The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-05-28
FORAKER,s POOLING BILL.
1t Has Been Amended, and Is Now
Ready for RepOrting to the Sennte.

WASHINGTON, May 27-The Senate
committee on interstate commerce agreed
to-day on the final amendments to the For
aker pooling bill, which there will be an
effort to have reported at the next meeting
of the committee, to be held a week from
to-day. The votes taken on amendments
to-day leave little doubt that the commit
tees recommendation will be favorable to
the measure when reported. The bill has
been perfected and would have been re-
ported to-day but for the opposition of
Senator Chandler, who is antagonistic to
any pooling bill He made a speech before
the committee denouncing railroad pools as
trusts. The amendments agreed upon are
numerous and important. The first of these
is one of limiting the existence of pooling
contracts to four years. Another amend
ment relating to orders of disapprOval by
the commission. will read follows:
The effect of any order of disapproval,
whether made on the investigation and con-
sideration of any such contract in the first
instance, or in any subsequent proceeding
after the same has gone into effect shall
be to render the contract to which such or
der relates unlawful and uncomfortable
from and after the date so fixed, except as
to any claims between the parties to such
contract arising prior to that debt"
There is also an important change in the
provisions relating to favoritsm in the way
of rates, false billing, classification and
weights. In the original bill the Offenders
in either case were made subject to pun
ishment only by fine of s. 900 and for only
one offenSe The section is amended so as
to provide d fine of $1,000 for the first Of
Tense and for either q fine of $1,000 or
Imprisonment for one year for either sub
seduent offense."
\Section Is of the existing law is amended
by the adoption of the following: That
it shall be the duty of the commission, if
there shall appear to be reasonable ground
therefore, in any case to investigate all
complaints in writing made and verified as
provided in Section Is of this act, relating
to the rates. fares, charges facilities or
practices of any common carrier or carriers
subject to the provisions of this act; and
whenever the commission, after due notice
to such carrier or carriers and reasonable
opportunity for them to be heard shall
find that any such rates, fares charges
facilities practices are in any respect ex-
cessiVe or unreasonable, or result in any
unjust discrimination as between individu-
ais. localities or articles of traffic, or are
other wise in contraVention of any of the
provisions of this act the committee shall
so report and shall thereupon issue an order
requiring any such rates, fares charges,
facilities practices to be changed, modi-
fled or corrected so as to make the same
reasonable and just and it shall be the
duty of the carrier or carriers affected
thereby to comply with such order within
such reasonable time shall be fixed by
the commission. Provided, that the orders
of the commission shall be restricted to
matters involved in specific complaints in
writing made to said commission as afore-
Said