The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1905-11-07

.t.tcl that could, prevent the court, III
..s.Liied that inl.i ,iic. had been I,nes
the railroads, fIrm staying the opcre-l
lion OF the ord sT u11n terms until =,
couir lad passed aieh ne merits of
tic controversy
In other wor..s the railroads enjoy al
complete remedy against iniusficeI
which i. Is not proposed TO take away
while the public has no effective rems-t
dy against injustice. More than gucnl
= ienlefy the public Ices not ask. Less
han such a remedy it never should
have been witho.-
Lcth thed Te.ao' SIN dlu
Exactly such a :. mtdy Congress sao-I
posed ii gave ~. or The original at
d -ee'llate commerce, and Ii vas .pI
piled IN a number of cases before the
6s:.icE OF he alrcnIe court that ii
.Fss Lot given b. - ,9f
The aGminisI NV. f-:.IrreS of this
.ver nhering IN Congress to fix re-,
sonable rates fo- transportation may,
b. -a%fuIiy Yes "a u tfc inters.a >
,.:mmerce comm =. Gu.
ri.s includes e "a ~e, 20 yest iii
the commission a~utlIo,.:y to substituted
a reasonable rate for one found By it
!, he unreason IL.
1t has ~frequeltiy been declared 20 bel
the law that Congress cannot give an
apreal t1om a n, .-jdjicla, or adniais
trative body TO Il judicial body for the
purpose Of reviewing acts and correct1
ing them by ~decreeing a new act, AS inl
a judicial appeal; and this disposss of
wha; | understand ia ~ the main cJn-I
l.fI'Cn between the alsccates of hSI
.rnnncl l. ION 1h9- q ratio fy0A hv tf..
commission shol.i go into effect 1T
C..,r. end the advo,.tes OF the PROPOSE
ti"n that it sh prIl u t sc into effec
MI. approved By i .clrt upon appeal
II il L~trfectly e+ital. at if the &C OFT
Ill the first instan { could not perform
tie legislative act CT e ,ns a reason.
lie T. ;"re rate IL c"GId not perfC. n
tie az act upC1 APT" al +;
No device can cure TIE objection C,
.u>!'nding tt Cl,fc;C1 of the CON-.
miss,tn's frd ~. ,ln:.. =. ssed upon by!
,ht. cpJrt. j. c 49,. do not me "a
that in an independent proceeding be-,
gun in the court that the court could
not, in the exercise of it's discretionary
powers, when catisfed that the late
fixed by the commission was unlawful,
enjoin it's operation until a final near-
1IiS. 1hot ID a Eo"S1 lhot Il Cd III
the court that need not be conferred by,
statute and probably cannot be taken
away by a statute.
The competency Of the commission
to pass upon the reaSonableness Of a
challenged rate is denied because of the
technical character of the work; be-,
cause familiarity with it's requirements
can my come through long Training
and experience. This argument might
be potent if it were proposed to give
the commission the power to initiate
rates and practices. This, however, is.
not the proposition.
1t is not proposed to confer upon TIE
commission any greater or diffe Geat
power han courts of equity possess
under a we'll known branch of equity
Jurisprudence. /
The commission sits in the first in
stance to determine the reasonable,
ness of the challenged rate or practice,i
and In so doing performs an ordinary
judicial function. There is no act or
trans ctlon, however technical, cOh1-,
pick OF importa'.:, who's, legality nay
not lie called n question: in a cor,~.l
Cnur.S listen to the evidt rec of eXlcr'S,
- me- hanics. medicine. art. theol ,sv
and finance, hear the calculations cfI
az, coates on either size, and witlcIc
previous special training il the par &c
ular subject Involved, determine the
IGN: of the PARTIES RI w. issue.
WITHOUT such power II an in'sr.n-
dr.: tribunal there col1 3a no such
thing as property rights.
There can be 40 such a thing as a
right without a method of determining
it's existence.
So, N respec: of a railroad rate or
practice alleged to be unreasonable
and therefore unlawful, whether 1t
presents the simplest Or the most in
volved question, the able experts, who
it is claimed are alone competent to
comprehend and deal with these ques-
tons, may enlighten the commission
and the complaining shipper; and it
follows, of course, if the weight of e a
son is with the iailroad, the complaint
will be dismissed. To conjecture 9TH
erwise would be to ssum that tie
commission could not understand, or
would not heed. a sound defense.
Upon the other hand. if the com
plainant makes good his charge of IN
reasonableness in rate or practice, the
commission, exercising the delegated
~non-judicial power of Congress, decides
what would be reasonable under the
evidence.
The different views brought forward
relative to the creation of new courts
or the appointment of additional judges
have much that may be said in their
favor and against them, respectively.
A very short and simple law would
reach the root of the trouble. 1t should
provide that the tolls collected by com
mon carriers and the practices pursued
by them should be just, fair and Ieas.
enable. The power to determine these
tolls and practices should rest with
the railroads, and not be interfered
with except upon complaint and after
full hearing before the Interstate com
MERGE commission.
The commission should have he
power, if it finds the complaint well
founded, to declare what shall De a