Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1888-12-29
Views Of Railroad Men.
THE INTERSTATE COMMERCE ACT
AND IT'S WORKINGS.
THE Law IS A GOOD ONE
hut Open TO Improyement-A Rigid En-
rercement Favored-some OF h Meth
DDS Resorted TO by MANY Roads
to Eyade the Act.

CHICAGO, Dec. ga number of orig
fnal interviews with railroad men on the
Interstate commerce law are printed.
Traffic Manager Reeves, of the Chi
cago and Grand Trunk, says: For the
past twelve months I do not believe that
the provisions OF the interstate com
merce law have been properly observed
by many Of the railways. On the contrary
they have. resorteti to many schemes con
trary to law to eyade the act, such as un-
derbining, payment of commissions, APP
pointing shippers IS agents, etc. From
the beginning l believed the law was q
good one. j am of the'same opinion to-
day, and although | believe 1t could be
amended 80 as to make it more operative
in every respect, l still think that II all
roads would strictly obey the present
law In spirit and letter, IL would be far
better for the railways themselves and
more satisfactory to the commerce ial
community at large.n
Vice-President Bond, Of the Chicago,
Milwaukee n St. Paul, wants the sec
tion prohibiting pooling repealed; an
amendment adopted requiring that like
public notice be given when rates are
erduced as when raised, and make such
notice no less than twenty days-thirty
would be preferable, instead Of ten as
now. The commission should lave au-
thority to suspend such notice when
necessary to meet the competition of
lines working wholly or in part by water
or via Canada. He also fayors an amend
ment prohibiting transportation con-
tracts with shippers for u longer period
than fifteen days, with light restriction
as to the price OF tickets sold through or
to outside agencies. Section 10, fixing q
penalty for railway officials guilty of
| violation of the law, should be amended
SO as to make the penalties alike applica-
BILE to the shipper who receives Il direct
pecuniary advantage of the reform.
President S%ttckney, of the Chicago,
Kansas City and st. Paul railway, gives
expression to the same ideas set forth in
his speech before the Western Freight
association last week. He wants q more
vigorous administration of the law. 1t
is, he says, fatally defective in one re-
spect. The right to control carries with
1t the duty to protect. No government
can ri%ghtfully take away from the In
dividual the power Of protecting HIM
self without at the same time extending
the protection Of the governments. 1.-THE
act TO regulate commerce. has to a Ger
tain extent recognized this principal.
Before the enactment IL was customary
where "a company WAS forced by compe-
tition or otherwise to accept less than tn e
remunerative rate at one point, to make
1t good by q higher charge at intermedi-
ate points, and WHARF, ona company
made predatory excursions upon another
to make reprfsals In a good old way.
Self protection in the indicated
Is prohibited by the law, but the law
fails to extend any protection against a
competitor company making an unre-
munerative rate and from making pred
atory excursions into its neighbors'
bailiwick. Armed with the power to
cut rates, the value of all railway prop.
erty, Estimated to be one-tenth of all prop
erty Of all civilized nations. must be ut
terly destroyed. Armed with thit tire
mendons power and q moderate amount
of available money, the ~freebooting spec.
ulator may rob and plumber at his dis,
erection both the railways, their owners
and the public who are customers of the
railways.