The San Francisco call., 1898-04-14
The Railroad COmmiS- sionerS Decide to Look
 Into It's Books.
A Resolution Introduced by Commissioner La Rue That
 Will Cause Some Fun.
RATES TO BE ADJUSTED.
Each of tho Twenty Seven Roads in the State Must Show It's Finan-
 ciaI Condition.

The Railroad Commission has resolved to do or die. It will make one last effort to regulate the freight and passenger rates of the roads doing business in the State, and, if its attempt proves futile, the members of the commission say there Is no reason why they should continue to exist as body that would be a commits sion in name only.
 When the regular meeting of the board was held yesterday afternoon in it's rooms in the Chronicle building the first matter to be taken up was complaint received from E. L. Merihew of Los Angeles, in which he stated that he had been charged s 30 for stop-over ticket from Oakland to Sacramento, though he understood that the rate, as fixed by the board, should have only amounted to g 50 for that distance. A letter from J. c. Stubbs, showing that Merihew had only been charged the legal rate, as fixed by the commission in 1887, was received, read and found to be correct and the complaint was dismissed.
 After the complaint had been dismissed Commissioner La Rue arose and sprung the sensation of the afternoon in the form of a resolution which. in its preamble, re- cites the action of the board in Septem- Der, 1895, when it reduced the grain rates over the Southern Pacific per cent, and the appeal of that company to the Fede- ral Courts to annul the order, and the decision of the United States Supreme Court, in a Nebraska case, to the effect that Railroad Commissioners had no power to reduce rates until the earnings of the road were thoroughly established and made known.
 The resolution goes on to rehearse the action of the Circuit Court or the North a ora m mi q ion porary' restraining order preventing the commission from adopting or attempting to enforce any schedule of rates that should tend to reduce the charges collect ton and the subsequent decision of Judge Mckenna on November 30 1896, whereDy the first part of the restraining order was continued in force and the later part dis solved, thus allowing the commission the power to make a reduction in rates, sub- ject to review by competent court, af- ter the earnings of the road have been satisfactorily established by competent authority.
 In accordance with this latter decision the resolution orders the officers of the Southern Pacific Company and all of its leased lines appear before the Board of Railroad commissioners on May Il and give testimony and data that will enable the board to determine the cost of con- Struction, the amount of improveme ents, the value of the roads, stocks and bonds the present as compared with the original cost of construction, the sum necessary for operating expenses and the earning capacity of the road under the freight and passenger rates fixed by law; also the fixed charges of all railroads and other transportation companies owned, leased and operated by the Southern Pacific
 The officers of the other TO $ m Cali fornia, twenty-six in number, are called upon to appear before the board on June and give similar information concerning their several lines.
 This resolution means all the roads operating in California, and the Southern Pacific in particular, will be obliged to appear before the Railroad Commissioners and subject themselves to an investiga- tion such as has not been held since they sprang into existence, and, if the result of the investigation show that their earn ings warrant such action, the rates on freight and passenger traffic will be so reduced as to make them comply with the provisions of the law.
 All the Commissioners are heartily in favor of the action proposed by the reso- lution. They say that the powers of the board have been so abrogated in one way and another that it can practically accomplish nothing for the benefit of the