The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-12-19
STATE 70 TAKE CHARGE
RAILROAD AND WAREHOUSE COM
MISSION FAVORs PUBLIC OWN
ERSHIP OF RAILROADS
RELIEF FOR EXISTING ILLS
1t Urges That Public Interests Must
Suffer as Long as Private
Property Rights Are
Considered.

IaIlrOad and warehouse COMMISSION EaS
been taken from the annual report of
that body, the statistical portion of
which was published in the Globe Sat
urday. The report in full has not yet
been officially published by the commits
sion.
In the following review the commits
sion calls attention to the prerogative
placed in its hands by the legislature Of
1897, by which it is empowered to examine
into the reasonablenes Of railroad tar
ifs, as lone of the most potent weapons
ever put into the hands of any commits
sion charged with the protection Of the
commercial interests of the people at
large"
Attention is also directed to the recent
examinations of grain and merchandise
rates as examples of the exercise of this
new power. The commission makes
recommendation on the basis of these
hearings as an amendment to the law.
in which it is held that if the statute
permitted them to consider the whole
railroad system Of the state as a unit
and place their order upon a broader
basis their usefulness would be greatly
augmented:
ORGANIZATION.
The commission, as now constituted. is
,ot Gseorge L. Becker, appointed January,
j. Knox, appointed January 1900 for a
term OF one year.
The term or George L. Becker expires
by limitation January, 1901
Through the action of the legislatu~a
OF 1883, in enactng chapter IS OF he
General Laws Of that year, making the
commission an elective body, the term
OF + NJ. RIngdal was made to expire
January, 1901 7. J. Knox, having been
appointed to the one-year term. Created
by the same act his term expires nv
limitation January, 1901.
WORK OF THE COMMISSION.
The work Of the commission for the
past year mas been in some measure
along new lines. The Legislature of 1897
amended the law governing the work Of
the commission by providing that tho
DodiliIsstoh might proceed upon their own
nolon 10 investigate the reasonableness
OF the tariffs Of rates. fares and classifica-
IONS Med In their office although no
Conap.alnt had been made. Jan D. 1900.
Ihe commission adopted a resolution I'M
ger the terms of which they proceeded
20 take advantage Of this feature of the
Jaw. A number of hearings were had
a. Wn1cn the reaSOna bleneSs of the IA tee
Tor the transportation of grain and TaY
SEED from stations on the various lines
OF railroads in the south tern norton
" LAe state were inquired into. The com
4uIsSloners were Of the opinion that these
rates were too high. 1t is true that
no formal complaint had Fbeen LODGED
WIN them. But that is hardly to he
W. "a
just, or that they We're SO Regarded h,1
any considerable number of DeonIe af
4ScIed by them. 1t is a well known fact
tnat commercial interests are verI, -
4uctInt 10 call transportation COMPANIES
20 the oar of justice to enforce fheir
I!snts 10 fair treatment Whether. This
fbtiSes from lear of retribution or from
.!ope mat Patient suffering NAV brine
It's reward, in the course of +ine Z, e
tloL the business of this commission 70
1nIuIIe INTO We merely cite the fact
infiHeIc"S' apparently the motive that
ei-ri o I1 the legislature to adopt the
amendment referred to- that HersonS
Mucse commercial pursuits bring Tbero
49, nnIt, Qirect business relations with trans
PuasladoH companies usually prefer to
surfer present ills, so long as fhesea zr ~
eHuufabIe, rather than take ,lpo1 1beT.1
f be,r5s.. the risks OF litigation where the
L0eII IS great and the prospects of i'm
miL1Ieoiale gain disporpoTtfonately small
Inc existence of the act itself carries
WI, WIN II the justification for proceedings
That this amendment is one of the mas
Peteht weapons ever put into the Ia ndS
81 any commission charged with the nro9
lecuon OF the commercial Interests Of - -, =
EeopIe at large, there can be M So,, re
me success which attended IFS 11sa in
Ills lhltlaI case abundantly proves lie
ely, LOT, III spite of the fact that the
dCuon OF the commission under this stat
re was without precedent, and largely in
the nature OF an excursion into 1,ol-ro,,-11
+ '.e II brought about a reduction in
Siapie products, which will aggregafe
nuILuFeos OF thousands Of dollars per an
That the transportation comnanies 81
tecte0 py the reduction regarded If aS
JUST ana equitable is to be Inferred from
me flae Iact that they accepted it without
!iFSC resortlng to the courts to prevent tic
Inauguration. Had they looked nnoT
eltner the reduction itself or the amof,T+
OF II as unJustly affecting the rights and
interests of their Stockholders- II ic -
peaeeed TO the courts to protect them.
AiISr the gram rate case had been SET
80 tLIe SsoIlInlsslon took up the question
u rates IOr the distribution of mercnan-
use An examination of the tariffs on
H i ~ lhe once of the commission dis
G Gq3 the Iact that manufacturers and
lopoefS QClng business lin the larger cit
lcs OF the state were distributing their
gOodS under tariffs which were lower
tLah thoSe Which. their competitors at
the smaller distributing points had to
submit TO. This the Commission believed
| 70 be violation of both the spirit and
tne letter OF the laws of the state pro-
nlDlUnS railroad rate discrimina tons
-Whether, as a legal proposition the no
sluon OF the commission be accented as
conIormable to our statute, there can be
10 DIVERSITY OF opinion as to the nTaati
cal effect of the discrimination rnon fha
industries to which it applies Our com
!herclal classes toe we'll understand this
70 ,d mtga any extended argument upon the
GueStlon mere. They know from practi-
! cal, everyday experience, that a dIscrinn-
nation of small percentage in thu "a +es
OF transportation for or against a per-
son or place is sufficient, often, to decide
pelWeen success or failure of his or its
business enterprise This commission
called the attention of the railroad COM
paIleS DONG business within the state TO
the determinations above cited and de-
| manded OF them that these be removed
AFTER number OF conferences a tariff of
rates was agreed TO and put in force ky
each company, against whom the com
MISSION found, after q careful inVestica-
tion, that cause for complaint On this
score existed. The tariffs thus nut in
! force are based, so near as may be. upon
/ the tariffs IN force from the Twin Cities
/ over the same lines, in the same Giree-
Ion ms places all the distributing
points III the state upon an equal basis.
/ so far as rates within the state are con-
! ceTQed. This commission confidently be-
| ieveS that this adjustment of merchan-
dlSe raIes, II permanently adhered to,
| VIII result IN great good TO all leglumate
business interests of the state by permit
ubg me deVelopment of the natural re-
! sources and commercial advantages of all
localities Where such are shown to ex-
| In addition to the fixing of the tariff
| OF rates. the question Of. classification en-
| gagged the attention OF the commission
1t is a well known fact that the mere fix
! ing OF rates without any action being
! taken with regard to the classification
under which they are made to apply, is of
little or no value. Such partial action
| leaves the railroad companies free. when
| ever they see nj, to render any tariff of
rates nugatory by a change in the clas-
Sitication.
In order to prevent the possibility of
| such contingency arising the commits
sion fixed the classification by an order
| which imposes upon the companies af-
| fected thereby the necessity of applying
to the railroad and warehouse commits
| sioners for authority before change
| in their classification is made.
SOME RECOMMENDATIONS MADE.
In connection with this merchandise