The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-12-28
SHARPTALK ABOUT RAILROADS
CRITICISM or INTERSTATE CON-
MERGE COMMISSION.
Commissioner Prouty says That Extortion
In Rates il Maintained and Vice.
President Hines OF l.. 4 n. says n II
Is No the Commissioners Are 10 Blame.

| PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 27.-At the session
| ~ the American Economic Association
| to-day at Houston Hall University Of
| Pennsylvania, Charles A. Prouty, Interstate
| Commerce Commissioner, welded cudge'
against the present methods Of railroads
and was followed by Walker Hines, vice.
| p esdent Of the Louisville and Nashville
road. who defended the system and attacked
the Interstate Commerce Commission. Dis
c,ission then followed by Emory X. John
son. assistant professor Of transportation
and commerce of the University Of Penn
| sylvania and 3. n. Meyer of the Univer-
sity Of Wisconsin.
Mr.. Prouty's paper was on National
! X gula,ion of Railways" Discrimination
N rates. the evil of past years. he declared,
| had disappeared with consolidation, but
| in its place had come the danger attend
ing every monopoly extortion in the
| charges imposed,
As combinations have proceeded. he
| said, "the public has been repeatedly as
-ured that there was no danger of any adj
vance in freight rates Rates have been
| advanced and are still advancing. In the
winter Of 1899 the rate on grain from the
Mississippi River to New York fell To II
cents per hundred pounds. To-day II is
22is cents
The cost Of Transporting grain and
grain products from Chicago TO the Atlantic
soaboard by rail this past summer Las been
from to cents per hundred pounds. from
10 to rs per cent, greater than il was the
summer preceding Within the month all
grain rates in every direction from the
fields to the seaLoard have been advanced
another two cents per 100 pounds. Within
the last three years the combination Of
ant hracite roads has increa sed the cost
of domestic sizes to the consumer from
81 to s. per ton.
The railroad ia the greatest and the
most dangerous OF all monopolics. IL
: he an hracl,e coal combine advances the
price of that commodity to the consumer
81 per ton IL lcvies upon the poor of thi'
country. which Uses that coal. tax of
$50. 900. COO annually in favor of the wealth
which profits by that combine. There are
aow pending before the commission for
invest gation complaints which demand
rrduc' ions probe bly, amounting in the
aggregate 10 $4,000 600 annually. equiva-
lent, upon a per cent. basis. to almost
t4OO, 900 900 In capitalization
Mr.. Prouty dealt with the powers OF the
Interstate Commerce Commission, which
he declared were too limited. So long as
the railroads were private property they
should be allowed to make their rates. but
he suggested that the Interest ate Commerce
Commission ought to have additional
powers and that new court should b.
created to which appeals from their de-
cisions might be taken, and that such n
court might he available in dealing with
monopoly In other branches OF interstate
commerce.
Mr.. Hines, in a reply which amounted to
an attack on the Interstate commission.
spoke first Of the agitation by the COM
mission for the rate-making power and it's
dissatisfaction because it had not succeeded
in getting ii in its entirety. He said:
"The Interstate Commerce Commission
is neither an expert nor an impartial tri-
bunal. as Is proved by ts decisions and the
action Of the courts upon them. II is
unnecessary, unwise and unjust to give
such a tribunal practically final power
over the private capital invested in rail-
roads At present the mistakes Of the rail-
roads can be adequately corrected in the
courts. Under the proposed method the
mistakes of the commission could not be
corrected anywhere.
The claim that low rates are due to rail
road composition and that as such COM
petition is disappearing the power to re-
drce rates should be given to the com
mission is fallacious because the generally
low basis Of rates is due to the competition
between markets and between products
and to the fact that economical railroad
management necessitates constantly in
creasing the volume OF traffic, and ,hes,
conditions are bound to continue.
The railroads of this country are largely
responsible for its industrial and commercial
supremacy. Self-interest will undoubtedly
prompt them to do everything in their
power to maintain that supremacy Ger
tainly the material welfare OF the country
has not depended in tho past upon rate
making by the commission and il cannot
he promoted thereby in the future
Mr. Hines also said:
IF Mr.. Prouty's claim is true that rates
on anthracite coal, on grain and other COM
modities have been unreasonably increased
in the last three or four years. he convict-
the commission, Of which he il a member,
Of the most astonishing neglect Of duty
The law. rs confirmed by the courts makes
it the imp 'rative duty Of the commission
to order the discontinuance of unreasonable
rates and the courts stand ready to en-
force the commissions lawful orders to
that effect; yet. according to Mr.. Prouty,
the commission has wholly failed for all
this time to perform a most important
duty.
If Mr.. Prouty's claim 10 true, that the
Commissions order az to change in Glass;
fication of hay cannot be enforced, it con.
victs the Commission Of having delber-
ately made an un awful order, when under
the law. il could have made an order which
would have resulted in the discontinuance
of the increased rate on hay. If. in fact.
unrea sonable.
-Mr Prouty's implication that under
the present law a single individual is ex-
pected to sustain the burden OF litgating
such questions. is untrue, for such Iit!rr,
ton can be- and ordinarily is. conducted
by the Comm ssion as plaintiff. and at the
expense OF the Cover mint
IF Mr. Prouty's claims arc correct, he
puts the commission in N, attitude Of
deliberately Sinking important and effec-
tive duties for the apparent purpose ~
creating the impression that the presen mt
law Is a failure. in order to promote the
qualification 81 its ambition for vastly
greater powers