The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1883-12-19
Regulation Of Railroads.
Chicago Tribune.

The reccat decision Of Judge McCrars
of Iowa, Teafirming the doctrine tia
States can exercise no control over rail
road traffic that passes bcyotld thai,
boundaries, has given new strength e
the conviction that it Il only by Nation.
: al action that the transportation cor.
: porations which have divided up ~
United States into half adoeen Railroad
States can be controlled. The an.
nouncement by Judge Reagan, Of Texaa
that he viii soon re-introduce his bili
: for the regulation Of interstate rail.
roads warrants the expectation that ths
, whole subjsct win be thoroughly dis
cnssed in the current session.
There art some excellent features IL
the Reagan bill. Iss prohibition OF al
determinations, drawbacks, and rebates
il but putting into effective ahape the
common Law which has always discoun-
tsnanced these devices for making few
railroad pets rich at the expense Of their
rivals. The bill does more than forbid
these wrongs. 1t provides very efsc-
tive machinery for enforcing its prohi.
bitions. The Pennsylvania Constitu-
tion explicitly declares that all classes
shall be treated alike on the railroads Of
that State, but a. it failed to force the
legislature to pass = law to provide
penalties for the violation Of these con-
stitutional rights the railroads have gone
on with perfect impunity to build up
monopolies like the Standard Oil Com
pany By the very determinations and
rebates which sre declared by the fun
damental law to be contrary to the con.
stitutional rights Of the citizens.
The stipulation that the railroads shall
post up schedules Of their freight and
passenger charges in their depots, which
shall not be changed on less than 6ve
days nctiee, cannot fail, when coupled
with the prohibiting Of any exception
TO these rates in favor Of special persons,
10 60 far towards abOiishing some Of the
worst abuses of the illicit favoritism
practiced by railroad managers in ksvor
Of shippers whom they desire to build
up When every one knows what the
regular rates are, and when thePe Is ap
adequate machinery for compelling the
roads to treat all alike, il viii be impos-
sible for the Lake Shore, for instance, 70
continue its present policy of eoncen
trating all the oil.reining business Of
Cleveland in the hands of one concern,
which can undersell its rivals because il
| is given secret rates which they cannot
get, and cannot even find out This
publicity of rates will be q grsat re-
! form. An almost equal amount of good
could be accomplished by insisting upon
| publicity of railroad accounts. All the
railroads which are under the inter
State Jurisdiction of Congress should b
compelled to keep their accounts accord
ing to uniform and prescribed fashion
and at stated periods the exact facts with
regard to their gross and net earnings
This information is now in the case oi
many of them, as the Vanderbilt roads
withheld from the stockholders until
the managers have had time to reap on
the stock exchanges the advantages OF
their prior information.
No part of the bill probably will be at
frst received with greater favor than
that which prohibits the pooling Of COM
peting roads. Pooling is 9 good deal
more than a predatory combination Of
common carriers to rob shippers by con-
cert. The roads have no doubt used
their aggregated power for such pur-
poses, but they have pursued the same
policy when operating independently of
pools. To get all that was possible, to
favor any shippers they preferred By
secret rebates, have been the short and
single rules of American railroads
whether pooled or not. The pooling of
railroads is not an isolated phenomenon.
1t is of piece with the combinations
going on in all departments of industry.
was foreseen to be an in
evitable law of railroad political econo-
my by the same Stephenson who in
vented the locomotive. The true policy |
to pursue towards pools is not to sup
press, but control them. Agreements to
act together are SO largely mental that |
no laws can prevent them. But rail- |
roads that are massed into one by pool |
can be reached and controlled much |
more readily by the Government THAI
the same roads acting separately. There
are manifestly many business advantages /
in the cooperation of the roads; why |
should these be sacrificed, especially /
under law that prevents them from |
making excessive, or unfair, or discrim-
native charges? If these abuses are fore
stalled what object can there be in not
allowing the roads to combine for their
mutual advantage in other respects?
The great defect of the Reagan DILL is,
Is it was before, its failure to provide
'or the recreation of Railroad Com
mission. The experience of England, of
Massachusetts,, of score of the other
States of this country, is abundant proof
If the benefits of commissions. The
.airoad question is an exceedingly COM
Dlex one. 1t needs to be studied by ex.
oerts and by able men who would be-
come experts. 4 National Commission
would be of inestimable benefit in eluci-
lating the principles of railroading,
many of which are confessed to be still
obscure even by those who have studied
hem most faithfully. 1t would do
great good by hearing complaints, and
lcting as an intermediary between the
and the public. The work
lone in England by its Railroad Com
mission is valned every year more high
v, and no law will be regarded as COM
1lete by the people of this country that
loes not provide for the establishment
If something similar here.