New-York tribune., 1873-05-06

by Judge Lawrence, but entirep "o,
others, proceeding apparently upon 'ho
that the Supreme Court Is W y.
4" reversed ~ M the farmers threatened IL shouiu
no Tho hin now in the Governors hanuS
assumes to prohibit "uDfair" discrimil".,o"o ,
but il really prohibits discriminating 'oi'' VI
every description. There must DE no gioa'.,
charge for transporting passengers or irelen,
over ono norton of road than IL charecu
over another portion of equal length IN tho
same direction. There must not even oe .'o
same charge for one section that Is hAeu ,oi
another ever so little longer. II the uine,
epce in distance is but o quarter OF niii0
ON n total route of several hundred miles,
there must nevertheless be difference III
fares and freights. The charges 10 dinoiepV
individuals must be absolutely UNIFORM ioi ~
same service. A violation of these enactlnen''
ia nunisbable by fine of $1,000 TO So,VVV io'
tbe frst offense. $1,000 to $4,000 for the sec,
ond, $4,000 to $4,000 for the tnlIu' nNn a.p
Sos 900 for each subsequent offense' Inc Han a.
road and Warehouse Commissioners Vi III
State are instructed to ascertain, by iiequonV
irvestication and personal visits to the V'lrious
railway stations, whether the law Is compilcu
with. and TO institute prosecutions LOT iVS WV
lation. The Commissioners are also 10 pre-,
mare n schedule of maximum nelgnIs hnu
fares for each railroad doing business III 'no
State. and any charge in excess OF this scheu-
ule shall be deemed unreasonable and extor-
tomato and shall render the company Offend
inc Hoble in the same penalties prescribed for
unjust determinations
II will be seen that the bill attempts W
avoid the error of the act of 1871, by puniSh-
ing only "unfair determinations ana eA-
"tortionaten charges, recognizing IN this ln-
direct manner the right accorded to the ran
road companies by their charters OF hxihg
their own rates. The State OF ILLINOIS, was
excessively liberal in its grants to raliroauS
in former times. 1t allowed them to charge
what they pleased, and the rapid development
Of the State was in large measure OWING 10
the great inducements held out 10 capi'alS''
to lay tracks across its fertile prairles' NO"
il is found that these extensive privileges arc
onerous. vet how they shall be curtailed Win
out "impairing the validity OF contracts
between the State and the railway corpora
tions is not by any means clear Inc
new railroad bill of the Illinois Legislature Is
certainly not complete solution ot the diih-
culty. 1t tacitly admits that discriminating
rates cannot be forbidden unless they are
essentially unjust. and high tolls cannot be
cut down unless they are extortionate. But
determinations are not always unjust. when
the New-York Central and Erie roads are
competing for the traffic between this city ana
the West, freights from Buffalo to New 0rK
are often reduced TO nominal rate, wlnle
the intermediate towns on either line, such as
Syracuse, MiddletOwn, etc, are taxed enough
to compepsate for loss on the through busi-
ness. That il injustice. But let us sup
pose that the rates on the New-YOrk Central
have been equitably adjusted by Board OF
Railroad Commissioners and the Directors,
under the influence of competition, wish to
reduce the rates at those points where compe-
ton comes into play, without disturbing the
rates at other points. There would be no
absolute injustice in this, even though IL
should leave the tariff from Rochester higher
than the tariff from Buffalo, so long as the
Rochester tariff was not in itself unreasonable.
But nothing of this kind can be done in Hi
nos under the new law; if rates are reduced
at the termini, they must be reduced along
the whole line. Moreover it often happens
that owing to facilities of loading and un-
loading, and to other causes, freight can be
moved at less cost between two large cities,
two OF three hundred miles apart, than be-
tween way stations distant only half as far.
Yet the new law takes no account of
this consideration; for the shorter distance
the road must charge a smaller price. 1t for
bids special rates TO large shippers. lhe
wholesale produce merchant who dispatches
twenty car loads every day in the year must
pay exactly as much per hundred pounds as
the retail shopkeeper who receives single
case of goods in the course of season.
There can be no reduction to steady CUSTOM
ers, TO express companies, &C., and although
and excursion tickets may be
sold, no road is allowed to make special terms
for transporting large bodies of mcn,-a regi-
ment of soldiers, for instance. or travelling
circus. That the law goes much beyond the
prohibition of unjust" determinations we
think is evident.
The plan for checking exorbitance in the
rates is much more wisely conceived. The
privilege originally accorded to the railroad
companies of establishing their own prices
must be understood as subject 20 certain
limitations. When they exercise their privi-
lege 80 Oppressively as to hamper commerce.
impair the public prosperity, and injure the
whole community, the State is bound, in its
care of the public veal, to interfere. The con-
tract (if there is contracD must be enforced
by reasonable Interpretation of its meaning.
1t was the understanding that the railroads
should render certain public services in return
for their charters, not that they should
have unrestricted liberty to extort as
much as possible from the public necessi-
ties. Hence the State has a right to fix
q limit w hich the roals NAV mot transnress