The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1898-05-21

1 any OIleT business. Men IudUdBlHB large
| corporations who would trust their OPP
ponent with their pocketbook with untold
thousands in It, Will hardly trust his agree
ment for 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.
lone Of the chief difficulties with the law
as 1t stands to-day is that the punishment
for private contracts and rebates is en-
tirely out of proportion to the offense. The
Imprisonment clause was put in as an
amendment to the interstate commerce
law, and I believe the commission and
| everyone who has watched its workings
will agree with me that It has been a fall
ure: more than a failure, 1t has caused
perhaps more generalization than any
thing else. The public has not believed In
It; 1t has been impossible to secure conVic-
ton: It has prevented the railway Of
! fetal who desired to be honest from COM
{ planning of his competitor whom he thought
was dishonest. In fact, it has been what
every law is that l. not supported by pub
| lie sentimental failure. what, IN Iact' IS
the manner of conducting business to-day?
| The railway official who desires to be hon.
est and Iaw-abid!ng sees traffic leave his
line and finds the freight that he was car
rying hauled to the warehouse of his rival,
the earnings of his line decreasing and
COMPLAINTS from the management OF loss or
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 sees 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 Il over. What refer IS
there for them? They can complain or
their rivals, possibly convict them under
the interstate law and send
them to the penitcntiary, but such action
would bring down upon them the con-
demnatiOn of the pubic. and would ruin
their business: for, as / stated before, the
public does not believe IN this severe lea
ture of the law, and will rot support any
one who enforces il. The result is, these
men in despair are driven to do just what
their opponents are ~doing-they become
lawbreakers themselves. l have drawn no
fancy picture; it is what is occurring every
day around you. Boards of trade, COM
merclal bodies and conventions have re-
peated.y reported on it, and all have como
to the same conclusion: and yet, for some
inexpIicable 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 a new law should be en-
acted imposing a fine of, say, 5000 upon
the offending corporation; make each and
every contract or bill Of lading a 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 a 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 aw.
To-day you cannot get any help that
way, because no one is going to try to send
his competitor to prison. Public sent!-
ment would not support It, and over it all
is the fear that he himself may have COM
mltted transgressions which. in turn. will
be discovered and prosecuted, and punish
ment inflicted upon himself. But If it was a
case of fine against the corporation, there
would be no hesitation IN these corpora
tons using the entire power which they
have to convict w~rongdoing. You may
think that some would pay these fines and
go on, but assure you that a few fines
Of 5000 would work wonders in reforming
railway corporations in their management.
Above all, you viii 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-abiding citizens a fair
chance to defend themselves.
Second. the law shout be amended so
that railway corporations can contract
with each other 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 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 a conspiracy, contrary to public
policy, and cannot be enforced IN the
courts. This is an old law which is nut
adapted to modern business methods. IT
grew up to protect the pubic in old times,
but it 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 :han its share shall pay a certain
sum as damages for its failure to keep
its contract. The objection to allowing this
has been hat 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
itNICh ny LLIt IA SldAt commerce. cOlllIllS-
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.
a 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 ~demasogue to
howl about corporations. 1t is not a 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, 1 assure you, are
as honestly seeking a solution of this ques-
ton as are you or any member of the leg |
islative body. l believe l voice the belief Of
a very large majority of them that the two
provisions l have mentioned are necessary
and will lead TO the settlement Of this ques-
ton. If this body will join and heartily in
dorse this course and work for it. its &C |
complishment 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 that were wise a hundred years
ago, when civilization was II its infancy
and when the masses needed certain pro-
lection, and nave ~endeavored to apply these
principles to the great transportation
of modern times. The courts I'M