Wichita eagle., 1889-01-09
JUDGE COOLEY ON COMBINATIONS.
Significant Expressions From the Inter-
state Commissioner.

The Boston. Merchants association which
took place here this evening in the Hotel
Vendome proved an occasion of unusual
Significance. Among the invited guests
were the following: Hon. L. NJ. Cooley, of
Washington, chairman of the Interstate
commerce commission; Prof. Richard Ely,
of John Hopkins university; Francis b.
Tburber, Governor Ames, President
Capen of Tufts college, General Francis
A. Walker, Josiah H. Benton, Jr., and
General n. P. Banks.
After the dinner combination and con-
centration and allied subjects was an
nounced as the topic for discussion, and
while upon his feet Judge Cooley, of the
interstate commission, substantially said:
81 believe that am expected to say some
thing on the subject of combinations and
concentration interest with special ref
erence to transportation OF persons and
property by railroads. L do not under
stand that the question OF repeal OF the
interstate commission act is to be discuss
ed at this time, and if it were | don't. know
that / should care to speak upon 1t. L may
say, however, that the act has good pur-
pose in view. 1t was intended to correct
enormous abuses previously existing, but
they cannot be corrected without cutting
off some sources of improper income. The
urgent call for modification of the act,
which comes from railroad circles, has
sprung up recently. There were, indeed,
some objections made to 1t Immediately
after its passage as well as before, but
when it was in effect it was found, quite
TO the surprise of some who had prophe-
sled disaster to the railroads from 1t, that
the disasters did not follow. | desire to
call special attention the fact that the
persecution which is complained of oper-
ates most to the benefit of the railroads,
and it was precisely that during which its
provisions were best observed, and think
that to be an undeniable fact. III 1t Is
fact, 1t is deserving of more attention than
ND to this time it has received from the
managers of railroads. 1t was also the
period during which the law was COM
planned of the least.
There are very vigorous complaints now.
They relate mainly to that clause OF the
act which forbids a greater charge on
shorter haul on the same line in the same
direction where the circumstances and
conditions are similar, and that which
makes pooling unlawful. The first men
toned clause embodies a principle right in
itself. In large sections of the country the
roads have come into conformity with it
and not suffered loss from doing so. In
others it was not practicable TO do so: at
least Immediately. But the difficulties
will diminish as managers come to better
understanding among themselves. The
law intends that the railroad business OF
the country shall be done openly and with
full publicity. This equal and lust
purpose of the law is defeated by contriv-
ances that are clearly opposed to the inter-
est of the law, If not to its terms. Now
when parties are thus busy in continuing
methods FOR rendering the law of no effect
and their evasion of its purposes are seen
TO have a direct tendency to diminish cor
porate revenues, they are hardly the par
ties to put themselves upon the stand TO
prove that the law is injuring the roads. |
must insist that the argument now made
for pooling is radically unsound and
vicious, because 1t rests upon an as
sumption that violation of the law by
one is justification for violation by another.
The sentiment in railroad circles on this
subject is not only opposed to sound public
morality, but it necessarily tends TO the
perpetuation of the very evils under which
the roads are now suffering. For a very
large proportion of the railroad controyer-
sizes voluntarily pooling cannot possibly be
n remedy. for the very obvious reason that
they concern matters which have to be
settled before there can be any pooling
They concern the sub-Structure, so to
speak, and pooling with legal sanction
would have all the elements of weakness
that attended the old pooling except one.
formed, broke up, there was
no enforcing such obligations as
had been incurred while it existed. There
WAS no compelling payment of balances.
With legalized pooling there might be
power TO do this. The difference
between trust and pool is almost as
great as that between a despot on the throne
aud a player who mimics him
on the stage. Pools are things
TO be feared. They antagonize
a leading and most valuable principle of
industrial life in their attempt not TO curb
competition merely, but TO put an end to
it. All these things go to show that some
thing else needs reforming besides the law
1t is poor reformatory work that the law
can do in any line of business unless moral
forces in the same business come to its
support. have spoken of the want of re-
formatory power in the law. One who in
vestigates railroad disorders will be sur
prised to find how many of them, though
plainly opposed to the spirit of the
law. may still be practiced legally. Rate
cutting In passenger service Is very largely
done by the use of tickets which the law
expressly exempts from its provisions,
and coupon tickets are so manipulated by
one company as TO cut the rates OF another
without the other being party, otherwise
than it suffers from fraud practiced upon
it. A crying evil in railroad service is the
combination between the scalpers and I'M
scrupulous general passenger agents.
This will be broken up as soon as there
are applied in railroad matters the max
inns of business prudence which are eX-
pected to control our other interests. il
the combination in the same person of two
characters of railroad msnager-in what
ever official position-and one OF specula-
tor in railroad stocks could be rendered
impossible, we might hope 10 see the time
when the question OF What IS right and