Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1886-05-21

Interstate Commerce Bills.
The interstate commerce bill which
with some important amendments, has
recently passed the senate, Is the Cullunl
bill-one of nine measures for the regula
ton of railways which have been intro
duced during the present session of Con
gress. There are only two of these bills
which will be at all likely to receive seri-
Gus consideration. The other leading
measure, besides the CullUm bill, is the
Reagan bill, introduced by Mr.. Reagan
of Texas, and now pending in the
House, with prospect of a favorable
consideration. The commerce committee
of the House stands nine to four in favor
of the Reagan bill, and the sentiment of
n majority of the members is understood
to be favorable to its passage. Unfortun-
ately the two measures are so widely diff
ferent that the legislator who favors one
can hardly be expected to be well disposed
toward the other. This may result in II
deadlock between the Senate and the
House, which will effectually prevent any
legislation at the present session.
The provisions of the Cullom bill are as
follows: A commission of five persons is
to be established by Congress, who
shall have power to regulate traffic
in the case of roads which do not lie en-
tirely within any one State The commits
sion is to have authority to examine into
the affairs and methods of business of the
several corporations within its jurisdic
ton, and is to hear and investigate com
plants and report the action which, in its
Judgment, seems necessary. The decision
nf In cc,a l. tA Hn E,,n
and compulsory, and may be en-
forced by process of law. Rebates, draw
backs and discrimination of any kind are
prohibited The bill requires that all
railroad charges shall be reasonable, and
that the rate of freight and passenger
tariffs shall be published, rates not to be
advanced without ten days public notice.
An important clause of the bill-and one
which will be of particular interest to
many of the business men of Vermont
provides that no railroad shall charge
more for the transportation of passengers
or freight for a shorter than for longer
distance, over the same line, in the same
direction, and from the same original
point of departure or the same point of
arrival This clause naturally provoked
cons siderable discussion in the Senate, and
was only adopted when coupled with
clause giving the commission discretion
airy power to make exceptions and eXemp
tons in special cases.
The Reagan bill, which is approved by
the House, has no provision for national
railroad commission, but subjects every
railroad in the United States to certain
uniform regulations which can be en-
forced in any State or United States court.
The provisions of the bill are much more
sweeping, and must be exceedingly often
sive to railway managers, who will doubt
less use their utmost influence to defeat
the bill "Pooling' is made punishable
by law. Any railroad official who is gull |
ty of a direct or indirect violation of the
provisions of the act is liable to a penalty |
of $1,000, and suit may be brought to re-
cover damages sustained by such viola
ton, in any United States or State court.
The demand for some regulation on the |
part of Congress. of railroad tariffs and the !
disputes which arise between railroad cor.
porations and the people is unmistakable
The difficulty, of course, lies in framing
an act which shall be acceptable to all par
ties concerned. While it is not possible |
ever to make it seem right to a Vermont |
farmer that it should cost him as much to
get his produce to market as it does the
farmer Il thousand miles further from tide
water, it may be quite as hard to recon
cile the Western farmer to an advance in
long distance rates which would virtually
close the markets to him. With the pro-
vision which gives the commissioners the
power to suspend the restriction in cases
in which the public welfare demands it,
however, it would seem as if the Cullom
bill might prove a practicable solution of
the problem,