The times., 1898-02-13

court the Constitution of the United
States will make it imperative that its
| members hold office during good be-
| havior. - -
But not only does the Inter state Com.
merce Commission insist that as al
present constituted and with its-pres-
ent multifarious. duties. it should be
given the powers of a court to enforce
its orders, but it insists that it should
be given power to make all Interstate
rates throughout the vast area of the
United States; and many of its advO-
Gates hold up as an example of the
practicability and propriety of such a
course the railway regulation laws OF
England
We have seen how far the English
| Railway and Canal Commission falls
short Of an argument for giving the
| Interstate Commerce Commission the
powers of a court, and how instead it
Is an instructive argument against any
such prepOsterous idea. Likewise, we
lind that the example of England in
the matter of fixing rates for carriers
is directly opposed to any such scheme
as that suggested by the Interstate
| Commerce Commission. 1t seems that
no provision was made in England for
fixing the rates of railways except the
provisions which were in the charters
| of the various railway companies, un-
til the adoption of the railway and ca
nal traffic act of 1883. and by that act
an extremely careful procedure was
provided revising the rates OF carriers
| throughs the instrumentality of the
| board of trade.
The Board of Trade is a permanent
committee of the privy council. estab-
| lished by an order in council in 1856.
! AS now constituted, all the principal
| officers of the State are eX-officio MEM
| bers, but the duties are really discharg-
! ed by the president and the secretaries
of the board. The president is usually
| a member of the cabinet, being prac-
| tically a cabinet minister of trade end
| commerce. The secretaries are par
| liamentary secretary, permanent sec
retary, and an assistant secretary for
each of the six departments into which
the work of the board is divided. One
| of these departments is the railway de-
| partment, which is charged with the
| administrative supervision of railways
| in various respects, and which makes
| inquiries into accidents. collects and
| publishes railway statistics, etc.
To the Board of Trade the carriers
were. by the act of 1888, required to
| transmit classifications and schedules
of maximum rates. The railways were
| to advertise in the newspapers and by
| posting notices at their passenger sta
tionS, the fact Of their having so trans
! mitted their schedules and classliica-
tions to the Board of Trade. There
upon the Board of Trade was To hear
all parties whom they considered en-
titled to be heard, and then If the
Board of Trade agreed with the rail-
ways upon the proposed schedules. the
schedules so agreed upon, or in the
event of inability to agree. schedules
nrepared by the Board of Trade were To
be embraced in provisional order 10
be transmitted TO Parliament, and the
Board of Trade was To procure Dill
to be brought in for confirming such
provisional order. If any objections
were made to such bill it had to be re-
ferred either to a select committee or
the house in which the bill had been
introduced, or to joint committee Of
the two houses. so that an opportunity
might be given for hearing; and 1t
was only when an act had been PASSED.
in pursuance of this procedure. con-
firming a provisional order that the
rates so designated should become
binding upon the railways.
This is the system which prevails in
England for fixing the rates of rail-
WAYS The system clearly recognizes
that the fixing of such rates is strictly
legislative function. and as such 1t
Is exercised DF itSfil ShbU
not otherwise. Yet the Interstate Com
merca Commission. or some of it's mem
bers and certainly numbers of its
friends, have used the system or rail-
way regulation in England as an ar
gument for comforting upon the COM
mission the power to fix all interstate
rates. Thus according to the inter
state commissions ambitious designs,
not only is it to be a sort of superfn-
tendent of the railways, detective of
violations of the law, a prosecutor OF
the railways for such violations, par
ty complainant against the railways,
and also court in all matters arising
under the interstate commerce act,
having all the powers of a court to en-
force it's orders, but it is also to be
legislature for the purpose OF nXing the
rates of the carriers. Any such ming
ling of widely different functions is
grossly inconsistent with the whole
spirit of government In this country; it
would not be tolerated for moment
with respect to other interests in the
country, and with respect to the rail-
way interests it will certainly not be
tolerated by any, fair-minded man
whose attention is directed to the glar-
ing anomaly.
The commission endeavors to put out
of sight the fact that the power it
seeks with reference to rates is in real
ity legislative power, by insisting
that it would not, under the power de-
sired, fix rates in the first instance, or
fix rates generally, but that 1t would
only fix them upon complaint and after
finding the existing rates unreason-
able. Congress itself could not now, of
course, fix rates in the first instance on
any railway already in operation, be-
cause the rates have already been fix
ed ''in the first instance" AS to fixing
rates generally, the commissions
course certainly is inconsistent with its
present assertions. Although the COM
mission now has no power to make
rates at all, it in one case assumed to
make rates on the first, second, third,
fourth, fifth and sixth classes of COM
modities. embracing over 1000 articles,
from Chicago and Cincinnati to eight ]
points in four Southern States, and =
this in fact virtually affected the rates
to all points in the South, not only from
Chicago and Cincinnati and other
points in the Northwest and cen
tral territory, but from all points In
the East as well. It would be difficult
to find a more striking example of fix
ing rates generally, and if the commits
sion saw proper to go into such gem
eral rate-making scheme as this when
it had no power whatever to make
rates. 1t certainly will not be less mod
est if that power be actually given to It,
The commission, however insists that
adequate protection is given by the
power of review by the courts, but the i
fact is that any such power would be
wholly insufficient. The, question of the
reasonableness Of a rate is peculiarly one
of fact, and after, the commission in
vestigates the facts according TO its
,I- tt,,,,