Morning journal and courier., 1882-02-28

Tuesday Morning, Feb. 28. 1882.
MIR. ADAMS PLAN.

What Mir. Charles Francis Adams, ir., sayi
 about the railroad problem is entitled to re- spectful attention. His latest public utter
 ance upon this subject was at the monthly
 dinner of the Boston Merchants Association
 which took place Saturday evening. He pro
 posed that & national board of railroad com
 missioners, consisting of three members, be
 formed As expressing his view of the situ.
 ation he quoted the words of Robert Stephen
 son, spoken a quarter of century ago :
 ''What we want is tribunal upon these sub-
 jects competent to judge and willing to de.
 vote it's attention to railway subjects only.
 We do not impute to Parliament that it is dishonest, but we impute that it is incompe- tent. Neither its practical experience nor its time nor it's system of procedure is adapted for railway legislation. What we ask is knowledge Give us,' we say, 'a tri- bunal competent to form a sound opinion. Commit to that tribunal, with any restric- tions you think necessary, the whole of the great questions appertaining to our system. Let it protect private interests apart from railways; delegate to it the power of enforc- ing such regulations and restrictions as may be thought needful to secure the rights of private persons, or of the public; devolve on it the duty of consolidating, if possible, the railway laws and of making such amend ments therein as the public interests and the property now depending on the system may require; give it full delegated power over us in any way you please; all we ask is. that it shall be tribunal that is impartial, and that is thoroughly informed; and, if impartiality and intelligence are secured, we do not fear for the result"
 Mir. Adams would have the three commis- sioners appointed by the President, would have each of them given salary of $10,OOO year, and would have them hold office for five years The board should exercise su- perVision over that portion of the business of all railroads which passes from one State or Territory into or through one or more States or Territories, or to or from any foreign country; but such supervision should be Him. tied to questions of commerce between the States, and the methods of operating their roads by railroad corporations as affect ing said commerce. He points out that the efficiency of the board would depend upon the men who composed it. They must be honest and above suspicion and know their business. One member should possess a thorough knowledge of constitutional and other law, and be qualified to draft most diff ficult statutes s'As a rule railroad laws are models of clumsy drafting The chances are always large that any good railroad lawyer and the corporations have all the best law yers-can drive locomotive through them. The statutes, therefore, which your commits sion recommends must be carefully drawn, with a thorough knowledge of the law So much for that. In the next place, some other member of your board must be a railroad specialist-a practical man fully informed as to the way in which railroad work is done. This may seem to you thing easily acquired. can only say have not found it so. It is now fifteen years that have been working over questions connected with railroads and their trafic-frst in the service of the gov ernment, and, more lately, in that of the corporations. can only say that even now never take up new question without find- ing strange and unfamiliar bearings to it, which tax all the patience and intelligence at my command to master. A trained railroad man regard, therefore, essential to your tribunal. The third man must complete the board, and he, too, must be specialist It is, however, specialist of a peculiar kind which is wanted now-one trained to trace cause and effect, to handle statistics, to be sure that the remedy proposed will reach the evil complained of. He must supply the the ory and the political economy of the board, as the others do the law and the practical knowledge" As specimens of such men as he thinks should compose his proposed board Mir. Adams names Judge Cooley of Michigan, Robert Harris general manager of the Erie and General Francis A. Walker. With such a commission the so-called rail road problem would, he thinks, present few It would either be understood and regulated or understood and largely let alone.
 This plan appears to be very wise one, and if it could be carried out in the way its projector would have it it would certainly be well worth trying One very serious diff culty would be to keep it out of politics.