St. Paul daily globe., 1892-01-01
DECISION ON PASSES.
The Boston & Maine Road List
Of Favored Ones Is
Judged.
Goodwill Passes Held Illegal
by the Interstate Com
mission.
This Would Shut Out Legis-
latorS and Travellers on.
Position.
Passes for Value Received Not
Acted on for the
Present.


announced Its decision in the railroad
pass case. The Boston 81 Maine Rail,
road company, in its answer, stated that
it was in the habit of giving passes as a
business feature Of its administration to
numerous classes OF persons, which il
specified in the answer rs follows:
Glass includes sick. necessitous or in
digent persons; i'll short, all cases of charity
strictly.
Class . includes gentlemen like Hon.
James n. Bradbury, long eminent i'll the pub
lie service.
Glass 3 includes proprietors OF summer
otels and large boarding houses, conform.
ably to practice which has long existed
among the railroads of New England.
Glass includes wives of employees and
other immediate members of employees fami-
lies.
Class includes all agents of ice companies
aud milk contractors doing business on the
line of the Boston g. Maine 'ailroad, or any
part thereof extending between any two
states: said agents and contractors travelling
on the lines in the conduct of their business
Official Folks Favored.
Class includes the higher officers of state
in the states Of Maine, New Hampshire, Yer
mont and Massachusetts. and certain promi-
nent officers of the United States, like coliec
tors of customs.
Glass includes the railroad commissioners
of each of the states of Maine, New Hamp
shire, Vermont and Massachusetts
Class includes the members of the rail
road committee for the time being of the leg
lslature of each of the states of Maine, New
Hampshire, sVermont and Massachusetts.
Class . includes persons who are trustees
under mortgages of the property of the cor
poration and who are entitled to inspect its
property by virtue of the deed of indenture
constituting them trustees.
Class l0-The schedules annexed called
aalt
will is important to the corporation. and
who so long as the general practice of rail
roads remains what it now is might Justly
take offense II in the matter of free trans por-
tat1on they were 10 receive from the Boston
d Maine railroad different treatment from
that received from other railroad corpora
tions.
The Issue Squarely Met.
This concession imposed the commits
sion the duty of giving construction to
the act to regulate commerce in respect
to the right of railroad company to
give interstate passes to such classes OF
persons. The commission met the cues.
tion squarely, and in the opinion dis
cusSeS the statute and cites authorities
at some length, and concludes thai
branch of the case in these words:
without further citation of author
ity, the construction we give to section
2 of the act to regulate com
mere is that where the service
of the carrier subject to the
act IS like and contemporaneous
for different passengers, the charge t(
one of greater or less compensation
than to another constitutes an unjus
discrimination and is unlawful, unIes:
| the charge Of such greater or less com
| penSatiOn is allowed under the eXcep
n nd ho
where the traffic is under substantial,
similar circumstances and conditions il
other respects, it is not rendered diSsim
| liar within the meaning of the statute
| by the fact that such passengers hole
| unlike, or as sometimes termed, unequa
| ofhcial. social or business positions, o.
belong to different classes as they Ordi
narily exist in community, or are arbi
trarily created by the carrier"
Goodwin Passes Illegal.
This would exclude the right to give
interstate passes to certain classe.
specified in the answer, which included
''gentlemen eminent In the public
service, higher officers of states
| prominent officers of the United
States, members of railroad Legislative
committees. and persons whose goo(
will is important to the corporation"
There were other classes of pass hold
ers named in the answer, whose passes
though in form free, were free only il
name, because, in realty, there wa:
some consideration for them. such a.
those issued to newspaper men in eX
change for advertising, to hotel pro
| prietors, ice and milk dealers, and Il
some other persons who are claimed tt
stand on special ground or right.
AS to these classes of persons the
commission said that the Investigation
would have to be extended to enable i
to pass satisfactory judgment thereon
and that to avoid the delay which
| proper and full investigation of these
classes would occasion, and in view O
their minor Importance and yet per
haps. greater difficulty of decision, an(
of the urgency that the defendants shoult
be Informed at this time of the decision
upon the leading question involved
namely, the general construction of thu
statute upon the subject OF free trans
portation, the commission concluded t.
| hold the case as to such special claSse.
of persons for such further investigation
as might be necessary TO put it in full
possession of all the facts before finally
| passing upon them, and in the mean
time to issue an order applicable to tn,
classes first named in accordance witt
the construction of the law as set forth
this being pursuant to practice in othe
| cases.