Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-02-02
TO HOLD DAILY SESSIONS
Will Take Up Active Consideration
Of Rate Bills.
POLL WILL BE MADE ON 10TH
It is Believed That the Hepburn
Proposition Will Be Whipped Into
Shape and Reported.

The Senate committee on Interstate COM
merce today decided to take UP the active
consideration and amendment of pending
rate bills on Friday, the 9th instant. and
thereafter to hold daily sessions in per-
fecting rate measures in an attempt to
agree on a bill to be reported to the Senate
until the 10th, on which day they will be-
gin to vote on pending bills and amend
ments.
In this way the long consideration Of
the committee on the subject Of rate legfs-
lation will be brought to a close. and all
doubt will be settled as to the standing Of
different senators on different propositions.
Some senator's assert at this time that
they believe that it will be possible In the
final voting to report measure that will
contain the essential principles of the For
aker bill, while others declare with equal
confidence that the Dolliver bill Will re-
ceive majority vote OF the committee.
But II Is not likely that either the Foraker
bill or the Dolliver bill will be reported. be-
cause by the time the committee gets down
to work the House in all probability viii
have passed the Hepburn bill. and that
measure coming to the Senate will be at
once referred to the committee. That be-
Ing the case, an eort will be made to
amend it so as to permit 1t being reported
back to the Senate by majority vote.
The House having passed the bill. the
Senate proposition for rate legislation.
whatever it may be- must at one stage Of
the proceedings, even If IL is in conference,
be brought into some sort Of harmony
with the House BILL because 1t is we'll un-
deTstood that no effort is likely to be made
on the part of the Senate for forcing on
the House a bill that originated In the
Senate.
Will Report the Hepburn Bill.
In view of this fact. the committee will
raSo In, i1to kl,o
is possible the Hepburn bill, and that bill
will be reported to the Senate. 1t will be
modified. and amendments to 1t arc likely
to be so considerable as to cause differ
ence of opinion after 1t is reported as to
whether it is most likely the original Hep
burn bill, or the Foraker BILL or the Dolli-
yer bill. Such mix-up OF legislative prop
ositions as is apt to occur in the Hepburn
bill has proba bly, not been experienced for
a long time
AS the committee is now believed quite
generally to be divided on this subject, Sen
atUrs Eiktns. Aldrich. Foraker. Kean and
Crane are regarded as favorng the essen
tial principles of the Foraker measure.
Senators Cullom, Dolliver and Plat on
the republican side and Tillman Carmack
Foster and Newlands are regarded as most
likely to vote for bill containing the es-
sential principles of the Dolliver measure
Mr.. MeLaurin is also rather expected to be
with that group of senators, but that Is not
regarded as quite so certain.
Possibility of the Bills Passage.
But the principles of the Foraker bill on
the one side and of the Dolliver bill on
the other, so far as they differ from the
Hepburn measure now before the House
OF Representatives must In some way be
engrafted on 1t by amendment
Ir IL certain that the Hepburn bill. unless
it is consldera bly, changed Will meet the
StQuteSt ODDOSitiOn &c
possible to have senatorial factions brought
together In a compromise the Hepburn bur
may eventually, in the view of many lead
ers on both sides. be passed by the Senate
The difficulty In polling the commit ee
WITH absolute certainty the subject of
rate legislation Is largely because Of The
many propositions that are involved in
rate bill of the kind that is now sought 20
be passed by Congress. What may be call
ed the essential principle of this entire
legislative measure hangs on the manner
in which the rate IS to be fixed Those
who are regarded supporting the DoIIi-
yer BILL which is the administration bill
and which is not far removed from the
Hepburn bill in the House. want the great
est authority in the fixing of rates con-
ferred on the interstate commerce com
mission.
Attitude of the Opposition.
Those who are more nearly inclined to
the Foraker bill believe that such a policy
Is fnjudicious. as they fear the enormous
power that would thus be lodged in a. SIN
gle body of men sitting in this city, and
made by such legislation, it Is claimed. the
almost absolute master of the railroads ex-
cept so far as an appeal could be made to
the courts in order to prevent the confisca-
ton OF property by unduly low rates, and
in order to prevent extortion by the fixing
of unduly high rates.
They believe in the essential PRINCIPLES
of the Foraker bill, which would authorize
the Interstate commerce commission when
1t believes rate to be unreasonable to
promptly carry the matter into court, and
there to receive a Judgment as to the rea-
condolences of that particular rate That
would. they say. be well within the scope
of judicial action. and could not be cues
toned so long as it applied to the par
ticular case carried into court, referring to
acts that had been performed and with no
reference TO rates that would be charged
in the future.
What Is likely to be done when the Hep
burn bill gets before the committee is that
the advocates of these two separate plans
will struggle to have them embodied as
far as possible In the bill to be reported to