Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1903-04-18
whitman Wins.

y" .,,eoe received the decision OF two
nan ~ :.,does in the debate with w. A. c.
sal, I'M highland was thus awarded the
ss' The question was: "Would it
e0D nrd public policy for congress to
=. contracts permitting railroads to
r,te;r earnings; provided that these
p,,.cts shall be under control of the
c ..ote Commerce Commission, which
M have full power to examine said
attracts and the accounts thereunto APP
tanning, and shall have full power to
such contracts whenever in their
.oiuion it shall be necessary
whitman upheld the affirmative. The
=, sneaker, Mr.. Baldwin, argued that
D.sstrained competition between rail
La causes the intolerable evils of rate
and determinations and that while
ne interstate commerce act was framed
.o,rect these abuses, it had failed, ex.
n minor cases, to do so because of
III anti pooling clause. He held that
i. early pools were rapidly proving a
| ,.rral solution for the evils of discrimi-
| .,,;on. and that the great increase in
,.,e-wars Immediately after the act was
..ssed. and their continuance since that
lime is proof that the law has failed to
.ocomplsh its great object. This fail
- he said is due to the anti-pooling
clause, when is inconsistent with the
rest of the law, and is driving the rail
,oads into universal consolidation.
Mr.. Cornelius opened the negative ar
gument by admitting that discrimination
!. and always has been serious evil in
ne railroad business. He went further
4 and proved that the Standard Oil Co.,
\ The beef trust and the anthracite coal
combine all had their origin in system
Of rebates granted by pooled roads. He
argued that pooling had its very incep-
ton in widespread and damaging sys-
tenn of discrimination. He cited court de-
csions where money pools were upheld
in the courts, giving pooling where it
was practiced the same legality which it
would have today were section S of the
interstate commerce act repealed. He
showed that the commission was practi-
cally powerless because it exercised no
power except through the courts.
Mr.. Ringer, the second speaker for the
affirmative, argued that there are three
causes Of Observation-Disclosures, dishonesty
Of shippers; second, rate-wars by rail
roads, and secret rebates sought by both
the shipper and the railroads. Pooling,
he maintained, will elimenate all these
evils, for it will expose the dishonest
shipper, stop excessive rate-cutting and
make reasonable rates possible. Pools
will encourage true competition, the COM
petition of service. In closing, the
speaker introduced chart to prove this
point.
Mr.. Jones, the next speaker in the neg
alive, brought out the danger of the pool
fits success be assured. He pictured the
needless roads being built to share the
profits of the pool and to become dead
burden upon the people. By chart he
showed the instability of rates under
pooling. He showed the difficulty of
maintaining pools, the evils due to each
new apportionment of earnings, the
poorer service and the higher rates that
would result. He showed how legalized
pooling could and would become a cloak
for mergers, consultations and other or
CARNATIONS oppressive, corrupting and
undesirable.
Mr.. Brown closed for the affirmative.
He argued that the present system is in
tolerable and that there must be a
change. "The railroads ask it, sound
policy requires it and the American peo-
pie demand it." This change, he said,
must be the repeal of the anti-pooling
clause and the increased powers of the
commission. We do not advocate this as
acure-all, he said, but it will do some
thing 1t will secure stable and uniform
rates, because it removes the cause of Sc
cret and open cuts, and will make these
money-losing proposition. Pooling has
done this in the past and in foreign coun-
tries, and will do it here. 1t will unite
the railroads so they can meet the de-
mands of the shippers. The prevention
otpools has been the cause of consolida-
tons, and if made legal will remove the
cause and give the railroads chance to
Cooperate legally. In closing, Mr.. Brown
Produced mass of authority to prove his
points, showing that pooling has been