Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-01-16
ISEEB-sr4rE CoM7uERcE LAW.

What the Commissioners Sag about Neces-
sGry amendments.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 8.-The inter-
state commerce commissioners have fin
ished their second annual report. 1t is a
volume of 354 printed octave pages. The
commissioners evidently believe that the
Interstate law has come to stay The
proposition made in the house to
repeal the Interstate law has
not received so much attention as to be
even considered by the committee to
which 1t has been referred. All the ten
denotes in congress with respect to this
act are toward perfeeting and strength
ening it rather than in the contrary di-
rection. The commissioners are candid
in their statements that the act is not
perfect and they make important
recommendation of amendments which
they think are desirable. They urge
congress again to indicate in plain terms
whether the express business and letter
transportation by carriers specified in the
act shall be governed by its provisions.
The question is still an open one whether
the express companies are to be regarded
within the meaning of the act as common
carriers, and the commission has declined
referred the subject to congress for more
specific definition. The commissioners
are also of opinion that the provision
against the sudden raising of rates with
out notice ought to be clearly made ap-
plcable to joint rates as well as to others
and that the commission ought to have
authority to bring out something like
uniformity in the method of constructing
and publishing rates.
The commissioners also believe that the
power suddenly to reduce rates without
notice of intention to do so, is very often
exercised in such manner as to cause
annoyance and loss to the individual and
TO carriers and sometimes so that the
effect is equivalent to the giving of a
rebate. The commission believes that
notice of intention to reduce rates to a
carrier subject to the rates should
be given not less than three days before
the reduction shall take effect, and
recommends to congress that the act be
amended in this particular. The COM
mission also recommends that the penal
provision of the law should be extended
so as to embrace the owner of property,
or any person acting for him, in cases
where the provisions of the law relate to
false billing.
The commissioners also ask congress to
make some clear provisions in the laws so
that the point can be raised that carriers
engaged in transportation from one point
in q state to another point in the same
state also passing through another state
while in transit are not subject to the pro-
visions of the act. They also ask con-
gress TO settle by legislation an
other question of construction in order
to take away the pretense on which
certain through lines are now claimed to
be local lines in fact, though they are
local only in appearance. The commits
sioners are of opinion that if line is
q through line by reason of ownership,
the corporation owning it ought not to be
at liberty to make through rates or to de-
cline to make them at pleasure.
The commissioners are also of
opinion that it should not be with
in the power of what is commonly
called a state road, merely because its
line does not extend beyond the state
boundary, to so limit its compliance with
the law as to make Determinations there
in between connecting lines or between
persons and places as it is now claimed
that it may do, and the commissioners
recommend an amendment to the act
which shall control this matter. The COM
missioners go further than congress has
hitherto been disposed to go in the matter
of extending the act to carriers by water
routes. The commission recommends
that the carriers engaged Independently
in interstate traffic upon the rivers and
lakes and other navigable waters of the
country be put in respect to making, pub
fishing and maintaining rates upon the
same footing as interstate carriers.