New-York tribune., 1902-04-16
SELECTIONS FROM THE NAIL
RAILROAD REGULATION.

tn the Editor Of The Tribune
Sir: The many vitality important questions which
.o,<rorr the country touching any attempt z
s5ica change in our laws relative to the regulation
- tbe railroads seem to point unerringly to the
,,ecessjty Of q thorough Congressional investige-
,fon Of the subject in advance Of any attempt TO
,eeis,ate upon it, In this We may profit very much
4-ora the example set by the people OF Great
Britain.
As early as the year 1870 questions arising out Of
he independent corporate ownership and control Of
the railroads agitated the public mind in Great
ri+zin The old British IDEAS Of liberty involved in
me consideration of monopoly, competition and
co-nbfra ton. which from time immemorial had been
.te s7,biect of heated public discussion and Of
sectve judicial debate. gave rise to just such ap-
r-eheusons and political theorizing as those which
INV seriously affect public sentiment in the United
stares. British statesmen Of influence declared
- N early date that the State must govern the
s.roads OF the railroads would govern the State"
George Stephenson-eminent as a civil engineer
declared that where combination is possible COM
,e+i+ion is Impossible" These expressions were for
-ears accepted in Great Britain politco-economic
dognas.
n the year 1874 a strong Parliamentary commit
tee was appointed for the purpose of inQuiring into
and providing against tile assumed danger. The
uor William E Gladstone was chairman of that
committed Its labors resulted in an Act Of Para-
,,ent fAct : and S. Victoria {. So passed in the
year 1874 wherein il provided that the govern
rnent might upon terms stated in the act. at the
expiration OF fifteen years after completion. pur-
chase any railroad constructed after the passage
of the act In a word. the British Parliament pro-
,idsd conditionally for governmental ownership
and control of the railroads But that power has
never been exercised and the public sentiment of
Great Britain to-day utterly repudiates any such
noIcv This has come about the result Of the
lessons Of experience and of patient and persistent
Parliamentary inquiry. reference being had par
tcuary 70 Ihe IAN I5 yssi 1SS @ ~
of hes aFii
that the asserted dogmas hereinbefore quoted have
befn exploded. while other baseless notions. such
% hose which now TO a greater less degree
possess the public mind IN this country have been
5isneiled and the ancient principles Of liberty and
methods OF justice still prevail in the regulation Of
the railroads of Great Britain In this regard rail
trates the favorite British maxim. We have gov
Pn how different has been the practice in this
country! With an area-exclusiye OF Alaska and
Great Britain and Ireland and a railroad mileage
OF lq2l6l miles. as against 1000 miles IN Great
soraI vestigation-namely, that conducted in the
year 1886 by the Senate commitfee on ineFS99te @
nv Senator Cullom. chairman of that commlttee:
Is loval to the fundamental American principle OF
Government that all contested questions affecting
fhe commercial interests OF the country shai De
n1ation But the populistic proposition confronts
the country in favor Of elimlna ting the courts from
tbfs domain of Justice and in lieu thereof of subStI
furing an autocratic rule of administrative author
itv without any Congressional investigation What-
There are also other and exceedingly important
questions which demand Congressional inVestlga-
ron and public scrutiny in the light OF such in
Quiry. Some Of these questloIls are more pe nnpeoI-
fsnt than those determined by the Senate inquiry
fn 1856 The magnitude and importance OF the com
rnercaL financial and industrial interests inEoiDed
rne The very OF any radical legislation IN ad
vance of such inquiry that here suggested Be
,ond ali doubt a thorough Congressional inVestga-
linn ~ the various commercial economic and poAt-
ical questions involved in the general subject OF
raii-nad regulation in this country would develop
results quite salutary those realized in Great
Britain II may also be stated in favor Of such
action that the two committees Of Congress as at
TTesapt constituted admirably fitted for such
inquiry - -z d.;
In his recent annual message TO Congress Presl-
dent Roosevelt referred 10 the ralIroaGs as ne
arteries through which the commercial lie n!ood
OF this nation flows and in urging the importance
NJ irIeetiCation said: The whole history OF the
world shows that legislation will generally be both
rnvise and ineffective, unless undertaken after
calrn inoIiirv and with sober self-restraint.
o0ii- -%' ~ JOSEPH NIMMO, Jr.