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NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



west of the Mississippi, was also subject to this agreement, and 

 it has since been extended to other trunk lines and to seaports 

 like Newport News and Norfolk, which have since become im- 

 portant. It has continued, with some modifications, substan- 

 tially unchanged, until today. It governs the rate on all classes 

 of freight and commodities, and regulates the movement of all 

 grain and grain products in the United States, except those 

 moving to the Gulf ports or the Pacific coast. 1 



In order to partially control the situation, the New York 

 Commerce Commission considered that the canal question was 

 really the central point around which hinged all other questions 

 concerned with benefiting the commercial development of New 

 York. Their report is very extensive, including 2200 octavo 

 pages. It is accompanied by evidence taken by the commission 

 at its several hearings. The following summary of the con- 

 clusions of this commission is taken from the report: 



1) The decline in New York's commerce has been steady and 

 continuous for many years; it has been more pronounced during 

 recent years, and has now reached serious proportions in an actual 

 loss of exports. This loss has been largely in exports of grain and 

 flour. While New York has been steadily losing, Montreal, Boston, 

 Baltimore, Newport News and the Gulf ports of New Orleans and 

 Galveston have made substantial gains. 



2) The loss to New York is due in great measure to a discrimi- 

 nation against New York in railroad rates imposed by an agree- 

 ment, known as the differential agreement, between the trunk line 

 railroads of the American Atlantic seaports, including the New 

 York railroads. 



3) While this differential agreement, by its terms, gives pref- 

 erence in railroad rates only to Philadelphia, Baltimore, Norfolk 

 and Newport News, the port of Montreal and the Gulf ports are 

 benefited to the injury of New York to as full an extent as if they 

 were parties to the agreement, in view of the fad that in the 

 competition with the Gulf ports and with Montreal the differen- 

 tial agreement alone prevents the New York roads from giving 

 New York as low a rate as is recorded by the agreement to Balti- 

 more and to Newport News; and the same differential agreement, 

 while providing the same rate for Boston as for New York, per- 

 mits the Boston road to allow free insurance and free storage to 

 an extent that amounts to as substantial a discrimination against 



iFrom paper, Railway Discrimination Against New York and the Re medy, 

 by Abel E. Blackmar. Trans. Am. Soc. C. E., Vol. XLVI, p. 182 250. 



