Morning journal and courier., 1881-01-08
t5ournal alt0 Courier.
Saturday Morning, Jan. s, 1881.
 THE RAILROAD QUESTION.

EDWARD T. cARRINaroN. JOHN B. oARRINaroN, JR. E Saturday Morning, Jan. s, 1881.
 THE RAILROAD QUESTION.
 The Chamber of Commerce of New York recently asked the Railroad Commissioners of Massachusetts for their views on the rail- road question, and their reply, very able and suggestive one, is now published.
 In substance they say: The railroads are public corporations and should treat all alike. Discrimination against individuals and com munities should be prevented by each State passing laws forbidding such discrimination under heavy penalties. Such laws will be better enforced if Railroad Commission ex- ists in each State, which among other duties will investigate charges of discrimination, bring public opinion to bear upon offending corporations, and if need be, direct prose- cutions in the courts of law. It is not con- sistent with public welfare and the rights of citizens to allow railroad managers to decide what persons shall be favored and what places developed by discriminate rates. The Legislature never intended to place this enor- nous power in the hands of it's corporations.
 
 has the additional right to delegate such pow CT. The practice of charging more for a short than for long distance on the same line in the same direction is wrong. A fixed limit cannot justly be placed in advance on the charges of railroads. The limitation of profits to ten per cent. seems to be just in principle, but has hitherto succeeded only in taxing the ingenuity of railroad men to de- wise means for evading it. Cases can be inn Wherever the principle is adopted it ought not to be evaded by any false basis of cost or any form of watering. There is no differ ence of opinion among honest men as to the watering of stock by any device by which a fictitious basis of value is established.
 They believe in State legislation as rem edy against abuse, but the matter of national legislation they consider far graver one. It is not, they say, so much constitutional question as one of policy as to the use of constitutional powers. Evils exist which it is hard to remedy by State legislation But greater evils may be incurred by calling for national legislation. If it is once begun to be exercised, such legislation would affect not only roads running from State to State, but all roads con- meeting with such routes, so that the smallest branch in the obscurest hamlet would have a portion of it's business controlled by the central power of our government. It would be strain on a government like ours to have the direction of $5,OOO, GOO, 900 worth of property placed in it's hands. It is said that four companies, and indeed four men, now control a vast proportion of the transporta- tion business of this country. Is it not pos sible, the Commissioners ask, that their in- fuence might still control it if it were di- rected by Congress? And would it not be easier to control it through one 1egisla- tive body than through many? They continue. The danger of combinations between different States and sections is so obvious that it hard ly needs to be mentioned. The regulation of freight charges could be easily managed so as to cut off certain ports and States from all export trade. A favorite project, for in- stance, is fixed rate per mile for each ton of western grain carried east. This would render it impossible to-ship grain from cer- tain Eastern ports Is there not possibility
  feet of such exercise of power upon the character of our government is 8 serious question. No other scheme ever discussed has proposed such 8 consolidation of power as this. A change in forms of infinitely less consequence would excite universal indigna- tion among the people. If the control of $5, ,Oo0, ,OOO, ,OOO were given to Congress, in- cluding the direction of untold millions worth of freight each year, our government would cease to be what it now is. We have barely indicated the perils that would attend such an assumption of power; and these perils begin to be incurred when Congress begins in any way to control the interstate railroad traffic. It would be well, at least, to exhaust State legislation, and to attempt in all ways concurrent State legislation before taking the heroic" and almost desperate remedy of subjection to national legislation. Even a national railroad commission would be dan gerous, as implying power of controlling transportation throughout the States, and as opening a way for further aggression on State rights unless its power were carefully limited to the hearing of facts and the collec- tion of information
 The Commissioners look more favorably on the voluntary commissioner agreement, such as exists now, than upon the idea of a national commission appointed by the gov ernment, and point out that the railroad com panies have now full power to contract with each other, subjecting themselves to rules and to the decisions of arbitrators for any term of years, and these contracts will be enforced by the courts. Whatever may be thought of the wisdom of this opinion, it is valuable as coming from men who are familiar with the practice as well as the theory of reform in the management of the transportation busi-