Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-03-01
RAILROAD comu1ssloaERs, REPORT.

StaEe Printing Office. It is volume of
about 600 pages, and is signed By Messrs.
Cone and Beerstecher, General Stonemsn
having resigned after his election to the Office
of Governor. Il is to be regretted that Gen.
eral Stoneman did MOI deem the subject of
transportation of sufficient Importance either
to sign the report of his colleagues or to give
a reason why he could not do so.
The discussion of the problem of railroad
transportation by the two remaining Com
missioners occupies large portion of the re-
port, and it shows an amount Of careful study
OF this intricate and little understood subject
that ought to commend it to the favorable
consideration of the farming ard commercial
community. Under the Constitution, the
Board of Railroad Commissioners is invested
with supreme power over all transportation
companies or individuals engaged in the bus
mess Of transportation. The judicial char
acter with which the Office is invested will
naturally tend to conservatism In the execu-
ton of the trust committed to the Board. A
brief alIusion to the railroad legislation
in this State is made, and a syn
opsis of the history of railroad legislation
both in England and in several States of the
the exercise of the powers conferred upon the
Board by the organic law, they refer the
reader to extracts from the report of the first
Board of Commissioners of Transportation
in 1877, which would appear to be unanswer
able. OF complaints Of shippers, the expert.
encs OF the present Board is a<epetition of
that of their predecessors. Upon the subject
of establishing iufsxible rates, the Commits
sioners have found, in the language of the
first report made upon the subjsct of trans
portation, "that it is obvious therefore that
charges for transportation must be based
largely on commercial laws and market val
ues st home and abroad, and are to great
extent independent of the que ton of cost,
and thai, as the elements are variable the
charges must be varied. according to the Cir
cumstances Of each case"
This ia the experience or every Railroad
Commission that has been created. The at
tempt to establish an infexible relation be.
tween shipper and carrier has always failed
of its object, and ia the real cause of the al
legged antagonism between production and
TRANSPORTATION whenever such state of af-
fairs has existed. 1t is the law that creates
the antagonism, and when the relation be-
tween carrier and shipper is not interfered
with by attempted legislation, the question
will adjust itself in accordance with natural
commercial laws, to the satisfaction Of both
parties.
The Commissioners have investigated the
causes Of the troubles in some of the Western
States few years ago, and find almost with
out exception that the endeavor to enforcs
infaxible statutes, regardless Of conditions
and circumstances, was the principal reason
for those difficulties. In the matter of re-
ducing rates the Commissioners have found
that more could bs accomplished by amicable
interposition than by arbitrarily establishing
a reduced maximum. This is the universal
experience wherever governmental supervis-
ion has been tried.
In the discharge Of their duties the Com
missioners have endeavored to see that the
rates charged were just and reasonable. This
the shipper and carrier both are entitled to.
The voluminous tables of reductions in tbs
appendices will show to what extent the
Commission has been instrumental in bring
ing about this result. Tne Commissioners
have searched the reports of the Royal Com
missions of England and Board of Trade of
Liverpool for presidents to guide them in
their study of this intricate subject, and find
therein reason and full justification for the
conservative policy which they themselves
have pursued.
The subject Of discrimination ia so
thoroughly and clearly discussed that there
is little left of what has been deemed by par
tisan newspapers and speakers crying
evil" Surely those who have endesvsred to
make political capital out of judicious dis
elimination in regulating transportation rates
have shown that they were lacking in that
faculty which would enable them TO judi
ciously distinguish between different things
Competition and natural conditions sre the
causes of the discrimin alton between places,
and no discrimination under similar circum-
stances between individuals has been brought
to the notice of the Board.
The subject Of local rates and classification
of freight are treated in a manner to convince
any reasonable person that judicious CLASH
fication of freights is a great and necessary
element in overcoming many Determinations
which ale the result of natural conditions.
A careful review CT the t4hleI and statistics
given in the appendices will be Of great SER
vice in dispelling the mist that has been
thrown before the eyes of the public by poll
ticians, for selfish purposes. Politicians gen.
orally are not large shippers or extensive trav
elers, and yet they have much more to say
about the wrongs of the people than any body
else. But the responsible government author
ity over transpc Ration finds the real shippers
are not the compliments. The chapter on
interstate commerce is exhaustive upon that
subject. The complications that must natur-
ally arise between the Federal and State
laws in relation to rates are clearly and
ought to be sufficient TO cause Congress to
hesitate before experimenting upon a policy
which will eventually cause mora dissatisfac.
ton to shippers and producers, as well as
carriers, than to let the subject alone, and the
natural laws governir transportation to reg
uIats themselves.
To merely touch upon the various subjects
discussed in the report is all that can here be
attempted. To every candid business man
the report, it would seem, will commend
itself, because it discusses the subjects in
their various phases from a commercial
standpoint and in a practical way. The ex-
tent of the "public use" of private prop
erty, as shown by the Commissioners will
suggest to every one whose dealings are with
the public, that, except for taxable purposes,
or in some great public emergency, such as
war, famine or pestilence, private owners can
manage such property much more economic
ally and sati, factorily than public agents.
After three years careful consideration of
the transportation problem as presented in
this State, the Commission have reached the
conclusion that the apparent inequalities in
rates are due to competitive forces set in mo.
ton in the struggle for commercial supremacy
at the great trade centers, and that the at
tempt to prohibit or to regulate these agen-
cies by government is an attempt to control
the enterprise of business at such place.. This
is the verdict of nearly every transportation
commission that has been permitted to live
long enough to Investigate the question thor
oughly. In fact, as the Commissioners
truly say, railroad history, like all other his
tory. repeats itself" All the questions
thas arise between slippers and carriers sre
judicial in their character, and should be set
tied on basis of justice TO each. This no
legislation can accomplish.
What is said of termina! facilities in San
Francisco should receive such consideration
at the hands Of the Legislature as it's merits
demand Without intending it, the Commits
sioners appear to have presented in the case
cited as to cost of transferring freight in San
Francisco, conclusive argument against an
attempt to fix the rates by rail, or otherwise,
q strong argument in favor Of regulating
transfer charges by freisht-handlers and
draymen. In cases of this kind if the inter
est of the people requires that railroad
charges should be fixed by Government why
should not the people demand that the
charges for transferring by draymen and
tuckmen be fixed by Government also !?
The conclusion presents itself as Inevitable,
that if the charges of the former be estsb-
lished by law, 30 also should be the charges
of the latter. In any event, it is dealing
in values, and the same right exists, if at all,
in tie Government to establish the value Of
the shippers produce as to fix the value of the
carriers service in transporting il. The re.
port should be extensively circulated and
carefully read, when the self-reliant and fair
minded public will form it's own conclusion.
A l.I