Omaha daily bee., 1895-12-28
MAY PASS A POOLING BrLL.

VII fhSN Il fbObfNu DILL
1t is expected that the house commit.
tee on Interstate will report
a pooling bill. similar to the one which
was considered in the last congress, and
1t is thought such n measure can pass
the house, with very favorable chances
in the senate. 1t is pointed out that
Mr.. Hepburn, the chairman of the com
mittee, while not especially friendly 10
the railways as such, voted with the
friends of the pooling bill on most of
its stages in the last congress and 1t is
said that he will not oppose such n
In the public interest. The committee
as Il whole is understood to favor per-
mission to the railways to pool, the four
democratic members who were i'm the
last house having all voted for the pas
sage of the bill then pending.
That measure, as will be remembered,
provided for allowing competing rail
roads to enter into pooling agreements
subject to the supervision of the Inter
state Commerce commission. 1t re-
CURED that the pooling contract must
be in writing and fled with the Inter
days before it could go into effect. If
not disapproved by the commission
within twenty days 1t would go into
effect, but it was made the duty of the
commission to disapprove it If it should
appear, on inspection, that it would re-
sniff in It,tany ntn11n ,.,fn, ,,p;,.t 1T,
elimination, inferior service to the
public, or otherwise c%ontravene the pro-
visions of the Interstate act.
The commission was clothed with
plenary power, when II contract went
into effect, to investigate the operations
under the contract and at any time to
make an order disappearing it if it
should be found to have any of the re-
suits specified as justifying disapproval.
A contract disapproved in the first in
stanc within twenty days could never
90 into effect, unless the circuit court, on
review, should so decide, and not then
until the supreme court of the United
States should so decide in the event of
an appeal. In case of the disapproval
of Il contract after it had gone into
effect, the parties thereto could go to the
courts for Il review of the decision. the
and unenforceable until the court of
last resort should approve the same.
1t is presumed that this measure will
be again presented in the present con-
gress, probably without much change or
modification. 1t was carefully drawn
and received very full discussion, most
of the men who are prominent in the
present congress, including Mr.. Reed,
being favorable to it. 1t was salts
factory to the railroads and to the large
shippers and also had the endorsement
of the Interstate Commerce commits
sion, yet with all this influence behind
it the bill did not become law. 1t
passed the house, but failed in the
senate. There is a considerable number
of new men now in the senate which it
is thought will improve the chances of a
pooling bill being enacted. OF course |
the same interests which favored the
measure in the last congress will be
found solidly supporting a pooling bill
in the present congress-, while the Op- |
position will come from those who are |
.lpprehensive that such legislation would |
give the railroads the power to increase |
to the detriment of the general
public. The bill in the last congress
purported to provide ample safeguards
unreasonable rates and unjust
discrimination, but there was a lack of
faith in the commission, as was dis
closed in the debate on the bill, and
that feeling is probably as strong now
rs it was then, certainly so far as the
public is concerned.