New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1906-05-22
f" JOKER" I'm RATE BILL?
lfCUMBERlS 4lIENDllENT.
Seems to Enable Carriers to Dire-
gard Commissions Orders.
b. Ths Trsbuns Rur-,u.1

lFfcl Irtoune BErcou-1
Washington. May 21.-Leading lawyers IN
Congress are OF the opinion that tiny aznend-
ment cut In the Railroad Rate BIN by senator
McCumber. Of North Dakota. constitutes a
little JOKER which vitiates the effectiveness os
the measure. Senator McCumber admits that
his amendment win prevent an order Of the In
terstate Commerce Commission going into e~sct
until the court has determined whether OF not
such order Is ''1ust and reasonable" and a AnaI
decree has been issued by the court whensvsr
a carrier chooses % disregard such order. SEN
atOr SpOoner. to whose attention the McCumber
amendment was called by The Tribune CORE
spOndent this afternoon. expressed the belicf
that it was meretFicious and should have been
rejected.
Mr. McCumber explains that his purpose in
offering the amendment to insure the court
review. in the case OF a carrier refusing 20 COM
ply with an order OF the commission. being as
broad as that provided for in the Allison amend
ment, where the caTrier may appeal 20 the court
against en- order az the commission. Under the
Sfst,SHber arnenA5r9nts the carrier who objected
"a, .con1rlyin5r with an order OF the commission
would have no occasion to appeal TO the courts
for relief He would need merely 70 refuse 20
carry out the order and no one could compel
him to do so until the commission. on which
would be the burden OF proof had demonstrated
"a the satisfaction Of the court that its order
1-as not onlv regular but lust and reasonable
The amendment which in the opinion Of lead
,Dr LAWYERS in both houses constitutes so great
a menace to the efficacy Of the bill, merely pro-
,,ide5 for striking out the word regularly and
,nsertiDe the word lawfully in Section OF
the act The motion was made last Saturday,
without explanation. Nand was agreed 20 with
out objection. one appreciating evidently, tns
far-reaching effect Of this slight change. The
S1r
course 10 be pursued in the event that the car
r,er shall fail or neglect to obey any order OF
the commission other than the payment Of
money. The section provides that the party In
i,,rad or the commission may institute suit In
the Circuit Court BY petition which shall set
forth the facts. The court Is authorized TO make
sucb Investigation as 70 deems proper. and the
text then reads:
II upon such hearing as the court may deter
mine TO be necessary. it appears that the order
was lawfully made and served. aIl0 SlaL tls
ehaII enforce obedience to such order ~ a writ
of Injunction or other process. mandatory or
otherwise. ETC.
Mr. McCumbers amendment inserted "law-
fvUv'' in this passage IN place OF regularly"
The lawyers maintain and Mr.. McCumoer a6-
nits that IL regularly had been retained II
v,ould have been necessary for the court only 20
have aSCeFtaineQ rnaI Tne OFuef AdN OS0-A WV
erlv served. that due notice had been given. and
the carrier was in disobedience. These facts
having been proved. the court would eujoin the
carrier 70 nut the order into effect. and such
order would have to be Obeyed. unless tenn
porary injunction was obtained under the pro-
visions Of the Allison amendment. and In such
case the burden OF proof would be on the car
rier and not on the commission or the party IN
jured BY substituting lawfully" however, u =
explained that the court will hold that before u
can issue a writ Of injunction or other process.
It must ascertain II the order was lawfully
made''-in other words. il such order was "just
and reasonable'-and that the order cannot be
put into operation until trial OF the case In court
Is completed
II is learned on inquiry that this question was
freely discussed in the Senate Committee on In
terstate Commerce. and that several representa-
tives Of railroads urged the amendment proposed
by Mr McCumber. but that the committee re-
jected the proposition. II would seem. therefore
that the effect of the amendment must have been
fully understood by some at least OF those who
permitted It's adoption without debate or di-
vision. II is generally assumed that the amend
ment win be promptly rejected by the House
conferrees. and that the Senate win be only too
glad to yield the point.
The Rate 6iI was considered for three hours
tonight by the House COmmitteo on Interstate
and Foreign Commerce. and the decision was
reached 10 recommend disagreement 70 all tha
Senate amendments ana 20 send the bin % con-
ference The committee viii not ask that IN
structions Of any character be given % the
House conferrees.
There was no disposition % eritlcise the
amendment conferrins Jurisdiction on the eourts
20 review orders made by the Interstate Com
merce Commission. for In the House committee.
as well as IN the Senate. many members con-
tended that the bin as Il was passed BY the
House gave that authority 70 the courts. This
amendment and others. which collectively are
known as the Allison compromise. undoubtedly
will be agreed 70 by the House eOnfeEreess Tns