The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1892-01-08
FREE PASSES.

The Interstate Commerce commission,
last Thursday, decided some of the ques-
tons as 10 The so-called free transpOrta-
ton or passes, raised by the complaint
of Senator Chandler in the matter of the
Boston and Maine Road. The following
is a summary of the decisions:
The Boston and Maine railroad Com
pany in it's answer stated that it was in
the h bit of giving passes as a business
feature of its administration to numer-
GUS cl.,sses of persons. which it specified
in the answers, as follows:
Cla l includes sick, necessitous or in
digent pers rs, IN short, all cases OF
charity strictly.
Glass includes gentlemen like Hon.
James w. Bradbury, long eminent in the
public service.
Glass 8 includes proprietors of summer
hotels and large boarding houses, con-
formally to practice which has long
existed among the railroads of New
England,
Glass 4 includes wives of employees
and other immediate members of en-
ployes' families.
Glass 5 includes all agents of ice COM
panies and all milk contractors doing
business on the line of the Boston and
Maine railroad, or any p TT thereof ex-
tending between any two States; said
agent and contractors travelling on the
lines in the conduct of their business.
Glass includes the higher officers of
States of Maine, New Hampshire, Yer
mont and Massachusetts, and certain
prominent officers of the United States,
like Collectors of Customs.
Glass 7 includes the railroad Commits
sioners of each of the States of Maine,
New Hampshire, Vermont and Massa-
ChusetlS.
Glass s includes the members of the
railroad Committee for the time being of
the Legislatures of each of the States of
Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and
Massachusetts,.
Glass 9 includes persons who are trus-
tees under mortgages on the property of
the corporation, and who are entitled to
inspect its property by virtue of the deed
or indenture constituting them trus-
tees.
Glass 10, the scedules annexed, called
complimentary, includes persons whose
good will is important to the corporation
and who so long as the general practice
of railroads remains what it now is,
might Justly take offence if in the matter
of free IansportatiOn they were to re-
ceive from the Boston and Maiue railroad
different treatment from that received
from other railroad corporations.
This concession imposed upon the COM
mission the duty of giving construction
to the act to regulate commerce in re-
spect to the right of railroad company
to give interstate passes to such classes
of persons.
The commission met the question
Squarely, and in an opinion discusses the
statue and cities authorities at some
length and concludes that branch of the
case i'll these words:
Without further citation of authority.
the construction we give to section of
the act to regulate commerce is that
where the service Of the carrier subject to
the act is like and contemporaneOus' for
different passengers, the charge to one
OF greater or less compensation than to
another constitutes Unjust diScrimina-
ton and as unlawful, unless the charge
of such greater or less compensation is
allowed under the exceptions provided
i'll section p; and that where the traffic
is under substantially similar circum-
stances and conditions in other respects,
it is not rendered dissimilar within the
meaning of the statue by the fact that
such passengers hold unlike, or as some
times termed, unequal official, social or
business positions, or belong to different
classes as they ordinarily exist in a com
mun;ty, or are arbitrarily created by the
carrier.
This would exclude the right to give
interstate passes to certain classes speci-
fed in the answer, which included gen
tlemcn eminent in the public service"
higher officers" of States, prominent
officers of the United States" members
of railroad Legislative Committees and
''persons whose good will is important to
the corporation"
There were other classes of passholders
named in the answer, whose passes,
though in form free, were free only in
name, because in reality there were some
consideration for them, such as those is
sued to newspaper men i'll exchange for
advertising, to hotel Proprietors, ice
dealers and milk dealers, and to some
other persons who are claimed to stand
on special ground of right.
AS to these classes of persons, tie
commission says that the investigation
would have to be extended to enable it
to pass a satisfactory Judgment thereon.
and that to avoid the delay which prop
er and full investigation of these classes
would occasion, and in view of their
minor importance and yet perhaps great
er difficulty of decision, and of the
urgency that the defendent should be in
formed at this time of the decision upon
tue leading question involved, namely,
the general construction of the statue
upon the subject of free transportation,
the commission concluded to hold the
case as to such special classes of persons
for such further investigation as might
necessary to put it in full possession of
all the facts before finally passing upon
them, and in the meantime to issue an
order applicable to the classes first
named in accordance with the construc-
tion of the law as set forth, this being
persuant to practice in other cases.