The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1905-02-21
lLWAY RATE PROBLEM
Lucius Tuttle Calls PRESIDENT 8
Regulation Plan Communistic.
BAYS VIEWS SMACK OF SOCIALISM

President of Boston and Maine He
Ueves Railways VIII RetaIiate by
Service IL Demand For Rate Regu-
Iation In Enforced He Suggests
Remedy.
In an article recently published in the
Outlook, Lucius Tuttle, president of the
Boston and Maine railroad comes out
In defense of the railways and takes Is
sue with President Roosevelt in the lat
ters plan to increase the powers of
the interstate commerce commission to
the point Of giving that body authority
to fix rates absolutely. Mr.. Tuttle de
clares In effect that such a legislative
step would be ruinous to the railway
interests of the country as well as the
thousand and one subsidiary enter
prises that are In great measure de-
pendent upon the stability of the rail-
ways. He brands the presidents views
as s'communistic" and says they smack
Of Socialism.
IL differ from those who advocate In
creasing the powers of the interstate
commerce commission only upon the
one point that | believe TO be of vital
interest namely, this power to make
rates. says Mr. Tuttle. II am hearth
ly I'm favor of such carefully thought
out additional legislation as may be
found needful for ending and forever
preventing railways from conspiring
to give, and, what Is vastly more Inn
portant, their customers combining to
exact, any favors or facilities or favors
that may not under like circumstances
and conditions be given to and receiv-
Cd by all.
"But | am fully convinced that the
power to fix the price at which railway
transportation shall be sold can be left
with safety only In the hands of those
who must assume and have no way OF
escape from the care and cost of pro
dueing tiiat transportation and that leg
islation tending TO separate these two
indissolubly connected and paramount
responsibilities Is communistic In Its
natural laws of supply and demand.
'.There Is in some sections a persist
ent and almost hysterlcal demand for
railway rate regulation, but what Is
really meant is not rate regulation
but rate reduction and Ii this demand
Is enforced to an extent that Will be of
any appreciable value to the people at
In will ha roll lxxyay hat In,
1903 paid their shareholders an aver
age dividend of less than per cent
find ii necessary to reduce their operat-
ing expenses to meet proportionately
this loss of income2 And when such
reductions become necessary, will not
their customers, the public, be forced
to accept in proportionate degree re-
ductions In the quantity and quality of
the facilities furnished?
"But as he who criticises and OBJ
jects to proposed methods is in reason
bound TO suggest something In substi-
tuition l assume the necessary respon-
sibility and with becoming modesty Of
fer the following:
''The present law seems adequate and
sufficient III thoroughly applied to en-
able the interstate commerce commits
sion to bring to light, punish and pre-
vent every form of rebating and secret
rate giving or taking as rapidly as the
cases are brought to its attention and
therefore further legislation upon this
branch of the subject seems at present
to be unnecessary.
.sThe other principal abuses and evils
alleged and to which congressional at
tention has recently been called are
said to arise out of the improper use of
privately owned freight cars and of
private side tracks and railways of
the so called industrial combinations
II suggest that If these privately CON
trolled special facilities and their own
ers are to the extent that they deal in
transportation, brought within the
scope of and made amenable to all
laws that are now or may hereafter be
applicable to transportation companies
engaged In interstate commerce the al
legged abuses and evils will at once be
come controllable and can be wholly
cradicated"