DEPARTMENT OF THE CORPORATION COMMISSION, His Excellency, LOCKE CRAIG, RALEIGH, December 31, 1913. * Governor of North Carolina, Raleigh, N. C. SIR: We have the honor to submit herewith report of the Corporation Commission for the year 1913, this being the fifteenth annual report of the Corporation Commission. In addition to the freight rates and classification, statistics of operation of public-service companies, and other statistical information usually carried in the report, we append hereto copy of reports made by the Commission to your Excellency, August 5, 1913, and September 19, 1913, in the matter of adjustment of interstate freight rates, and accompanying memorandum submitted by Committee of Railway Representatives. Respectfully, E. L. TRAVIS, Chairman, W. T. LEE, GEORGE P. PELL, Commissioners. TO THE GOVERNOR AND COUNCIL OF STATE OF NEGOTIATIONS FOR ADJUSTMENT OF INTERSTATE FREIGHT RATES TUESDAY, AUGUST 5, 1913 To His Excellency, LOCKE CRAIG, Governor of North Carolina, and the Council of State. We respectfully report to you the result of our conference with the interstate carriers, July 22-25, with respect to interstate freight rates; and this being our first formal report on the subject, we deem it well to briefly review the negotiations which led up to that conference. Shortly after the conference between the Legislative Commission and the carriers had been declared off by the Legislative Commission, on account of a suggestion made at the last of those conferences by the Chairman of the Corporation Commission that an adjustment might be reached if the representatives of the State and the carriers would sit down together and talk over the differences informally and in detail, instead of attempting to deal at arms' length, some of the railroad officials requested the Corporation Commission to meet with them in that manner, expressing the belief that an agreement could be reached that would be acceptable as a settlement of the suits which the Corporation Commission had brought against them before the Interstate Commerce Commission to reduce these rates, and an adjustment of the whole mat ter. The Corporation Commission at once advised with his Excellency, the Governor, about the matter, desiring not only to settle the matters involved in the suits it had brought, but to coöperate cordially with him in carrying out what he had announced as a policy of his administration. We accordingly at once arranged a meeting with the carriers, but notified them in the beginning that whatever agreement might be reached between them and the Commission would be tentative only, and would not be final or binding either as a compromise of our suits or otherwise, |