Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1902-06-23
Shalt Railroad Pooling Be Lega1ized;
Shipping Interests vitality Concern


WASHINGTON, June 1.-THE chief rea-
son the .railroad managers bring forward
the Elkins bill for an amendment to the
Interstate commerce law that concerns the
matter of pooling. The privilege of pool
ing is supposed BY, them to be Of vital I'M
pOrtance. and their opinions on the sub
ject are entitled to respectfuf cons1dera-
ton.
Let US see what pooling involves.
1t is desired 10 establish it. we will say,
in trunk line territory. There are some
strong lines there and some very weak
ones there are short lines and long; there
are direct roads for the business between
leading points. and there are roads twice
as long which nevertheless demand
share of the, business. There are local
roads which have a fair claim to nothing
but local business. but which are never
theless capable of being made links OF
long but circuitous routes, and OF thus
becoming disturbers of rates for the whole
territory. The problem. when pooling is
proposed, is how to satisfy all the parties;
how TO apportion the business so that all
will be content and remain so. And at
the outset II must be understood tnat
there is not business enough to make
them all profitable and inevitably some
must have precariOus existence.
To expect to satisfy all under such cir
cumstances is as vain as to expect to sat
isfy a miscellaneous collection of carnlV-
erous beasts by dividing among them
carcass which is insufficient to more than
whet the appetite. Content with the d.
vision is out of the question. Each will
take what is allotted to IL If it sees no
chance of getting more, but with SUCH
mental protests as will make it eager to
embrace any circumstances which seem
to give promise of better division If the
pool is broken up. And such circum-
selves The pooling family is very seldom
a happy family; 1t is seldom, If ever.
bound together by friendly ties. Each>con-
siders his neighbor unfair and unjustly
grasping, and chafes under the fact.
Thus all the elements of disorganization
attend ii from the start. Moreover, the
most perfect pool is liable to be invaded
by means of arrangements that may seem
altogether unnatural and yet be very eff
feotive. The Canadian Pacific. notwtth-
standing its enormous length Of line,
showed itself quite capable Of debating
terms to the American transcontinental
roads in respect to business between
San Francisco and the cities Of the inte-
rior; and pool which should embrace all
the lines Of the Northwest might find its
arrangements broken in upon by line
connecting Chicago and New York, but
made in part by the roads south of the
Ohio and the Potomac. There is almost
no limit TO the possibility Of forming such
roundabout lines as may constitute dis
turbers and dfsorganizers of rates; and
the ingenuity in forming them is sufi-
GENTLY active to prevent pooling being
more than an experimental device for
keeping the peace, whose duration is de-
pendent first on the good faith of the
parties. and next upon the power Of 9TH
ers to upset their arrangements.
Pooling With a legal sanction would
horr oil ola - hot
attended the old pooling except one. When
the pool as it used to be formed broke up.
there was no enforcing such obligations
as had been incurred while It existed;
there was no compelling payment Of bal
ances. With a legalized pooling there
might be the same difficulty in forming
the pool, the same elements of disorgani-
zation would be involved, the same con-
tinuous good faith would be essential, and
the same possibilities would exist of fatal
intrusions from outside.
It is not at all probable that pooling
will be legalized before managers show,
first, different attitude toward the law;
and second. a better disposition to OBJ
serve mutual engagements. It is right at
this point that the radical mistakes have
been made. If the obligations entered into
IN forming railroad associations had been
observed. pooling would have been Of
much less moment than is now commended.
But the obligations in many cases seem
only to have been assumed that they
might be violated, and when men guilty
of violation ask for the Equalization Of
pooling to enable them to obey the law
the request does not seem to have a win
ming sound; It repels votes instead of gain
ing them. Before further law is made at
their request they should show a purpose
to obey the law they now have. This is
the way it is likely TO strike a legislative
body.
Two bills are now before the senate. the
Elkins bill, drawn up under railroad aus
pices, which contains a pooling clause
with all it's phases. In the second section
of this bill, page T. line 6: For the d.
vision of their traffic earnings on BOTH"
The divisions of traffic is considered the
greatest highwayman of commercial free
dom, or in other words, a tonnage of