The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1897-05-24
AMERICAN RAILROAD POOLS.
Elucidatlon OF "a Business Factor OF
Vast Importance TO Whole Co"ntry.
SIXTH PAPER.


The extent TO which pooling has been
considered by Legislatures, trade bodies,
state railway commissions arr tndvid-
uals and the changes In the opinions OF
important persons and commercial bodies
constitute important testimony Ia tpe
railway behalf
| considered pooling, aud of l49 persons
| whom it questioned torty-two favored
| pooling generally, twenty-SiX Favored
| legalized pooling, forty one pools Win
| legal and other RESTRICTIONS anu no
| witness offered any acceptable substitute.
! For these reasons that committee reported
| in 1885
lit would seem wiser TO permit such
| agreements rather than by prohibiting
| them To Hrender the epforcement ana
maintenance Of agreed rates nnpraetic-
| able.
Further: "Tho committee does not
deem it prudent 90 recommend the pro
| hibition OF pooling" aud Tho ostenslnlo
| object of pooling Is In harmony with the
| spirit OF regulative legislation.
Stlll further Tho majority of the
committee are not disposed 70 endanger
| the SUCCESS or the methods OF regulation
| proposed for tho prevention Of unjust dis
| examinations by recommending the pro
| hioition OF pooling.
| Tho law that committee first submitted
| therefore provided;
said Interstate Commission shall
| especially inquire into that method OF
/ railway management or combination
| known as pooling and report 60 Congress
| what, II any. legislation Is advisable ana
! eXpsdlent upon the SUBJECT
/ Senator Cullom says that Judge Rea-
/ gan Of TcxaS then chairman OF the House
| cOmmlttee Of commerce, mainly defeated
| this maj ority of witnesses, The conclusions
/ of his committee and the legalilatlon OF
! q fsaEt HNaf
| Reagan went thence TO the Uulted states
| senate, and having thereafter become
| railway commissioner OF Texas, he frankly
! said:
! Further study has caused me TO believe
| THAI the (tifth) section may be amended SO
| as TO benefit both the railroads ana the
I people by allowing the railroads 90 enter
into traffic arrangements with one an
other
Among other prominent men who have
as frankly changed their views are Hon.
4 Charles - smith, late president of the
New York Chamber OF Commerce: Hon.
| Simon Sterne, tho counsel for the New
York board OF transportation against the
! railways of New York and others.
Mir. Smith said Pooling certainly has
J soRe good points for shareholders and the
public, 10 does prevent TO some extent
unjust Determinations; IL aims TO treat
| all alike.
MIR. Stsrne said OF pools They have
brought about a change Tor tho better
from that which prevailed before the pool
ing arrangements were made.
Prof Atwater's Endorsement.
Prof. Atwater cf Princeton, described
pools as agreements among railways for
each 20 accept as It's share Of the competi-
tive business at "a moderately remunerative
rate common 10 all what shall DC Judged
Co DC its Just proportion by an umpire or
board selected by them 70 make the appor
tionment
The attention OF the first Interstate
ColnIo cree Commission was promptly
directed 60 this subject aud their hrst
annual report said "Ihe scheme of pool
ing rates or the earnings from traffic was
dev ised ana put IN force. Us u
means whereby steadness in rates might
be maintained. " The same report further
said: 1.-The scheme was one which was
made use of In other countries and had
been found of service Co the roads; and
the absolute sum of the
money charges exaCted for transportation,
if not clearly beyond the bounds OF reason,
was of inferior Importance IN comparison
with the obtaining OF rates that shonld oe
open, equal, relatively just as between
places and as steadily rs in the nature OF
things was practicable,
In 1885 the Railway Commissioners Of
Kansas Said
since the violent conhictions of rates
| cOnHc0htllb ph TutG Mtib ltbNNtii tlN al
lines result usually I'm discriminative
benefits 60 "A few at the ultimate expense
of the public, means should be taken 60 at
least moderate this disturbing element to
the business interests of tho country. AS
| "A means TO this end, we venture TO sug-
Sest that contracts or agreements between
rival companies TO carry on Interstate
traffic upon common rates, providing
those rates are reasonable and just, should
he invested with a legnl status and be en-
forceable with appropriate sanctions.
| Inc average rate for freight in that
wear was /. 036 cent per ton per mile. IL
was .S39 of l cent IN 1875, or but ~ per
cent as much.
Judge Cooley said: "The ayowed pur
pose in pooling Is TO avoid ruinous COM
petition between the several roads repre-
sented and the unjust discrimination be-
twccn shippers which is found invariably
90 attend such competition. 1t
nav, therefore, be taken as agreed
that so far as pooling arrangements
have the correction OF this subject
| in view. the purpose Is commendable. >
he said further: Without the aid of the
law TO enforce pooling arrangements it Is
| not yet apparent that any scheme can be
devised whereby the cutting of rates can
be- effcctually prevented. he said in an
address delivered TO the Boston Merchants
Association, January s 1889: "Ihe old
pooling was never SO harmful as some
persons supposed, and was probably
condemned by law more because of what
| it was feared 1t would become or might
become than because of what 1t was +"
| lie also said 60 "A convention OF state
railway commissioners in Washington,
May -. 1890;
lit may seem altogether proper that the
government should make, or permit TO be
made, some provision whereby the COM
paratively foeblc road may be supported
not entirely by the resources of the dis
trict which it serves, but 20 some extent
also. by "A tax upon the business or re-
sources of other roads. A provision to
this end Is not uncommon"
Indorsed by Mr. Adams.
Charles Francis Adams said 1.-The prac-
tice known AS pooling which the Inter
state Commerce act inhibits was merely "a
method through which the weaker rail-
road corporations were kept alive. To pre-
vent excessive and unequal competition
business was SO divided that tho less fla
| yored COrporatiOn had some share of traffic