The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-01-12

kateu rates, m Justlce 10 the FdltFodus and shippers. must also be proportion- ately altered and Representative Mann showed that under such authority. which the commission once believed it. self to possess, 1t had undertaken to change at one time, the rate on every article shipped to every point east of the Mississippi River and south of the Ohio and the Potomac, being 2,00o rates | in all.
 Thus, on one complaint, the Commis-
 sion undertook to establish the rate to necessarily affect thousands of other
 rates connected with and partially de- pendent on the rates so established. The dificuity of conferring on the Commission authority over any rates and at the same time, to avoid granting the general authority to fix railroad
 rates," which President Roosevelt
 thinks unwise, Is rapidly leading to the belief that if Congress Is to deal with the subject at all. it must be on broad lines, and in such manner that the l Legislation enacted will cover all points
 in question. Because of the growth of this feeling, the resolutions intro- duced by Senator Newlands are being given considerable attention. especially among the members of the Senate Com- mittee on Interstate Commerce, of which | he is a member.
 I While no one expects that Senator
 Newlands's resolutions will be adopt l ed in full there are certain propositions advanced by him that will very prob ably be incorporated in any bill or res- ] olution reported from the Senate Com mittee. The bigness of this question I Is appealing to Congress and the be- ] lief is prevalent that 1t is an impossi-
 bility for Congress to deal with such
 an enormous subject in the short time
 remaining of this session.
 The question is therefore presented whether 1t shall go over until the next
 session of Congress, whether an extra
 session shall be called, or whether the
 whole matter shall be referred to icommission to investigate during the recess and report next December. Sem
 ator Newlands proposes such a com mission and the idea Is gaining head way. Although commissions are not much in favor at the present, the in1- pressfon is growing that at regular session it will be too great a hardship to expect the members of the two com
 mittees to attend the numerous hear 1 ings and devote the necessary time to the intelligent consideration of sub- i ject of such magnitude, in addition to
 their ether Congressional duties. 1 The President might call an extra
 session for the purpose, but there would | be much complaint from the other Sen-
 ators and members If kept here for
 months pending the deliberations of the two committees. Therefore, it Is
 not unlikely that Congress will shift the burden of taking testimony and of
 digesting and analyzing it, to com- mission as suggested by MT. New lands. In this case the personnel of
 such commission would be selected with great care and he suggests five members of Congress, one experienced
 in railroad traffic management; one ah
 expert in transportation; the third an expert in transportation law, and the fourth to represent the Department of
 Justice.
 | The presence of outsiders on this l commission does not appeal to some members of the committee as 1t Is thought that to make the Commission
 effective and that it's recommendations
 should carry weight with Congress, 1t should be composed exclusively of Senators and Representatives as was the case with the Shipping Commission. Yet 1t is recognized that the presence
 of such civilians, as suggested by Sem ator Newlands, would be of great value if they acted merely in an ad- visory capacity.
 1 Some think that five members from | each House is too limited a number ana
 1t is proposed the membership should
 be extended to include the members of
 the House and Senate committees un-
 der whose Jurisdiction this subject will be, thus obviating the necessity of hav-
 ing further hearings before the two
 committees This may be done either
 by the creation of a joint commission
 or by resolutions authorizing the two
 committees to sit during the recess. Although after March there will be
 no House. the difficulty could be over
 come by a resolution authorizing Speak
 CT Cannon to apoint a commission on
 the part of the House to consist of
 seventeen members-e1ect, which would
 be the next Committee on Interstate
 Commerce. R. H. Watkins