The herald., 1895-02-08
RAILROAD LEGISLATION.


What various States Are Doing In Trhf
fc Regulation.
The Railway Age: We present al
brief summary as possible. emitting
good many bills and resolutions which
deal with minor matters, or which are
80 absurd ON their fscs that there lie NO
likelihood Of their succeeding, even in
modern american fegiFisturs.
Commissionsrs-In Illinois it ia pro-
posed to have the railroad com mission
fix rates for the express companies; in
South Dakota to give the board fur
powers to fix freight rates; and there ~
another bill reducing the salaries of the
com mssioners. In Tennessee and West
Virginia a commission ia proposed.
Employees - law prohibiting
blacklisting is proposed in Illinois, one
to pay employees weekly in New Jersey.
and one requiring licenses for locomo-
tive enginemsn in Texas. In Massachu-
setts member has presented the old
proposition to require ratings on freight
car roofs, to keep men from falling off.
Bills for arbitrating labor deputies are
proposed in Illinois, Minnesota and Wy.
oming.
Pssses-This 10 the subject on which
the sun of reform blszss hottest, and.
as Mr.. Reuter- says, SIT is penetrating
the dark places of official life" but be
does not state whether any pocketa
have yet been actually turned inside
out. Laws prohibiting the use of rail.
road passes by public officers, phrased
in language OF varying degrees of sever
ity. are proposed in Alabama. Indiana,
Kansas, Missouri, North Carolina, Ten.
nessee. Texas and Wisconsin; while in
New York the memh ers are busy with
schemes to get around this law already
passed.
Rates, passenger - In Connecticut
there ia bill to reduce all passenger
fares to one cent mile, and to intro
ducs the zone system. In Massachu.
eetts, New York and Indiana it is pro,
posed to make all two cents a mills. In
New Hampshire and South Dakota
there are bills requiring Thousand emile
tickets to be sold at prices named in the
bills, which are very low. In Wyoming
the proposition is to reduce every thing
to three cents. California has an anti
scalper law under discussion. A bill to
reduce aleeping car rates to 80 cents has
been presented in the New York legsla.
taIe. Similar bills arc up in the states
of Pennsylvania and Washington.
Rates, freight-A bill to regulate
freight rates has been presented in Kan
sas. Kansas is one Of the states that
has regulated rates to death already.
Taxatiou<-A bill to increase the tar
on sleepinR oars has been presented in
WiscontiN; and in North Dakota there
is comu1l}te TO confer with representa-
tives OF Mi1hesota, Montana and WASH
ington on tkio subject.
eckers--Bills to punish train
wrecksrs or robbers by death have been
presented in Arkansas, Colorado, Miss
souri, and Texas.
There are q few bills bearing aoma
marks OF novelty. In Minnesota q law
to guard against forest fires makes it the
duty Of railroad employees to report and
extinguish fires, under penalty OF 500
fine, halt the fine to 60 to the informsr.
In Massachusetts there 10 q demand
that the BOARD Of inspectors OF rail-
roads, established q year or two ago.
shall be changed in its constitution and
its powers. In Missouri the use of
fates on passenger trains, which comy
pei passengers to buy tickets. still Of
tends the citizens OF that state. and
Representative Grubb has presented
bill prohibiting the use OF gates.
If there is any state which 10 stirring
up things more effectively than another
it is North Carolina, where the Populists
are reveling in new found power, and We
must give it q separate paragraph. A
correspondent in Raleigh rays:
Several bills affecting railroads have been
introduced in the legislature during the past
week. among them one imposing penalty OF
$40 day for holding over perishable freight
over two days; one to abolish the present rail-
road commission of the state, and one to com!
pei railroads to accept unused excursion tick.
cts on subsequent regular trains in certain
cases. The bill abolishing the railroad com
mission will pass. but the present law will be
reenacted. the object being to displace tho
present Democratic commissioners, and elect
Populist Republicans in their stead Another
bill which has passed the senate by vote Of
80 to g. and will undoubtedly pass the house,
provides that railroad holding non-persha
BILE freight over five days and perishable
freight over two days shall be liable in an
action for debt for twice the value of the
freight and $40 for each day over the time
above stated freight is delayed, in the case OF
non-pershable freight, and $25 for perisis
BILE freight.