Morning journal and courier., 1885-01-12
Monday, January I2, 1885.
THE REAGAN RAILROAD BILL.

| THE REAGAN RAILROAD BILL. | The Reagan bill to regulate interstate
 commerce, which passed the House by a vote l of 15S to D, is the subject of good deal of discussion, and it ought to be discussed a | great while before it is made a law. It is a 1 radical measure, which has apparently grown l out of the more or less ignorant and unrea- | soning demand that something be done with ] the railroads. It provides that no railroad | or pipe line company shall make any discrim- ination in it's charges for transporting freight from one State or territory to another, or to l or from any foreign country. It prevents | the allowance of any rebate or drawback on shipments, prohibits the making of any agreement for the pooling of freights, and
 makes it unlawful for any road to prevent the carriage of freight from being continuous from the place of shipment to the place of destination, whether carried on one or sever al railroads. The EEshort haul" provision is, that the compensation for carrying freight short distance on any one road shall not ex- ceed that charged for long distance, which includes the shorter and that ''the road" of a corporation shall include all the road it uses, whether owned or operated by it under a contract or lease Every company operat- ing railroad shall keep posted in every depot where freight is received schedules showing what kind of freight shall be trans ported, the places between which it will be carried and the price of its carriage and shall file a copy of the schedule with the clerk of the United States Circuit court in every cir cult through which the road runs. The 'color line' for passengers is abolished once more; ali persons who have bought tickets of the same class shall be afforded equal ac- commodations, but any road may provide separate accommodations for passengers pro- vided that no discrimination is made on ac- count of race or color. No passenger can be charged more than three cents per mile. The bill prescribes sharp penalties for violation of it's provisions, and provides for the bring ing of suits in the United States and State courts.
 There is no telling just what effect such legislation that proposed by this bill would have, but enough is known to make it certain that such law would have gigantic and far-reaching consequences if it could be executed. Probably it could not be, on ac-
 
 would defeat it. MT. Edward Atkinson says of the bill that it is ''another of the many examples of futile attempts to alter the nature of things; another effort to overcome what are considered hardships which can only be remedied by the slow progress of events, and not by the enactment of what may be called meddlesome statutes" He points out the fact that the lowest rates of transportation are to be obtained only on lines where there is sufficient traffic of the 1 bulkier products of commerce to keep men | and machinery constantly employed, and l that any attempt of the legislature to pre- vent curtail this constant employment as, for instance, by prohibiting lower charge for long haul than for shorter one-must 1 higher average rate for the | total traffic moved 1
 This important bill will probably be re- jected by the Senate. It ought to be. 1