Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-12-07

ilAsu III olislIated by the roads, upon
heavy ,.nalty should be exacted from
any Soratfon which fails to respect
an On OF the commission. I regard
.niS ESQ 20 Establish EST maximum rate
as D& essential to any scheme of real
reform n the matter Of railway regula-
ton. The first necessity is to s. secure 1T It !;
and unless It Is granted to the commits
! subject at all.
Midnight Schedules
Illegal transactions often occur under
/ the forms OF law 1t has often occurred
that shipper has been told by traffic
officer to BUY Y, large quantity of some
bought an open reduction is made in
| the rate to take effect Immediately, the
arrangement Resulting in the, profit Of
the one sn III . and the one railroad and
! for 1t must not be forgotten that the big
| shippers are at least as much to blame
as any rb ra'i ia@ sb IN the matter Of
that nobody can fail to understand that
any kind OF commission paid ON freight
shipments, whether in this form or in
| the form OF nctltlous damages. or of
concession, free pass, reduced passen-
| ger rate, or payment of BROKERAGE, is
Illegal. ItA Is worth while considering
whether II would not be wise to confer
| on the government the right of civil
action against the beneficiary of a re-
bate for az least twice the value of the
rebate; TINS would help stop what Is
should be stopped for they have now
grown to such an extent that they are
demoralizing anu are used as rebates.
Should Permit Some Agreements
i The. best possible regulation of rates
i would. OF course, be that regulation Sc
railroads themselves to carry out the
| law. Such a general agreement would,
for instance: at once put. q stop to the
efforts Of f any 9ns big shipper big
cure advantages over some rivaI;, and
such agreement would make the rail-
roads themselves I'm! agents for enforcing
| eminent to put q, stop to agreements to
!, the detrment of the public should, In
my judgment, be accompanied by power
to permit under specified conditions, and
careful supervision. agreements clearly
In Tie interest of the public. But, in my
Judgment the necessity for giving this
further power is by no means as great
4 as the necessity for giving the commits
sion or administrative body the other
| powers I have enumerated above; and
1T may well be inadvisable to attempt to
! mission of other administrative body UNI
| til it ALREADY possesses and is exerois-
ing what | regard as by far the most
Indeed of al the the fsW
power-that TO fix given maximum rate
/ which rate, after the lapse OF a rea-
sonable time, goes into full effect, SUBJ
iect to review by the courts.
Need of Inspection System
! All private car lines Industrial roads.
refrigerator charges, and the like should
be expressly put under the supervision
of the interstate commerce commission
or some similar body so far. as rates.
and agreements practically affecting
/ owners and the owners of Industrial
| railroads are entitled to a fair and rea-
sonable compensation on their invest
ment, but neither private cars nor in;
i dustrial railroads nor spur tracks should
1 be utilized as devices for securing pre-
\ ferentlal rates. A rebate in icing charg
1 es, or in mileage, or in a. division of the
rate for refrigerating charges is just as
pernicious as a rebate in any other way.
Il No lower rate should apply on goods
imported than actually obtains on do
board to destination except In cases
where water connection is the con-
trolling influence. There should be pub
licity of the accounts of common car
Interstate business should keep any
books or memoranda other than those
i reported pursuant to law or regulation.
and these books or memoranda should
ment. Only in this way can violations
or eyasions of the law be surely de.
tected system Of examination of
railroad accounts should be, provided
similar to that now conducted into the
national banks by the bank examiners;
9. few f1rst-class. railroad accountants, II
thority to inspect books and papers,
coull. accomplish much in preventing
willful violations of the law 1t would
mt e the secoana fSf ss e @
less for good reason they swere directed
to do SO by the Interstate J. commerce
eeSmmission It Is Greatly TO re desired red
II whtCh..t.An agreement to, .,tranSnOr-
i tation within a state Intended. to. operate
as fraud upon the federal Interstate
the jurisdiction Of the federal authori-
il ties, AT present 1t occurs that large
shipments of interstate traffic are con-
! trolled by concessions on purely state
an evasion Of the law. The commission
should have power to enforce fair treat
ment by the great trunk lines of lateral
and branch lines
Z. Law Must be Expeditions
I urge upon the congress the need of
i providing for expeditions action by the
interstate commerce commission in all
these matters, whether In regulating
rates for transportation or Tor storing
or for handling property or commodities ,,.,
in transit. The history of the cases liti-
gated under the present commerce act
shows that it's efficacy has been to a
great degree DESTROYED by the weapon
of delay, almost the most formidable
weapon In the hands of those whose pur-
pose 1t Is to violate the laW.t
Is Not Hostile to Railways
Let me most earnestly say that these
recommendations are not made In any
such hostility would be intolerable; and
sleh hos siGlia1as would be toierabe and
on grounds of mere national self-1nterest
we must remember that such hostility
would tell against the weif are not mere ,,se
titude Of small investors, q multitude