Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-27
It's Provisions Reviewed by
Walker D. Hines.
DECLARES IT DRASTIC
DENIES THAT 1T COULD PREVENT
REBATES.
Resumption of Testimony Before the
Senate Committee Investigating
Railway Rate Regulation.

Walker ID Hines formerly first vice pres
Ident of the Louisville and Nashville rail-
road TODAY resumed the statement of his
views before the Senate committee on in
terstate commerce which is investigating
the railroad rate problem. MIR. Hines be-
gan his remarks today with brief review
of the provisions of the Esch-Townsend
bill popularity known as the anti-rebate
bill that passed the House of Representa-
tives at the recent session of Congress.
Mr.. Hines said that in his opinion the
Esch-Townsend bill was drastic and TAR
reaching measure, which, if it had become
law. wculd have been productive o. DIS
ns.rous results. 1t left the interstate COM
rnerce cc1ln ssion charged with incompat-
ible functions that would have produced a
coudi; lion of absolute chaos. 1t was strange
Mr. Hines said. that the measure had been
PECULIARLY known as the "anti-rebate' bill
wien so far as he could see, it did not con-
tain a single provision for the prevention
of rebates In fact. he asserted, it Was
rather an iroucemeIit than otherwise 'cr
the giving and taking of rebates.
There were certainly the same induce
ments to cut the rates fixed by a govern
ment commission as to cut rates eStaDnSheu
by the roads themselves, ana from ms point
of view, the Inducements We're, II any
thing stronger in the former instance Inc
fact that the Esch-Townsend bill imposed
such extensive duties on the commission,
left that body less able 10 deal with us
most important work-the prosecuting func-
ton This in itself. he thought, vas an
encourag cement of the rebate proposition as
constant persistent and continued SupefVl-
sion was necessary in order to keep the
rebate proposition in its proper place I'M
playground Left to itself, away from the
watchful eye of government supervision, ne
had no doubt that the rebate system would
spring up. no matter how effectually it had
been put down in the past
Prevention of Rebates.
MI. Hines said he thought it had been
generally recognized since the passage OF
the Elkins act that suits for injunction
were the best means of preventing rebates.
Under the terms of the Esch-Townsend Dill
all suits in connection with rebates and
other matters affecting railroad rates were
to be decided by court of transportation,
sitting in Washington. He thought 1t would
be much more difficult for such court to
deal intelligently and efficiently with rate
matter disputes from all parts OF the coun-
try than IL is at present Tor the various
United States circuit courts to handle them.
In the case of a rate dispute in California,
for instance the federal court there would
be much better able to handle II than Wouiu
q court of transportation 5000 miles away
In response 10 question by Senator For
aker. Mr.. Hines said that court or trans
portation would, moreover, be an expensive
proposition.
Mr. Hines said that the bill in question
provided no remedies whatever for the
specific evils mentioned by President Roose-
Welt in his message to Congress on the sub
tect. These were the private car lines ana
terminals Another reason, in his opinion
why the bill would make rebates more
common was that it gave the commission
the power of making joint rates ana OF
routing At present the carrier with when
a shipment originates does the routing and
Mr.. Hines was of the opinion that tins
present system constituted one of the
greatest possible safeguards against the
giving and taking of rebates. By having
the carrier with which shipment orig
mates route that shipment every railroad
attempting to obey the law, Mr.. Hines said,
put in the position of policeman TO
make their connections obey the law. If,
on the other hand the shipper controlled
the routing. it would be possible for him,
individually, to make contracts or agree
rnents with the connections for securing
rebates. AS long, however, as the shipper
himself does not know which way his stun
will be routed he is helpless so far as
making such unlawful contracts or agree
nents are concerned.
Decentralization in Cotton Rates.
Mr. Hines called the attention of the
committee to the fact that years ago the
rates on cotton from Memphis, Tenn, had
been demoralized in this very manner.
Shippers were competing for low rates. and
by making arrangements with connecting
lines an almost chaotic condition had been
produced with respect to rates. 1t finally
became 50 bad. he said, that the railroads
stepped in and decided thereafter to con-
troll the routing. Conditions Immediately
became better and have remained normal
since then
Furthermore. Mr.. Hines said. the Esch-
Townsend bill. if passed, would bring to
the fore for settlement a number OF diff
cult constitutional questions and would con-
sequently throw things into a condition of
instability and uncertainty for years to
come The present law is pretty well IN
derstood and anything embodying its gen.
eral principles would not, he thought, be
very difficult to carry out. For that very
reason he believed that the passage of the
Esch-Townsend bill or similar measure
instead of Fastening would III reality post
pone the securing of effective railroad legis-
lation.
Mr.. Hines thought that the present con-
ditions with regard to rebates were rather
satisfactory than otherwise. He believed,
however, that they would remain so only
at the expense of eternal vigilance. The
motive of shippers to obtain rebates was
certainly a continuing motive, and could
only be kept in allegiance by persistent and
continued supervision They must not be
encouraged by laxity in this direction.
Eternal Vigilance Necessary.
When the original Interstate commerce
act was passed in 1887. Mr.. Hines said,
rebates stopped for several years. Then
they sprang up again and the system be-
came worse than ever. Since the passage
Of the EikinS act rebates had again fallen
off. But unless there was constant
watchfulness there was danger of the ex-
perienCe of former years being repeated.
The greatest deterrent, he thought. to pre-
vent the giving and taking of rebates
would be to impress upon those interested
the fear OF rigorous prosecution.
The rebate system would never have been
so bad, Mr.. Hines thought, if the inter-
state commerce commission had originally
taken more vigorous action. had interpreted
the law differently. and had gone to work
In the proper manner. But the commission
at time stated that il had other
things more important on hand and the
shippers were quick to note this and to
take advantage of it,