Jasper County Democrat, Volume 13, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 July 1910 — EQUAL RATES AIM [ARTICLE]

EQUAL RATES AIM

TAFT SAYS ROADS NEED NOT “EAR NEW RATE LAW. WILL NOT BE USED AS A CLUB President Is Desirous of Leassuring AH Interests That Interstate Commerce Commission Will Enforce Provisions of Act With Fairness. Beverly, Mass., July 2.—Legitimate railroad interests need have no fear of the rate adjusting power that has been lodged with the interstate commerce commission under the new railroad law. . In a long interview with Chairman Martin A. Knapp of the commission President Taft went exhaustively into the provisions of the new law and later in conversation with callers he earnestly pointed out that there need be no apprehension that the commission will run amuck or that the new law will be used to club indiscriminately all railroads that propose an advance in rates. Equal Rates for All. The law, the president pointed out was not passed for the purpose of lowering rates, or even of holding all rates where they are at the time of the passage of the law, but rather for the purpose of equalizing rates and | keeping them so far as possible in I tune with business conditions at all times. Fear has been expressed that the idea would go abroad that the United States government was about to embark upon a campaign of oppression against all railroads, which would be disastrous to the railroad business, with crop moving time approaching, through the avoidance of American securities by foreign investors. This is one of the things that the president desires to avoid. He is desirous

f reassuring investors as well as the usiness managers of the railroads, hat the latter are not to be clubbed, bat the power of suspension of inreases in rates is not to be used on 11 rates, but only on those that apiear to be unreasonable and that the iroposedincreases are only to be jnalidated when they are proven to be mreasonable. Roads Given More Time. In support of this fixed policy of he interstate commerce commission t was pointed out that while the re■ent decisions of the commission relaive to freight rates rn the west was igainst a number of proposed inrreases and in all of the cases has slowed the railroads until next Octo)er to show by a practical working of ates, as fixed by the commission, the easpnableness of the latter’s rulings.