Rensselaer Republican, Volume 18, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 January 1886 — REGULATING RAILWAYS. [ARTICLE]

REGULATING RAILWAYS.

Senatcr Cullom's Interstate Commerce . Bill to the Senate. - Its Stringent Provisions for Restricting Monopolies^-An Elaborate Accompanying Report. The report of Senator Cullom's Select Committee upon Interstate Railroad Transportation, which was submitted to the Senate,on the 18th of January, is a voluminous document, which discusses the transportation problem in all its bearings, and especially the, question of the power of Congress to regulate interstate commerce. With the report Mr. Cullom _ submitted a bill regulating interstate commerce, which he asked might be r.ferred back to the committee, and that the committee be continued. The request was granted. The following is a brief synopsis of the bill: After specifying the classes of carriers, or . rather the kinds of traffic, to which the regular tions prescribed are to apply, and declaring that all charges made by such carriers shall be reasonable, the preliminary sections aim to prohibit every variety of unjust discrimination ; to prescribe adequate penalties therefor, and to prescribe for their enforcement in the courts of the United States. These sections include the requirement that all carriers shall afford reasonable facilities for the interchange of traffic with, connecting lines, and the prohibition of a greater charge for a shorter than for a longer distance, except when it can be affirmatively established by the carrier that such charge does not epnstitute an unjust discrimination. Such common carrier may, however, in special cases bo authorized by the commission to charge less for longer than for shorter distances for the transportation of passengers and property. Another- section requires all carriers subject to the provisions of the proposed act to file their tariffs and classifications with the Interstate Commission, and provides that they shall be posted or otherwise published, but leaves to be determined by the commission the manner of publication and the places at and between which rates shall be published. Provision is made for enforcing the requirements of the commission in these respects through the courts, and for the maintenance of the rates that may thus be published. Provision is also made for the appointment by the President of five Commissioners, to be confirmed by the Senate, the Commissioners first appointed to continue in office for the term of two, three, four, five, and six years respectively, beginning the Ist day of July next, not more than three of whom shall be appointed from the same political party; and several sections are devoted to ptescribing the duties of the Commissioners and the manner In which complaints are to bo investigated and penalties instituted under its direction when found necessary. The salary of each Commissioner is to be $7,500 per annum; The report accompanying the bill is a voluminous document. It says the outlook is not good for the United States to ship breadstuffs in unlimited quantities throughout the civilized world, and the principal markets, both for bread and meats, must henceforth be sought at home. In its discussion of the power of Congress to regulate commerce, the committee reviews exhaustively the declarations of the United States Supremo Court on the subject. It says : From the judicial construction of the word commerce by the court of last resort, it is apparent that it has a very wide meaning as employed in the Constitution, and that it includes not only intercourse and traffic, but as well the subject matter of intercourse and traffic, and also the channels through which and the agencies by which such intercourse and traffic may be carried on. Railroads are everywhere recognized as common carriers, and as such are held amenable to the courts for the performance of such duties as devolve upon common carriers under the law. No common carrier has the right under the common law to discriminate bet ween person! or places, or to give preferences in auy maimer. The theory of the common law is that all who are situated alike must be treated alike. Unjust discrimination is the chief cause of coniplaint against the management of railroads in the conduct of business, and gives rise to much of the pressure upon Congress for regulative limitation. The railroad companies do not recognize, as they Should, the fact that they sustain a different relation to the public from persons engaged in ordinary business enterprises. Railroad companies are not so disposed to regard themselves as holding a public office and bound to the public as expressed in the ancient law. They do not deal with each citizen alike. They discriminate between persons and between places, and the States and Congress ore consequently called on to in some way enforce the plain principles of the common law for the protection of the people ligainst the unlawful conduct of common carriers in carrying on the commerce of the country. The railroad corporations necessarily rest under the same obligations to deal fairly and equitably With all its citizens without favoritism or discrimination as the state itself. There is no occasion to consider the necessity of a constitutional amendment for the regulation of tranportation until it has been demonstrated by actual trial that the powers now possessed by Congress can not be exercised effectively. The suject of competition between water-ways and railroads is discussed briefly, and the conclusion is reached that waterways are the most effective regulators of railroad charges, and the emancipation of the waters is a national necessity. The improvement of the Mississippi and its tributaries is briefly alluded to and warmly indorsed.

Of the Hennepin Canal the committee says that the commerce of the nation would derive fresh and continued advantages from the construction of this canal. The committee formulates its conclusions (accompanying each with arguments and citations to show the ground upon which they are founded) as follows: 1. The public interest demands regulations of the business of transportation because in the absence of such regulation the carrier is actually the sole and final arbiter upon all disputed questions that arise between shipper and carrier ns to whether rates are reasonable or unjust discrimination has been practiced. 2. It is the duty of Congress to undertake the regulation of the business of transportation, because of admitted abuses in its management and of acknowledged discriminations between persons and places in its practical operations—evils which it is possible to reach and remedy only through the exercise of the ph.wfers granted by the Constitution to Congress, and against which the citizen is entitled to the protection and relief the national authority can alone afford.

3. National legislation is necessary to remedy the evils complained of, because the operations of the transportation syetam are, for the most part, beyond the jurisdiction of the States, and until Congress acts, not subject to any governmental control in the public interest. 4. National legislation is also necessary because the business of transportation is esrentially of a nature which requires that uniform system and (method of regulation which the national authority can alone prescribe. 5. The failure of Congress to act is an excuse f. r the attempt made by the railroads to regulate the commerce of tho country in their own way and in their own interests by whatever combinations and methods they are able to put into operation. Thdt a problem of'such magnitude. importance, and intricacy be summarily solved by any master-stroke of legislative wisdom is bevoud the bounds of reasonable belief. That the railroads, unaided Gjc unrestrained, can or will eventually work out its solution seems highly improbable, judging ftoin past experience, ana can net reasonably ba dipt ctod. That a satisfactory solution of the problem’ can be secured without the aid of wise- legislation the committee does not believe. The committee declares that publicity is the best-remedy for unjust discrimination, and recommepds the posting of rates under the direction of a commission. Tho concluding chapter embodies a recommendation for the establishment of a natknal coinruission to enforce the legislation which the committee recommends.

A 12-Year-oID daughter of John Spitger, of Pocahontas County, West Virginia, bled to death last week, the blood Cowing from the cavity of a tooth pulled by herself. It is probable that Mr. Andrew- Carnegie’s offer of $250,00f1-for the public library in Pittsburgh will be accepted and the terms complied with by that city. The municipal authorities of Paris have undertaken the care and education of the three daughters of Olivier Pain, who lost his life in the Soudan. Goy,-, Hill, of New York, is a firm believer in gymnastics. His private apartments are well supplied with dumb bells and Indian clubs. London liad a curious Christmas card this season. It was composed of brown paper, and had “Hard Times” as its motto. Mme. Durand-Greyilus has written forty novels. ' U. - ’■■■ ? . ’ ■■ .. • 7 ’ ' ■