The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-12-14
SHOWS FLAWS IN
RAILROAD LAWS
Interstate Commerce Commits
sion's Report Points Out
Much Needed Changes,

$500 s5as saS&sssi 80
Washington, Dee. l4.The annual
report of the int erstate commerce com
mission, transmitted to congress today,
calls attention to the necessity of i'm
.pnrtant amendments and additions to
The present laws regulating commerce,
and sets forth the general reasons for
proposed amendments contained in the
Form of bill, which has been sub
mitted to the senate committee on in
terstate commerce, in compliance with
a request therefor.
The most important amendment
sought is the delegation Of authority
to the commission to determine what
rate should be substituted for the fu-
ture in place of one found, after full
hearing, to be unlawful, with the fur
Their provision that the order of the
commission prescribing such substituted
rate shall take effect within q reason
able time; unless vacated or set aside
by judicial proeee dings.
Would Control Icing Charges.
The commission recommends that the
agement, or arrangement, in tie first
section of the law, be omitted. This
would make the regulating statute APP
ply to certain classes of carriers now
exempt from its application and re-
5quirements. The defnation in the first
section of the term g transportation ;,
should be enlarged so as TO include the
charges for various services, such as
refrigeration and the like, which are
now claimed to be beyond the authori-
ty Of the commissions. The commission
recommends that these charges should
be put on the same basis as all other
freight charges, so far as they can be.
n Publication and Filing Of Tariffs.
In it's proposed amendment to the
sixth section of the act the notice of
tariff changes is extended to- sixty
days, but the commission may modify
this as circumstances appear te: require.
The aim is to give to the sixth eection
adaptability to commercial conditions
and business requirements which ought
not to be subjected to one unvarying re-
quirement.
The commission has held that the
present law requires the publication
and maintenance of export rates, and
that good policy:also demands the same
course. There is no substantial rea-
son why domestic rates should be pub
lished and maintained which does not
import rates.
The commission observes that con-
Meeting carriers are now under noslegal
obligation to establish thru routes or
joint rates and may, at their pleasure,
withdraw from such arrangements
when they have been actually entered
into. When it is considered that a
large part Of the most important rates
of this country are joint rates, it will
their discretion by this means to large
s ~ defeat the purpose of the law, and
that in order to prevent this the COM
mission should have authority to order
railways to continue thru routes and
Joint rates which are in effect and to
prescribe the divisions which the sew
eral carriers shall receive in the distri-
button Of those rates, in case the car
riers fail to agree upon such divisions.
Elevator Charges and Private Cars. I
| There is an important class Of cases
in which the owner of the property per-
forms part of the transportation serv-
ice, and where the carrier by paying
such owner an extravagant sum for the
service rendered thereby prefers him
commission holds that it should be en-
powered in casesof this kind to de-
! terminef whether the allowance. to the
property owner. is a. just and reasonable
compensation for the service rendered,
and to fix limit which shall not be
exceeded in the payment made therefor.
An efficient means of discovering il1e-
gal practices would, it is believed, be
found in authority to prescribe the form
| in which books of accounts shall be
kept by railways. with the right on
the part of the commission to exam
Inc such books at any and, all times
mendation has been urged upon the at
tention of congress in previous reports,
and it is earnestly renewed at this time.
! The section which relates to enforce,
ment of the commissioners orders and
their judicial review is remodeled. The
intended effect Of this provision would
be to compel carrier to comply with
the courts for its suspension and an
nulment on the ground that it was I'M
lawful
A new section is also added which
expressly authorizes the commission to
review and modify It's own decisions.
accident report law be amended 50. as
to require that accidents of every kind
and to all classes Of persons. shall be
included in the monthly reports:
| Statistics Of Railways.
i The preliminary statistical report fol-
the past fiscal year includes returns fol-
mileage Of 2l4,477.s2 miles, which is
presumably about 80 per cent of the
mileage that will subsequently, be GOV
. the year. The gross earnings of the
railways for the year ending June 80
1905, on the mileage just stated, were
$2,O73, 177, 1926. This total comprised
earnings from the passenger service
4 $572, 109,3 1856; earnings from the freigh
service, 81, 449,1S2,702, and miscella
neous earnings. $51,8S5,257.