Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1905-12-05

supervision. It IS not my province to
indicate. the exact terms of the law
1 which should be enacted, but call the
attention Of the congress to certain ex-
listing conditions with which 1t is desir-
able to deal. In my judgment. the
most important provision which such
law should contain Is that comforting
upon some competent administrative
body the power to decide. upon the case
being brought before 1t, whether given
! rate prescribed by railroad is reason
able and just, and if it is found to be
unreasonable and unjust, then, after
full investigation Of the complaint to
prescribe the limit of rate beyond
which it shall not be lawful to go-the
maximum reasonable rate, as it is COM
monty called-this decision to 60 into
effect within a reasonable time and to
obtain from thence onward, subject to
review by the courts. It sometimes
happens at present, not that rate is
too high, but that favored shipper is
given too low rate. In such case the
commission would have the right to fix
this already established minimum rate
as the maximum, and it would need
only one or two such decisions by the
commission to cure railroad companies
of the practice Of giving improper min
imum rates. I call your attention to
the fact that my proposal is not to give
the commission power to initiate or
originate rates generally, but to regu-
late rate already fixed or originated
by the roads upon complaint and after
investigation. A heavy penalty should
be exacted from any corporation which
fails to respect an order of the commits
sion. I regard this power to establish
a maximum rate as being essential to
any scheme Of real reform in the mat
ter Of railway regulation. The first
necessity Is to secure it, and unless It
Is granted to the commission there il
little use in touching the subject at all.
! Evasions Of the Law.
Illegal transactions often occur un-
der the forms of law. It has often oc-
CURED that shipper has been told by
a traffic officer to buy large quantity
of some commodity, and then after it
has been bought an open reduction is
made in the rate to take effect imme-
diately, the arrangement resulting to
the profit of the one shipper and the
one railroad and to the damage Of all
their competitors; for it must not be
forgotten that the big shippers are at
least as much to blame as any railroad
in the matter Of rebates. The law
should make it clear SO that nobody
can fail to understand that any kind
Of commission paid on freight ship
ments, whether In this form or in the
form of fictitious damages or Of q con-
cession, free pass, reduced passen-
ger rate or payment Of brokerage Is
illegal. It is worth while considering
whether it would not be wise to confer
on the government the right Of civil
action against the beneficiary of a
rebate for at least twice the value OF
the rebate. This would help stop what
is really blackmaii. Elevator allow
ances should be stopped, for they have
now grown to such an extent that they
are demoralizing and are used as re-
bates. "
The best possible regulation of rates
would, Of course, be that regulation Sc
cured by an honest agreement among
| the railroads themselves to carry out
the law. Such. general agreement
would, for instance, at once put stop
to the efforts Of any one big shipper
or big railroad to discriminate against
or secure advantages over some rival,
and such agreement would make the
railroads themselves agents for en-
forcing the law. The power vested in
the government to put stop to agree
ments to the detriment of the public
should, in my judgment, be accompa-
MED by power to permit under specified
/ conditions and careful supervision
Agreements clearly In the interest of
the public. But, in my Judgment, the
necessity Tor giving this further pow
er is by no means as great as the ne
cessity for giving the commission OF
administrative body the other powers
/ haze enumerated above, and it may
well be inadvisable to attempt to vest
this particular power in the commits
sion or other administrative body until
It already possesses and is exercising
what l regard as by far the most Inn
portant Of all the powers I recommend
-as indeed the vitality important pow
er-that to fix given maximum rate,
which rate after the lapse Of reason.
able time goes into full effect, subject
to review by the courts.
Private Car Lines.
All private car lines, Industrial roads,
refrigerator charges and the like
should be expressly put under the SUI
| pervision Of the interstate commerce
commission or some similar body 80
far as rates and agreements practical
" affecting rates are concerned. The
! private car owners and the owners of
Industrial railroads are entitled to q
fair and reasonable compensation on
their investment, but neither private
cars nor Industrial railroads nor spur
1 TAO c1ro -,