The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1898-05-21
FRED to OF the courts. tina, no under

| standing or agreements can be maze, anu
| have combined to produce the most COM
| piete breakdown that has ever been seen
| In any business. There is less faith to-day
| between railway managers with reference
| to their agreements to maintain tarlns
| 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 II, Will hardly trust his agree
| ment for the maintenance OF tarins whlle
| they are In the room together. Good faith
seems to have departed from the railway
world, so ia as traffic agreements are con-
| cerned.
zone OF the chief difficulties with the law
| as II stands to-day Is that the punishment
| for private contracts and rebates 10 en-
| tirely out OF proportion to the onense The
imprisonment cause was put In as an
amendment to the Interstate commerce
law, and l believe the commission ana
| everyone who has watched Its workings
| will agree with me that II has been RAN
ure. more than failure, that II has caused
| perhaps more Generalization than any
| thing else. The public has not believed In
| il; II has been impossible to secure cohVlc-
! ton: 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, II has been what
| every law is that Is not supported by pun
| lie sentimental failure. What, In lact -
! the manner of conducting business to-dayf
| The railway official who desires to be hon
est and law-abding sees frame leave MS
| line and finds the freight that he was car
| rying hauled to the warehouse OF his rival,
| the earnings OF his line decreasing ana
! complaints from the management or 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
| law secs some rival selling merchandise 70
! his customers at prices he cannot meet
| and he knows very well that he Is securing
| slOng from railway to enaDlo
| him to do this. The railway agent ana tho
| shipper who wish to obey the law SIT down
| together and look IL over. what refer Is
there for them? They can complain or
| their rivals, possibly convict them under
| the interstate commerce law and send
| them to the pentcntlary, but such action
would bring down upon them the con-.
domination Of the public. and would rum
| their business; for, as stated before, tho
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
! awbreakers themselves. | have drawn no
4 fancy picture; it Is what is occurring every
| day around YOU Boards of trade, COM
| mercial bodies and conventions have re-
| peatediy reported on It, 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 be
| made in this present legislation which
| would aid in creating a better condition or
| affairs than exists to-day. First the tenth
| section, or imprisonment clause, should be
| stricken out, and a new law should be en-
acted imposing a fine of. say, $4,000 upon
| the offending corporations: make each and
| every contract or bill or ladinB separate
| offense. Leave out the shipper altogether.
| you want his testimony. If he cheats by
| undertaking or false invoices, he should be
| punished, but his attempt to secure lower
rate than his rival should not be indictable.
| 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 II. and over 1t all
is the fear that he himself may have COM
| mitted transgressions which, In turn, VIII
be discovered and prosecuted, and punish
ment inflicted upon himself. But If 1t was a
case of fine against the corporation there
would be no hesitation In these corpora
lions using the entire power which they
have to convict wrongdoing. You may
think that some would pay these fines and
go on, but l assure you that 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 1t 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-abiding citizens fair
chance to defend themselves.
Second, the law should be amended so
that railway corporations can contract
with each ether for the maintenance OF
rates or the division Of business, and In
case of failure OF either party to keep his
contract allow the other to sue in the
courts and recover damages. This, In part
| Is what is called pooling, but II 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, II 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. 1t
| grew up to protect the public In old times,
but 10 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 certain
sum as damages for It's failure to keep
its 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 It's prosperity, are In
terested in the solution of this great ques-
ton. 1t Is not time for the demagogue to
howl about corporations. 1t Is not a time
to talk about the wrongdolngs 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, / assure you, are
as honestly seeking a solution OF this ques-
ton as are you or any member of the leg
islative body. / believe voice the belief Of
a 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
dorsc this course and work for 1t, It's ac-
complshment can be attained We have
unwittingly In this country applied to rail-
way laws that 1t was never intended should
be applied to transportation companies OF
this nature. We have gone back and taken
decisions chat were wise hundred years
ago, when civilization was In it's infancy
and when the masses needed certain pro-
lection, and have endeavored to apply these