Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1905-12-04
RATES AND RATE INEQUALITIES.
TO BE CONTINUED.

In his Raleigh speech the President
advanced no new argument in sup
port of Federal control of railroad
rates. With characteristic vigor he
pounded recognized evil for the
suppression of which existing laws
are only little short of duly ade-
quate. He made no allusion to the
possible results of stern and unre-
lenting enforce ment of laws already
provided for the restraint of what he
calls s'unscrupulous and ruthless cum
ming in railway management" by
which s.some Dig shippers and some
railroad managers who are alwa,
willing to take unfair advantage of
their weaker competitors force other
big shippers and big railroad men
who would like to do decently into
acts of wrong and injustice, under
penalty of being left behind in the
race for success.n
This, which is the main line of the
Presidents argument, does not seem
to touch the principal issue of the
present consideration, namely, the
question of reasonable rates. Upon
the issue of the equality of rates and
treatment for all shippers there is
little room for argument. Shippers,
railways and the public are in general
agreement upon that point. With
| some elaboration of the present laws,
to which little or no objection will be
raised, the point of unfair discrimina-
ton may be covered as we'll as it can
| be. 1t is doubtful if any such law
could be made absolutely effec i've.
| But that is an issue which is quite
1 1io%i To
rate making powers in the hands of
an administrative body. There ap-
pears to be confusion upon this point.
There is wide difference between
the prohibition of any form of unfair
discrimination between shipper and
shipper, or between point and point,
and the dete rmination of rate charges
! by a Federal commission. 1t is to the
latter and not to the former that OBJ
| lection is made. Mr.. Roosevelt said
that ''actual experience has shown
that it is not possible to leave the
railroads uncontrolled" 1 do not
know the exact period of this actual
experience. | am under an impress
sion that railways are, and always
have been, subject to long list of
restricting laws, statutory as we'll as
| economic.
Our transportation system has made
this country what it is today. Our
development has not come in spite OF
our system, but because of it. That
abuses have crept in is undenlable.
Abuses Rave crept into our govern
ment controlled postal system and
into our government supervised and
registered banking system. But free
dom of action in rate making has
enabled railways to open enormous
areas of otherwise valueless land, and
| to distribute the products of our farms
and workshops in manner impossl-
BILE under restrained action. The
history of all state rate making she
the inevitable tendency of that meth
cd toward the fat distance tariff
Such system in this country of enor-
nous areas and distances would turn
4 farms into waste places and machin-
cry into junk.
Nowhere in the entire range of the
railway discussion has it been shown
that the country has suffered or thai
it is suffering from excessive railway
rates. Outside of individuaflnst
Z whose rarity makes them almost
unique, there has been neither com
plant of excessive charges nor clamol
for reduction by Federal commits
.. sion. The call for rate regulation D.
a commission or by court does no
: come from our thousands upon thous
: ands of shippers. It is the cry of I
t few who hope to gaia by it, augment
t ed by the roaring of non-shipper
, who have little or no knowledge o
/ trans portation questions.
The country, the shippers and evel
) the railways will support the Preei
( dent in any effort TO remedy evils, Z
8 correct abuses, to stamp OUT equal
e ities and unfair Determinations. Bn
/. ir. is not railway managers only VIII
! are staggered by proposals that
j commission be empowered either