The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-08-17
UNJUST RAILWAY RATES
Evils of Discrimination Discussed
by Edward A. liOseley.
The Secretary of the Interstate
Commerce Commission Tells the
There is No Adequate Remedy in
the Absence OF Proper Legislation.


BALTIMORE. Aug. 17.-Edward A.
Mcseley, Secretary Ct the Interstate Com
merce Commission told the members OF
the National Hay Association yesterday
few interesting things about railroad
rates and pointed out the evils said to ex-
ist in the matter of exorbitant charges,
which. as matters now stand. the commits
sion is poweriess to remedy. Mr.. Nose
ley's remarks were applaudei heartily. and
after he had finished he received a vote of
thanks from the convention.
The ideal system of railroad freight
rates. he said lis that one which pro-
est amount of traffic shipped between the
greatest number of places by the greatest
number of consignors to the greatest num-
Der of consignees. With such rates in
force the carrier obtains adequate com
pensation and the movement OF commerce
is truly untrammeled and free.
That system of freight rates which OPP
crates to diminish the number of shippers
or consignees, build up particular localities
and retard the growth of other localities.
must inevitably, without other causes pro-
noting the same end, produce oyerShadow
ing industrial and business monopolies and
reduce TO a minimum the number OF mar
kets of supply and distribution
The people of the United States ex-
pected in 1887. when the Interstate Com
MERGE law was passed, that Interstate
commerce by railroad would move under
rates reasonable and just to all shippers
and consigEees and to all localities, or that
the rates you'd be summaTily regulated
by the Interstate Commerce Commission
under the powers granted by that act
They declared in that statute against
wrongful preferences and exactions of
every nature. name. and kind, and when
any such should be discovered the Com
mission was required TO order the carrier
making then TO cease and desist from the
Illegal charge OF practice.
The people believed that authorizing
the Commission TO forbid an unlawful
charge carried with it the power to forbid
the whole Of such charge and to compel
from charging any other rate than such
as il might find would be lawful
The Commission acted upon that belief
for ten years. and until the question was
raised in the courts the carriers thsm-
selves acted upon that belief.
What the Court Said.
Now this was all wrong. The Supreme
Court OF the United States said in 1897
that the Commission may condemn a rate
which it finds TO be unreasonable, but it
cannot order the carrier to cease and de-
sist' from charging some other unreason-
able rate or TO cease and desist from
charging more than the rate found in the
same case to be reasonable.
The rate on hay from St Louis TO Bal
timore may be unreasonable, and in =
case brought TO test the question the Com
mission may find it so, but if it does il can
only forbid that particular rate. The car
rier IS at liberty to make only the slight
est reduction and claim it has satisfied
the law.
The complaining shipper must keep on
complaining and iiugating and the Com
mission must keep on hearing the case
and Issuing orders until at last a reason
able rate shall be secured This is the law
as passed by Congress in 1887 and defined
by the Supreme Court of the United
States ter years later.
But this is not all. When the Commits
sion issues an order. that order need not
be obeyed by carrier until the courts
compel it to do so. Application TO enforce
the order must be made to the circuit
court of the United States, and either par
" may appeal from the decision of that
court to lie circuit court of appeals ana
again to the Supreme Court. These cases
have averaged about four years in the
courts before final decision has been rem
dered.
Take a rate of 90 cents on hay from
St. Louis and assume the Commission has
found it 10 be unreasonable. The car
rier need not obey that order until com
PEELED to do so after four years trial in
the courts. and if required to obey it, the
carrier need only reduce ii say 1 cent.
Now. assume that 10 cents is a reason
able rate. 1t would require under that
procedure ten suits in the courts OF the
United States during a period of forty
years to secure the enforcement of a reas-
enable rate of 10 cents on hay from ST.
Louis
1T is true also that the commission
has authority to award reparation for I'M
reasonable rates. If it cannot order a
carrier to charge in the future the rate
found to be reasonable it can give the
complainant damages for the wrong re
sulting from the unreasonable charge,
and such damage would be the difference
between the unreasonable and the reason
able charge.
"A shipper has always had such right Of
recovery at common law, but no one has
ever pointed out. case of recovery Of
damages at common law for the exaction
of an unreasonable freight. The law re-
ports will be reached in vain for any such
proceedings.
Senate bill No 1889, known as the
Cullom bill. which would give the COM
mission more power, was at the last ses-
sion of Congress reported adversely by !
vote of 10 4 by the Senate Committee on
Interstate Commerce But the bill was
placed upon the calendar, and it is there
fore in shape to be acted upon at the
next session of Congress
Hard to Remedy Wrong
ut is a melancholy fact that remedies
for public wrongs are not easily obtained
in our country. Here is a great remedial
statute which practically the whole people
believe to have been wisely enacted. but
which has become imperative in its most
important respects through defects
brought to light by judicial interpreta-
tons.
With a popular legislature, such as our
Congress is, a majority of each branch, 46
in the Senate and 179 in the House. must
not only be secured. but the measure must
run the gantIet of the regular committees
and receive the approval of the Steering
Committee or Committee on Rules, to say
nothing of the many fatefuI pitfalls which
may be dug for it in legislative practice |
The people of this country have been
gradually awakening TO the enormity of the
abuses which, in the alb !
sence of any effective legal restraint are
yearly in number and working |