by the commission, after fixing the formula for determining the new rates, is as follows: The first-class rate is to be considered as 100 per cent. The second 85 per cent, third 70 per cent, fourth 60 per cent, fifth 50 per cent; A-50, B-40, C-30, D-25, "BROWNSVILLE" BILL LOST. WASHINGTON, March Jl.-Five Democratic members of the Senate on military affairs today succeeded in defeating both the Warner and Foraker bills for the restoration to duty of the negro soldiers of the Twenty-fifth infantry, who were dis charged without a hearing for the Brownsville affair. The success of the minority was accomplished by voting as a unit against a divided majority. The effect will be to cause both bills to be reported adversely The majority vote df the Senate would enact one of the bills, how ever, and Senator Warner is hopefu that his measure will yet become law. STATE COMMITTEE Chairman Westgate Calls Body Together to Set Date. CALL FOR FRIDAY APRIL 10th The Time for Holding the State Re publican Convention Is Left to the Committee and Probably Will Assemble Some Time in May. PORTLAND, March 31. At last, G. A. Westgate, United States Sur veyor-General for Oregon, has in his capacity of chairman of the Repub iican State Committee decided to call the body together to set a date for the State convention. Westgate has issued a call for Friday, April 10. The State committee will call the convention and aportion dele gates. The time of holding the State convention is left to the committee and it will probably be held some time in May. There was some fear that the convention would be held prior to the primaries, but owing to the procrastination of Westgate, this fear is now set at rest. Had . the State convention been called before the primaries the Senatorial fight and other State issues would have been dragged in. Westgate has stu diously avoided jeopardizing the in terests of any of the candidates by an early convention, although' there had been ademand for it from cer- tain quarters. ! Aside from announcing the date for a State convention, the commit tee will also arrange for calling con ventions in the first and second Con gressional districts. The first dis trict is organized, but the second is not. The only work for the Con gressional conventions is to select two delegates and two alternates for the Republican National Convention to be held at Chicago, June 16. The State convention will select four dele gates and alternates, making eight delegates and as many more alter nates for the National gathering. Aside from the delegates, the Slate convention will also select four Presidential electors, so that this is a matter which will have to be dis posed' of by the convention. A plat form, of course; will also be adopted;. POWER OF A PRESIDENT Fully Defined by the Con-! stitutlon, REMARKS ON SUBJECT States Could Not Complain if Congress Assumed to do What They Failed to. IGNORE THE RESTRICTIONS TeUer Called Attention to the Presi dent's Expression Regarding Cer tain Eivls Which "Congress Ought to Find a Way to Remedy." WASHINGTON, March Jl.-The alleged tendency of the general gov ernment to over-ride the powers of the states and to ignore the restric tions of the constitution was the sub ject of the remarks by Teller in the Senate today. He declared there had grown up a practice of attempting to justify any act by the Federal authorities whether there is author ity for it or not so long as it was ascribed to the public interest. Tel ler quoted Secretary Root as saying ;hat the States cojild not complain if the Federal Congress assumed to do what they failed to. He called attention to the President's expres sion regarding certain evils which Congress ought to find a way" to remedy. The President's power is fully defined by the constitution and no "interpolation" should be made to extend to these powers. The fall of the confederations of states in the past, he said, resulted from a failure to recognize the rights of each of the states. Speaking of the Benton Dam bill regarding the Snake river, Wash ington, Teller said' the right sought in that bill belonged to the State and not to the Federal government. Tel ler criticised in sharp terms the for estry bureau, contending that their regulations transcend the laws and afford a poor opportunity to home steaders or prospectors to avail themselves of the opportunity which Congress intends to afford to both classes. The remainder of the day was devoted to a discussion of the Benton Dam bill, Heyburn and There is a plan on foot to .have resolution introduced at the State convention recommending that nom inating conventions be held in the . .... m various counties nereatter. inese are not to be the old-time conven tions, exactly, but instead of direct- nominating the convention will recommend a ticket to the voters of the Republican party. The purpose of this is to prevent several aspirants for a nomination making a fight in the primaries. How to select delegates to the State convention is a question which has not been determined. This is a proposition over which the State committee will have the struggle. A special primary to select delegates is too expensive. The State commit tee could select them if it desired to assert the authority. An impression prevails in Portland that delegates will be selected by the county committees. This is suf ficiently satisfactory, but gives an opportunity for those who are slight ed to make a charge of ring prac tices. There have been so many ac cusations of this character of la'te, however, that the county committees are probably becoming accustomed to' them. , j Borah, both of Idaho, taking oppo I site sides, with Heyburn opposing and Borah favoring: Heyburn de clared he would maintain his posi tion even if he was satisfied that by doing so he would imperil his seat in the Senate. No vote had been reached when the Senate adjourned. TEMPORARY SUSPENSION. INDIANAPOLIS, March 31. Two hundred and fifty thousand picks will be dropped from the hands of as many bituminous coal miners of the United States this afternoon not to be used again until a wage settlement has been reached between the members of the United Mine Workers of America and the coal operators. The situation, however, does not indicate a prolonged strike. As an Open Winter and industrial de pression have left a large stock of coal on hand and the differences be tween the miners and operators js very slight. It is practically agreed that the present wage scale will be continued, but there are some ppu tics in conoytion with the change in the nationlf officers of the miners' organization and this has resulted in mporary suspension. INDICTED FOR fc&JUR? NEW YORK, March 31.-Flora Whltson, one ti the' girls who testi fied in the recent ca"e against Ray mond Hitchcock, the actof, was in dicted today on a charge of perjury alleged to have been committed iri her testimony in the Hitchcock case. RICE TESTIFIES Before the House Committee on Submarine Boats. HE DENIES LILLEY'S CHARGES Through the Committee Lilley Sub mitted a List of 204 Questions to Rice Dealing With Technical De- tals of Company's Business. WASHINGTON, March 31.-Isaac C .Rice, president of the Electric Boat Company, was the only witness who testified this afternoon before the House committee which is in vestigating the submarine boat ques tion. Rice denied Lilley's charges that his company had endeavored to influence the navy department in the manner "to call forth the condemna tiort and the criticism of the high officials of the navy department." Rice said the only influences which had been used On the navy depart ment had been to build the best boat. "The rest of the story is a malicious lie." Regarding the charge that his company suppressed competition Rice said it was "so utterly absurd it sounded like ravings." He said the charge that his company subsidized the newspapers was pure invention. He denied making campaign contn butions or helped to'vdefeat the tan didates who did' not favor submarine legislation. He claimed that the re ports derogatory to his company were being circulated by members of the Lake Boat Company, and while he absolved Lilley from any ulterior motives he said Lilley's information came from these people. Rice as serted that he had been approached four times by representatives of the Lake company to buy out that com pany or to merge with it.' The repre sentatives who were ' approached 1 he said were U. G. Brown and Charle R. Flint, both of New York. Rice said Brown gave him to understand that through Senator Bulkeley of Connecticut,' Brown would have' the present investigation stopped if a consolidation was effected. Through the committee;, Lilley submitted a list of 204 questions to Rice dealing with'the technical details of the com pany's business methods. Rice de clined to answer publicly some of the questions, but stated he would FORESTRY BILL PASSED Mondell Continued His At tack on Bureau. VIGOROUSLY DEFENDED "Not a Government by Legisla tion But a Government by Strangulation". MONDELL'S MOTION WAS LOSf Said He Was Not Against! a ReasOnV able Extension of the Service, But Charged It Had Been Carried Far Beyond Where It Should Co. WASHINGTON, March 31.-Aff er natftig gsone through many changes, the paragraph of the agri cultural appropriation bill relating to the bureau of forestry was finally passed by the House. Mondell, of Wyoming, and Smith, of California, continued their attacks on the bu reau, supported by Beringe, of Colo- rade, and Cushman, of Washington. These embraced charges that the bu reau had been created for timber monopolies in favor of large cor porations, and' illegally assumed jurisdiction over water rights be longing to the Western states, and juggled with figures in order to ob tain large appropriations from Con gress, lne work of the bureau was vigorously defended by Hepburn, of Iowa, and Scott, of Kansas. Mon dell also charged the committee on agriculture with being in a reckless state of mind when it allowed to the forestry bureau $100,000 more than had been estimated for. He charged that being a lump sum it could be used for any purpose, "including ad vertising," which statement was con troverted by Scott, who read a let ter from Secretary Wilson saying that the $100,000 was to coyer un forseen items. Scott declared that the committee had prepared a very conservative bill. , Charging that the forestry bureau had contrary to its claim expended annually over a million dollars more than it received, Mondell said that the bureau goes on "year after year, juggling figures." He moved to strike out the paragraph of $500,000 "for the proper and economical ad ministration, protecton and develop ment of the natonal forests." Hepburn vigorously criticised the "chirpings" against economy. As to the forest service, he claimed, the principal objection come from the committee of which Mondell is the head. Twelve of its members are from the states involved. He sar castically remarked that the members of this committee had seen to it that every acre of land in their states had been improved. "It is time," he said, give the information to the commit tee privately. Among Lilley's ques tions were a number relating to the employment of women by the com- pany to influence tne memoers oi Congress. Rice and Mr. Olmstead, one of the memblrs of the commit tee, objected to this class of ques tions, Rice denouncing them as "outrageous and perfect lies." Rice denied that large sums had been spent on champagns , or entertain ments for the members of Congress or for officials of the navy depart ment, or that any gifts had been made by his company to any mem ber of Congress or naval official. "they should be content with what they have and not insist on grasping everything that still remains." Hep burn refused to yield, first to Mon dell and next to Smith, of California. The latter, who was much incensed at Hepburn's- remarks; exclaimed: "You don't dare to." This nettled Hepburn. "Oh," said he, "I don't know that there is any ' power the gentlemen posses to make me fear any question he may ask." Cushman made a vigorous reply to Hepbura He held up a map show ing that the states involved are all located in the Far West and said1: "J. think the gentleman would no look with such complacence on the forest service if that service should go into his State and take twelve or fifteen counties out of the middle of Iowa and build a Federal fenea around Wm flffi1 He was not, he said, crying oat against reasonable extension of the forest service, but charged it had been Carried far beyon the point Mondell's motion was lost Smith then apologized for the remark to Hepburr?, titty he 5M of the tongue. He took one man shot at the forey seryije, howevei, declaring that this was "not a goT ernment by legislation, but a gov ernment by strangulation. Replying to Cushman, Hepburn said there was no propriety in his question as the cases are not parallel. When the House adjourned the bill had been but half completed. THE FIGHT A DRAW Both Men Dissatisfied With Ref eree Smith's Decision. ATTEL MUCH THE CLEVERER The Little Hebrew Had the Best of It Up to the Ninth Round, When Nelson Broke Down His Hereto fore Impregnable Guard. SAN FRANCISCO, March 31. With the disadvantage of at least eight pounds against him, Abe At tell, the champion featherweight of America, tonight fought Battling Nelson a fifteen-round draw. The fight was most spectacular and there was not one count that the crowd did not stand on its feet shouting for one man or the other. At the end of the contest both men were fairly deluged with blood, Nelson's face in particular presenting the worse sight Attell had the advantage of all the earlier rounds. He matched his su perior skill, agility, cleverness and fleetness of toot against the rugged and sturdier man and by outgeneral ing his opponent bade fair to win a clear cut decision. The turning point came, however, in the ninth round. Nelson, who haid been taking .his punishment without a whimper, fin ally succeded in getting past the Hebrew's heretofore impregnable guard and once having paved the way, worked his man considerably. In the fourteenth it looked as if Nel son would score a knockout, but At- tel's wonderful cleverness and knowl edge of ring trickery stood well in stead and he stalled and smothered the round out. The consensus of opinion seemed to be that while At tel landed by far the most blows and was much the cleverer, but that these points were to a great extent offset by Nelson's aggressiveness and the superior power of his blows. It was on this basis that Referee Smith based his decision, and he so stated to the press reporters. Both pugil ists are dissatisfied with the decision, each man stoutly maintaining that the decision should have been his. The betting on the result favored Nelson 10 to 7 1-2.'