The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1898-06-09


70 Ntner agreements to maintain tariffs
than was probably ever known on earth in
any other business. Men managing large
corporations who would trust their OPP
ponent with their pocketbook with untold
thousands in it, will hardly trust his agree
ment Tor the maintenance OF tariffs while
they are In the room together. Good faith
seems to have departed from the railway
world, SO far as traffic agreements are con-
cerned
zone Of the chief difficulties with the law
as 1t stands to-day is that the punishment
Tor private contracts and rebates is en-
tlrely out OF proportion to the offense. The
imprisonment Clause was put In as an
amendment to the interstate commerce
law, and l believe the commission and
everyone who has watched its workings
Will agree with me that 1t has been fall
ure; more than failure, that it has caused
perhaps more Generalization than any
thing else. The public has not believed in
1t; 1t has been impossible to secure convic-
tlon; II has prevented the railway Of
fetal who desired to be honest from COM
planning of his competitor whom he thought
was dishonest. In fact, 1t has been what
every law is that Is not supported by pub
lie senttment-a failure. What, in fact, Is
the manner of conducting business to-day?
The railway official who desires to be hon
est and law biding sees traffic leave his
line and finds the freight that he was car
ryfng hauled to the warehouse of his rival.
the earnings of his line decreasing and
complaints from the management of loss Of
earnings, and in the distance he sees loom
ing up the loss of his position. At the same
time, the shipper who desires to obey the
-lSa@ s-Z some rival selling merchandise to
HIS customers at prices he cannot meet,
and he knows very well that he is securing
concessions from some railway to enable
him to do this The railway agent and tho
shipper who wish to obey the law sit down
together and look 1t over. What relief Is
there for them? They can complain OF
their rivals, possibly convict them under
the interstate commerce law and send
them to the penitentiary, but such action
would bring down upon them the con-
demnation OF the public. and would ruin
their business; for, as I stated before, the
public does not believe in this severe fea-
ture Of the law, and will not support any
one who enforces 1t. The result is, these
men IN despair are driven to do just what
their opponents are doing-they become
lawbreakers themselves. have drawn no
fancy picture; it Is what is occurring every
day around you. Boards Of trade, COM
mercial bodies and conventions have re-
peatediy reported on 1t, and all have come
to the same conclusion; and yet, for some
inexplicable reason, congress has failed to
act.
There are two changes that should he
made in this present Legislation which
would aid in creating a better condition of
affairs than exists to-day. First the tenth
section, or imprisonment clause, should be
stricken out, and new law should be
acted imposing a fine Of, say. $1,000 upon
the offending corporation; make each and
every contract or bill Of lading separate
offense. Leave out the shipper altogether;
you want his testimony. If he cheats by
underbilling or false invoices he should be
punished, but his attempt to secure lower
rate than his rival should not be indicta BILE,
as you then prevent getting testimony
which you need. With this amendment put
into law every railway official will be in
terested in prosecuting his rival for any
violation of the law.
To-day you cannot get any help that
way, because no one is going to try to send
his competitor to prison. Public sentI-
ment would not support 1t, and over 1t all
is the fear that he himself may have COM
mitted transgressions which, in turn, will
be discovered and prosecuted, and punish
ment inflicted upon himself. But If it was
case of fine against the corporation, there
would be no hesitation in these corpora
tons using the entire power which they
have TO convict wrongdong. You may
think that some would pay these fines and
-sU on, but l assure you that a few fines
of $1,000 would work wonders in reforming
railway corporations in their management.
Above all, you will have public opinion be-
hind you, and it will be easy to enforce this
law You can get all the testimony you
want; no one can refuse to produce his
books. You will at least give those railway
officials and those shippers who sincerely
desire to be law-abding citizens a fair
chance to defend themselves.
Second, the law should be amended so
that railway corporations can contract
with each other for the maintenance of
rates or the division Of business, and in
Of fai e AZ
contract allow the other to sue In the
courts and recover damages. This, in part,
Is what Is called pooling, but it is more than
this. 1t legalizes contracts between rail-
way corporations. 1t may be a contract
for maintenance Of rates with no division
OF business. To-day, If two railway cor
porations contract that they will maintain
the same rate between Baltimore and New
York it Is conspiracy, contrary to public
policy, and cannot be enforced in the
courts. This is an old law which Is not
adapted to modern business methods It
grew up to protect the public In old times,
but Ii Is no longer necessary, and should be
changed to legislation. The right to pool,
as you all know, provides that two or more
railway corporations can agree to divide
the business between competing points on
certain proportions, and the line that car
ries more than its share shall pay a certain
sum as damages for its failure to keep
us contract. The objection to allowing this
has been that excessive rates might be
charged. To protect the public in this mat
ter, enact into law that upon the complaint
of any citizen such rates shall be subject to
review by the interstate commerce commits
sion. and in case they shall find that they
are excessive they shall at once be re-
duced to the basis fixed by the interstate
commerce commission, or else the agree
ment shall be ended
All of us who have any interest in our
country, who desire its prosperity, are in
terested in the solution of this great ques-
ton. 1t IS not a time for the demagogue to
howl about corporations. 1t Is not time
to talk about the wrongdoings of railway
managers. There are always some, in any
business. who will not do right, and there
always will be. but the great mass Of rail-
way managers to-day, l assure you, are
as honestly seeking a solution of this ques-
tion as are you or any member of the leg
isiative body. l believe l voice the belief Of
q very large majority Of them that the two
provisions have mentioned are necessary
and Will lead to the settlement of this ques-
ton. II this body will Join and heartily in
oorse this course and work for 1t, its &C
complishment can be attained. We have
@wittingly in this country applied to rail-
way laws that II was never Intended should
be applied to transportation companies OF
this nature. We have gone back and taken
decisions that were wise hundred years
ago, when civilization was in its infancy
and when the masses needed certain pro-
lection, and have endeavored to apply these
same principles to the great transportation