The age-herald., 1898-01-20

 CANNOT ADVANCE RATES That Is the Edict Issued By the
 Railroad Commission. STANDING FOR THE PEOPLE Opinion Rendered Relative to the Right of Roads to Increase the Rates of Freight in
 Less Than Car Load Lots.
Special to The Are-Herald.

Special to The Age-Herald.
 Montgomery, Jan. 1s.-It is often asserted in Alabama that the railroad commission is farce-that it's only purpose is to pro- vide fat offices for three politicians, and that the only duties of the members of the commission are to draw their salaries regularly. To those who keep abreast of the affairs of the state, this charge is ri- diculous. A month seldom passes that the commission does not accomplish some con- siderable service for the people Its opera tions also result as rule to the advantage of the railroads of the state when consid- cred as a whole by regulating and keeping uniform the rates of freight, etc.
 The value of the commission to the peo- pie of the state is well illustrated by it's work of the past week, which will save to the merchants and dealers and, event. ually to the consumers, amount which in the long run will aggregate several hun dred thousand dollars.
 On December the board was requested by several of the railroad companies to ap- prove certain changes and advances in To- cal rates on less than carload shipments. These request have been declined, and the reasons assigned by the commission for de- clining them are presented in the follow ing interesting communication:
 To Any and Every Railroad Corporation
 and Every Person Owning and Operat-
 ing Railroad in the State of Alabama:
 This is to notify you, and each of you, that a complaint has been made to us charging that some of the railroad com panies have imposed, and are now exact ing on Classes B, c, D, F, and other com- modities of domestic consumption not enumerated in these classes, an increased differential of cents per 100 pounds on local shipments of less than carload lots, in excess of the carload rate
 General Information.
 In the investigation of this complaint we md, and deem it but just to say, that sev- eral Of the railroad companies have not yet put in effect the differential on local traf- fic, nor have they signified to us a desire 10 do so. Some of them have requested permission to put in said increased rate on less than carloads, but under a sense of official duty we have promptly declined to accede to said request; other companies have been working under said differential without our certificate of approval and notified by us, have this day abandoned it. Our information is that there are still other companies in the state not advised of our ruling in the premises, which are operating on less than carload lots said differential of 4 cents per 100 pounds in- crease over carload rate
 Prima Facie Evidence.
 Section 1160 makes a certified CODY of such approved tariff prima facie evidence in any suit or other legal proceedings against a railroad company woking under it, that it is just and reasonable By pari- ty of reasoning, if not by legal intendment, the converse of this proposition may also be accepted as true, to-wit: A tariff with out our approval will not be accepted as prima facie evidence that it is just and equitable between shipper and carrier, for section 1159 condemns the action and ac- ceptance of unjust compensation or the practice of unjust discrimination as extor- tion, and prescribes a penalty therefor, unless it appears that the service as to which the extortion was committed was performed at rates approved by us, thus emphasizing the importance of our ap- proval as the sine qua non of legal tariff. "As required by law, we have considered and carefully revised the tariffs Of charges for transportation of the several railroad companies of Alabama, have appended our certificate to only such tariffs as we ap- proved, and by special order have directed that they be posted in conspicuous places in the depots of the several railroad compa- nes for the inspection and information ot the public Any advance on these approved tariffs made without our consent is alto- gether arbitrary on the part of the railroad company making it., and when such ad- vance results in the exaction of such un- just compensation, or the practice of such unjust discrimination as to amount to ex- tortion, the railroad company becomes amenable to section 4146 of the civil code, which imposes penalty on conviction of not less than $10, nor more than $500.
 Less Than Car Load Lots.
 'The increased rate of cents per hund- red pounds on less than car load shipments in excess of the rate charged for car load lots in classes B, c, D and F, and other articles of domestic consumption not in cIuded in these classes if collected by all the railroad companies of Alabama would increase their revenue in the aggregate several hundred thousand dollars, burden the great mass of consumers to a like amount, and divert large amount of business to other states that legitimately belongs to Alabama.
 @This notice, therefore, while addressed as a matter of information to all railroad corporations and persons owning and oper- ating railroads in Alabama, is especially designed as an authoritative opinion by us, to such railroad companies as have put in effect the increased differential, and are maintaining it without our certificate of approval and in violation of law.
 "In disposing of this matter, we deem 1t unnecessary to set day for hearing and thereby involve the parties complain ant and defendant, in the unnecessary ex- pense and trouble of appearing before us,