The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-02-06
TIE ELkINs POOLING BILL.

]
Senate by Senator Elnins of Virginia.
giving railroads the privilege OF pool
/ ing their earnings. meet with any bet
/ ter success than similar bill that was
/ before Congress some years ago? There
/ IS a chance that it will. Congressman
( are better informed in respect TO the
I railroad problem than they were then,
and the public understand it bet
ter. There is stin a large percentage
of the people, however, who can't get
rid of the idea that 1t is only by means
Of competition that the public can get
anything like reasonable rates.
Since the effort was made a few
years ago TO get Congress to authorize
pooling the consolidation OF railroad
properties has been going on at a rap
id rate. Pretty nearly all of the rail-
roads of the country are now included
in a few systems. This has been
brought about by one railroad buying
another or by the stronger road fore
ing the weaker one into bankruptcy
and then buying it.
Railroad managers saw long ago
that competition meant the consolida-
ton OF the railroads into a few great
systems. if pooling were denied, but
Congress could not be convinced, or
would not admit ii was convinced,
that such would be the result. And If
the Elkins bill is not passed it will not
be many years before a very small
number of rich men will have control
of all Of the railroads. The day for
honest competition is past. Competi-
ton now means the ruin of the weaker
road. II means consolidation. 1t is
probable that the railroads would ac-
cept pooling as the solution of the rail-
road problem now, but it is very I'M
certain that they would do so ten or
twenty years hence. If a few men
should succeed in getting control of
practically all of the roads they would
not want the privilege of pooling. In
deed, they would prefer not to have
it, because they would not want the
government to be in "a position to ac-
quaint itself with their affairs. If the
government should grant to the rail-
roads the right to pool their earnings
it would of course have the right to
say what the maximum rates would be,
ard also to know their gross and net
earnings.
The different states are largely re-
sponsible for the present consolidation
of railroad properties. They have ex-
ercised no judgment whatever in
granting railroad charters. They have
not hesitated to charter a company
that desired to parallel another road,
and thus ruin it. In our dispatches
yesterday it was stated that bill had
been introduced into the Maryland
Legislature to charter a company
which proposes to build a railroad that
would parallel the Western Maryland
Railroad for almost its entire length.
The dispatch stated that the promo
ters of this new road frankly admit
that it is their purpose to purchase
the Western Maryland road. pro-
vided they cannot get it at
what they think a fair price.
In other words, the Legisla-
ture is asked TO help lot of promo
ters to get possession of a railroad
property at their own price-in fact,
to put them in a position to ruin the
Western Maryland road so they can
get il through bankruptcy proceedings
If they cannot get it in any other way
at their own price.
And this sort of thing has been GO
ing on for years in all parts of the
c51ntry. Legislatures have helped to
bring about the consolidation of rail-
road properties, while at the same
time insisting that all they desired
was competition.
The Elkins bill gives to the Inter
state Commission the right to fix the
maximum rates and also to inspect
all rates that are made. In fact, the
rates which railroads agree upon must
be submitted to the commission be-
fore they are put into force. The
question of pooling ought to be care
fully considered by the people as we'll
as by Congress. In that event the
public sentiment would probably APP
prove the Elkins bill or some similar
bill.