The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1905-01-14
RAILROAD RATES
KEEP COMING DOWN
Continued From First Page

sWerlng Representative Richardson, of
ALABAMA, Mr.. Spencer said:
speaking unofHcially for, I might
say, % per cent of the railroads of the
country. I assert that you cannot
make a law forbidding rebates too
drastic to suit u.s.
NO Well managed road now gives
rebates, he continued, and any method
to absolutely prohibit the practice
would be welcomed by the railroads.
Rate Reduction Is Constant
Reyerting again to the result of re-
classlfleation of freight which is cons
SANITY going on, Mr.. Spencer said the
result was uniformly a reduction and
not an increase in rates. Asked as to
what power the interstate commerce
commission had regarding rates, Mr..
Spencer said:
I 1t has power to state what is an
unreasonable rate. and we have the
right to test that assertion in the
courts
The comforting of the power to de-
care what is reasonable rate, he
maintained, would be prejudicial to the
commercial interests of the country.
Contrasting that he had not read the
pending bill with the idea that it
granted authority to the commission
TO raise rates in naming a "reasona bic
rate Mr.. Spencer said that in his
mind such authority would be carried
. IN the measure; but he doubted if the
authority would ever be exercised. He
ind1cated that the readjustment would
5 uniformly IN be reduction in rates. Car
.r1ers, he said, ought to be left free to
cooperate with each other in the way
OF making reasonable agreement
among themselves. These agreements
should be made public if necessary.
The man does not live" asserted Mr..
spencer, who can draft law that will
grant authority to any body of men
tnat can be exercised effectively to
abolish discrimination between local.
ties. 1t is impossible to do away with
complaints of discrimination on the
part of localities
Commission Would Be Triune
The bill, he said, would make the
commission, first, a prosecuting body;
next Judicial body, and lastly leg
1slative body. The granting of the pow
er proposed meant that eventually, if
not speedily, the commission would be
forced to make every railroad rate in
the country.
In conclusion he suggested that in his
opinion the only legislation necessary
On the subject, If indeed any was nee
essary, was the stopping Of appeals
from the decisions of the commission
to the circuit court except where points
of 1aw4were involved when cases should
go to the supreme court; that the
freight carrying lines by water, the
fast freight lines and the private car
lines all be brought under the jurisdic-
ton of the commission, the same as the
railroads are now; that carriers 6buld
be relieved of the anomalous position of
being required to maintain uniform
rates and prohibited from making
agreements as to what those rates
should be. Traffic agreements should
be permitted in writing and submitted
to the commission for approval, with
power to annul the same at any time.
Lastly, nine tenths of the whole neces-s
sity was something that would do away
with the abuses of the rebate system.
Secretary Morton had a long con-
ference this afternoon with Mr.. James
j. Hill, of the Great Northern, and
Samuel Spencer, of the Southern rail-
way companies on the subject of rate
legislation. Nothing was obtainable to-
night as to the nature of the confer
ence.