New-York tribune., 1905-12-09

DISCUSS SENATE DRAFT.
of Satisfactory Legisla-
ton Only Question of Time.
IFrom The Tribune Bureau. ]

| Washington, Dec. S.-The exclusive publca-
/ tion in The Tribune this morning of the draft
of the railroad rate bill, in so far as it has been
completed, on which leading members of the
| Senate are now working has led to consider
| able discussion of it's details both favorable and
| otherwise. There are, naturally. many members
| of Congress who approve the Senate idea. There
are many others, however, who criticise the
proposition, saying that 1t goes too far,
others that 1t does not go far enough
high official who is generally familiar with
the views of the President on this subject, but
who promised his remarks with the statement
that he was not speaking for the President and
had not discussed the draft with him, said to-
day that II seemed to him quite unnecessary to
hamper the delegation to the Interstate Com
merce Commission of the power to declare
reasonable maximum rate with the provision
that such rate should not go into effect if the
railroad appealed to the courts
He said that the powers of a court of equity
were extensive that any court could, in his
opinion, either require of the railroad company
a bond for reimbursement of shippers who paid
an excess rate, or, if the shippers insisted on
the immediate application of rate fixed by the
commission, could require of such shippers
bonds sufficient to reimburse the railroad in the
event that the decision of the commission was
reversed.
He declared that the powers of an equity
court were always sufficiently extensive to in
sure justice, and that the draft presented in
The Tribune appeared to contain some super
luous provisions calculated to complicate rather
than to facilitate the purposes for which the
legislation was to be enacted
-Discut sing the argument that out of total
of forty-seven decisions rendered by the conn
mission only eleven had been upheld by the
courts he said that was easily understood when
the tactics of the railroads were known. The
railroads. when made defendants before the
commission. Invariably failed to present all the
evidence they possessed, preferring, if possible
TO discredit the commission by securing re-
versal of its decision with new evidence pre-
sented only to the courts
y,yare tho Sacisions of the commission to be
made operative within thirty days after they
we're rendered. however, this method of pro-
cedure would of course be rendered imprac- |
ticable.
Some members of the Senate and some mem
bers of the House criticise the Senate dra1t De-
cause it does not go nearly far enough, ana es-
pecialIy because it seems to present no TeIeI
from those determinations which, they hold'
now work such grave injustice to certain 10
calties to the material and undue advantage
of others. ,,
The uncompromising opponents of the delega-
ton of any rate making power to the Gornnllsa MS
sion complain that the bill is altogetnesI too "
adical in that it permits the commission TO
bIish what shall be taken by the courts to be
prima facie evidence of a just rate. -.
On the whole. however, the Dele1 Is stIons'
10th in administration and in Congress clrcles'
hat the mere fact that the Senate leaders nave
prepared a draft which so nearly carries OUT tne
Presidents recommendations unInlstaKaoly lIiul-
ates' that Congress will succeed in enacting
egislation creditable to itself ana sausIacIotS
o the administration ana that tIe ~ ni
solution of the difficult proDleH lii'ol'0" /" 0'
Of