Los Angeles herald., 1905-12-06
SUPERVISION Of
RAILROADS URGED
PRIVATE CAR LINES SHOULD
BE CONTROLLED
Publicity Of Accounts Of Common Car
rlers Offered as Remedy-Mueh
Accomplished In ANTI
Trust Legislation

hrmatlve and should be given to some
administrative body created by the
congress. If given to the present inter-
state commerce commission or to re-
organized interstate commerce COM
mission, such commission should be
made unequivocally administrative. ]
do not believe in the government inter-
fering with private business more than
is necessary. l do not believe In the
government undertaking any work
which can with propriety be left in
private hands. But neither do l believe
in the government hinching from over
seeing any work when it becomes evil
dent that abuses are sure to obtain
therein unless there is governmental
supervision. 1t is not my province to
indicate the exact terms of the law
which should be enacted; but call the
attention of the congress to certain
existing conditions with which it is de-
sirable 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 it, whether
q given rate prescribed by a railroad is
reasonable and just, and if it is found
to be unreasonable and unjust, then,
after full investigation of the COM
plaint to prescribe the limit of rate
beyond which it shall not be lawful to
go-the maximum reasonable rate, as
1t Is commonly called-this decision to
go into effect within a reasonable time
and to obtain from thence onward, sub
ject to review by the courts. 1t some-
times happens at present, not that a
rate is too high but that a favored
shipper is given too low a 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 de-
csions by the commission to cure rail-
road companies of the practice of Civ
ing improper minimum rates. l call
your attention to the fact that my
proposal is not to give the commission
power to initiate or originate rates
generally, but to regulate a rate al
ready fixed or originated by the roads,
upon complaint and after investigation.
Penalty Should Be Heavy
A heavy penalty should be exacted
from any corporation which fails to
respect an order of the commission.
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 II
is granted to the commission there is
little use in touching the subject at all.
Illegal transactions often occur under
the forms of law. 1t has often oc-
CURED that a shipper has been told by
q traffic officer to buy a large quantity
of some commodity and then after it
has been bought an open reduction is
made in the rate to take effect immedi-
ately, 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 for
gotten 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 COM
mission paid on freight shipments
whether in this form or in the form OF
fictitious damages, or of a concession
a free pass, reduced passenger rate
or payment of brokerage, is Illegal. II
is worth while considering whether il
would not be wise TO confer on the
government the right of civil action
against the beneficiary of a rebate fol
at least twice the value of the rebate;
this would help stop what is really
blackmail. Elevator allowances should
be stopped, for they have now grown
to such an extent that they are de-
moralizing and are used as rebates.
Best Rate Regulation
The best possible regulation of rates
would, of course be that regulation
secured by an honest agreement among
the railroads themselves to carry out
the law. Such general agreement
would, for instance at once put stor
to the efforts of any one big shipper OIL
big railroad to discriminate against oil
secure advantages over some rival; and
such agreement would make the rail
roads themselves agents for enforcing
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 accom-.
panied by power to permit. under spe-
Gifted conditions and careful super
vision, agreements clearly in the
interest of the public. But, in my judg.
ment, the necessity for giving this
further power is by no means as great
as the necessity for giving the com.
mission or administrative body the
other powers | have enumerated above
and it may well be inadvisabe to at.
tempt to vest this particular power ir
the commission or other adminitratiVC
body until it already possesses and is
exercising what l regard as by far the
most important of all the powers
recommend-as indeed the vitally inn.
portant power-that to fix a giver
maximum rate, which rate, after the
lapse of a reasonable time, goes into
full effect, subject to review by the
courts.