The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-02-25
'MR. UNDERWOOD SPEAKS
 ON THE RATE QUESTION

tons and declare dividend to stock
 holders.
 | In view of the adjudications these prin-
 eiples must be regarded as settled
 | 1. A railroad corporation is a person
 within the meaning of the fourteenth i amendment declaring that no state small
 deprive any person of properly without l due process of law nor deny to any per
 son within it's Jurisdiction the equal pro i ton of the laws. ?. A state enactment, or regulations
 made under the authority of state enact
 ment, establishing rates for the trans 1 portation of persons or property py fai-
 road that will not admit of the carrier
 earning such compensation as, under all
 circumstances, Is Just to it and to the public would deprive such carrier ot It's property without due process of law ana
 deny to 1t the equal protection Of the
 laws, and would therefore be repugnant to the fourteenth amendment or the con- stitution of the United States
 ! B. While rates for the transportation of persons and property within the limits or state are primarily for it's detefmlha- l ton, the question whether they are SO | unreasonably low as to deprive the carrier of its property without such eompehsa-
 ton as the constitution secures and 1 therefore without due process of law, can not be so conclusively determined by the 1 legislature of the state or by regula- tions adopted under its authority, that
 the matter may not become the subject | Of judicial inquiry.
 This decision one of many holding the
 same principles to be true. not only de-
 eides that a railroad is a public highway
 and subject to governmental control. put it also very clearly states the extent to which that control can affect the earn ing capacity of the property, and very , clearly holds that railroads must be al- lowed to charge such rates for the trans portation of persons and property as will enable them to meet all operating eX- penses, pay the interest on their obliga- tions. and declare a dividend to their stockholders. What more can a fair and
 reasonable man ask? No law can be | passed that can take away this right, IS it is guaranteed by the constitution. Then how can the wages of the employees be affected by rates fixed by railroad commission when the courts require that | those rates must be sufficient to meet operating expenses2 How can the owner or stockholder complain when rhe courts I require that those rates must be suf- 1cient to meet operating expenses? How | can the owner or stockholder complain
 when the courts guarantee a dividend to | the stoekholder? No honest man who wants a fair and Just rate for all ship | pers can be hurt and the dishonest man should be.
 How to Regulate Highways. Let us, then, consider the question as to how we can best regulate these public | highways doing justice to the owners and | for the good of the people. There are three ways in which it can be done. The | uynx onp DIIrnbaGp all the railway
 systems in the United States and as the | owner and operator fix absolutely the | rates to be charged. That is one way. ! Another plan is for congress, either itself | or by a commission appointed under the
 authority of it's legislation, as an initial | proposition to prescribe and define the
 rates or tolls to be charged for transpor- | tatlon of persons and property over these 1 great railway highways. (In passing let
 me say In the beginning of railroad build | ing in England the charters of all the original railway companies prescribed the ne .xmum rates that could be charged) | The third system is to allow the railroad l companies to fix their own rates and | charges in the beginning and then pro- | vide a commission that shall have the l power and authority to hear all com | plaints made by the public and determine | what Is a just and fair rate and then
  | is what the bill now under consideration | does-it only interferes in case of a con- | tested rate. Mir Chairman, as some of | the gentlemen who have spoken seem to question this position, let me read from l the bill itself
 1 That the commission is authorized and l empowered, and it shall be its duty, when | ever, after full hearing upon a complaint | made as provided in section l3 of this act | or upon complaint of any common carrier | It shall be of the opinion that any of the rates or charges whatsoever. demanded | charged or collected by any common car | rier or carriers subject to the provis-
 ions of this act, for the transportation | of persons or property as defined in the l first section of this act, or that any regu- 1 lations or practices whatsoever of such | carrier or carriers affecting such rates, | are unjust or unreasonable, or unjustly | discriminatory, or unduly preferential or | prejudicial, Or otherwise in violation of l any of the provisions of this act, to de- | termine and prescribe what will. in its | judgment, be the just and reasonable and 1 fairly remunerative rate or rates, charge | or charges. to be thereafter observed in | such case the maximum to be charged. | That being the language of the bill | how can any gentleman charge that con gross by this legislation proposes to in | itate rate making? The words used | are very clear and are not subject to mis-