The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-12-23
REGULATION OF RATES
ANNUAL REPORT OF INTERsTATE
 COMMERCE. COMMISSION.
Statements to Cengress If E3orts se Fix Equitable Freight Carry- ing System With the Great
 Railroad COrpor-


 The eighteenth annual report of the |Interstate Commerce Commission' transmitted to Congress, gives consiu. , erahie spaoe to the discussion or tne rernIation of rates. The Commission cali. Attention to the fact that there | has been no amendatory iegisiataon con ferring power over rates ana making the orders of the commission enectve' m inc present state of the law. after csrsSuI and often extended investiga- lion the Commission may ind a rate complained against to be unreasonable ana order the carrier to desist from charging that rate for the future; but if can not, though the evidence may 1 and usually does indicate it, find and I order the reasonable rate to be substi- l tuted for that which has been found l to be unlawful. Any reduc- l tion of the wrongful charge amounts to technical compliance and frees the carrier from any le- | gal obligation under the order. The | Commission can condemn the wrong but 1t cannot prescribe the remedy. | Carriers are entitled to ignore the order of the Commission and await the judgment of the Circuit Court upon a petition by the Commission and another trial of the issues in that court. | Subject to Appeal.
 I be-" the report says, the greater the benefit conferred upon shippers of com munities the less likely is the order of | the Commission to be obeyed. The Commission must not only render l just decision, but one that is convinc- | ing to the carrier to afford the relief from unlawful rates contemplated in the statute. If the decision of the Commission is right, the public is en- har int Is wrong, its operation could be en- joined upon showing to that effect by | the carrier in a suitable summary pro- ceeding in the Federal Court" The amendments to the statute re- commended by the Commission involve no fixing of whole tariffs of rates in the first instance or at any time, but simply the redressing of transportation wrongs shown to exist after full investigation, during which all affected interests have been heard, and when an order Is is- sued against a carrier under such pro- cedure 1t should by operation of law become effective upon the date therein specified.
 I The Commission alludes to the per- sistent misrepresentation by many who are interested in opposing this legtsla- ition that the amendments desired would | to arbitrarily initiate or make rates for the railways, and that 1t would be most dangerous to place this vast au- thority in the hands of five men, es- pecially five men who have had no experience as railway trafic managers. No such power has been asked by or is seriously sought to be conferred upon the Commission.
 Commission Only Recourse. ~ft to 6nd t1n dG ingly grave, in view of the rapid dis Appearance of railway competition and tthe maintenance of rates established by ombination, attended as they are by substar tiai advances in the charges on many articles of household neces- sity. Though the law Is extremely de- fective. aggrieved shippers have no other recourse than to appeal to the Commission, in the hope of some relief from conditions which they regard as intolerable.
 All concede that rates should be reasonable and just" the report says.
 When they are not so, there is now no adequate means of making them reasonable and just unless the carrier can be convinced and persuaded to do so The interests of one party cannot be safely relied upon to determine and protect the rights of another. Author ity to require the establishment of joint through rates over connecting and continuous lines is also believed to be necessary. if authority to correct an Unreasonable or unjust rate should be Igranted."
 The evils attending the use of private freight cars are treated at length, as are the excessive charges of certain terminal roads, shown In recent hear ings.
 The report shows 4S7 complaints filed during the year. including formal and informal proceedings, and inves- tigations instituted by the commis sion The number of formal proceedings brought before he Commission was sixty-two. involving the rates and prac- tices of 302 carriers. Hearings and in vestigations were held in Washington D. C., and at numerous cities in va- rious parts of the country. Eleven leases before the Commission were set- tied or discontinued.
 | Railroad Accidents.
 1 The article in the report on railroad accidents opens with a table giving the principal totals for the years ending