The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-04-08

l paid only by those who voluntarily use the facilities which have been provided at | the cost of others.
 "The railway system of the country has become so vast, and the volume of interstate traffic so enormous in com parlson with the intrastate, that the re- lations between these carriers and the | general government now ovefshadow in | the public mind those between the car riers and the states from which the char | ter rights are derived.
 "The rapid growth of the railway sys- tenn from 8, ,OOO miles in 1865 to 212.O00 miles | in 1905 was a necessary accompaniment, if not the chief means of promoting the marvellous development of industry and population and wealth which have mark ed that period.
 "The demand for federal regulation had it's first formal manifestation in the en- actment in 1887 of the act to regulate commerce under which the interstate commerce commission was apointed, with | it's new, it's complex and it's anomalous powers.
 "The chief purposes of the act were to suppress rebates and unjust dfscrimina- tons between individuals localities and classes of traffic, and to provide. through i the appointment of a commission, for the detection and eradication of such abuses, and for the prosecution and punishment of those guilty of violating the statute.
 Under the provisions of the act much good has been accomplished. Despite oc- casonal but persistent statements to the contrary, the evil of rebates, secret con tracts. and unjust discriminations has al- most entirely disappeared.
 "The great volume of traffic through 1 out the country moves under published tariffs. accessible to all. Reports of oper- ations of all the carriers subject to the act, and statements of their finances are made from a uniform standpoint and are published to the world.
 Lower Than Other Countries.
 It is charged that rates are extortion- ate and must be lowered, and yet the rates in this country are only from one- half to one-third of those in countries with which the producers of the United States must compete in the markets of the world, and wages of railway employees are 90 per cent higher than the highest elsewhere, and in eighteen years the n- | terstate commerce commission has not succeeded in establishing in the courts single case of rates unreasonable in | themselves.
 The fact that the average rate per ton mile for the entire tonnage of the Uni ted States rose less than four-tenths of mill from 1899 to 1903 Is paraded as | evidence of extortion, but the fact that l the average rate for all tonnage does not | s | adroitly not mentioned. nor Is the fact that even the average rate in 1903 was | less than 1t was during the depressed l years of 1894, 1895 and 1896, and was 19 | per cent lower than it was in 1SgO 3S per cent lower than it was in 1880, and 60 1 per cent lower than it was in 1870 The all- | important fact is also studously ignored that from 1899 to 1903 the cost of railway labor rose 12 or 15 per cent, the price of l materials consumed in railway operation 1 increased 25 or 30 per cent, while even | the nominal average rate, which may ! mean so little, increased less than per | cent.
 Purpose of Elkin Law. | "One of the chief purposes, and what | should be one of the chief results of the | Elkins law of 1903 Is expedition in all | court proceedings, instituted by or on behalf of the commission against the | carriers and yet the significant fact | stands out that there has been no in- l dietment no prosecution of a single in- dividual or of a single corporation under the terms of that act now in force for more than two years. If the passage of | that law, with It's drastic remedies, and Its almost summary methods of proceed ure, does not expedite the trial of of- tenders against the interstate commerce I law, what can be the effect of any ad- ditional legislation for similar ends?
 The Cry of Rebates.
 Lastly and persstently comes the l well-worn cry of rebates, secret con | tracts and unjust discriminations in the interest of the favored few The chair man of the interstate commerce commits sion in 1903 stated before a committee of the Senate that rebates had practically l ceased to exist. Rebates and all secret devises for discrimination were as defin- itely condemned by the Act of 1887 as it | Is possible to condemn them. Severe penalties of fine and Imprisonment were imposed, but not a single imprisonment has ever occurred. and you can count the fines upon the fingers of ones hand The IGlkins law of 1903 strengthened the hands of the commission against such practices to an extent that the commission itself has stated that in respect to this phase Of regulation the law was all that could be asked
 Yet. in the two years since its passage. the commission has not once taken ad- vantage of the great powers under that law.
 Will Be Understood.
 "Thus far I have discussed the regu- lation of railways from the standpoint of practical operation, and under the pro- visions of law. l do not overlook --.e fact that there Is in this country one final tribunal which. under our free in- | stftutions, is the court of last resort. The carriers as well as every other interest, ! must recognize that the great tribunal in | which the final judgment on all questions is made up, is public opinion, and to the edict of that opinion, when pro- | nouneed. the carriers, of course. will bow. All that they ask, all that they have the right to expect is that to the tribunal the case may be thoroughly pre- scented. and they shall be fully and inn partially heard; that the court of pub lie opinion shall not sit hastily or pas sionately.
 n for one, have every confidence that when the great, complex and far-reach- ing question which is now being agi- tated shall be thoroughly understood in all it's hearings-the experience of the past. it's possibilities and it's dangers for the future-that the verdict of that great jury, when made up, will be just and fair and under it the industries of tns country will continue to flourish, and the interests of the public. and the in- terests of the carriers, will be equitably protected
 Our country has become the center of the largest enterprises that the world