Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1906-02-13
IN THE SENATE.
Continued from Page One.)

III EHSIdiiu, railroad regulation ms
been effected through the establish
nent or railway commission court,
or, as III France ana Germany, by the
simple operation of direct government
control, the conclusion on this point is
the same III Is proved beyond a doubt
that personal discrimination can be
utterly cN,lrpatrd and if it has been
d"he III other countries, it can be done
here by suitable legislation.
ION the second point Of excessive
rates the experience of other coun-
tries demonstrates that whatever good
effects government rate making has
had 1t mas not lowered rates, but, on
the contrary. has made them not only
higher but in"laStic. Whereas in Rus
sid, rates are low. although not so low
as ours, the railroads are run at {, loss
and tie loss is made good out Of the
pockets OF the taxpayers. In England
with maximum rates fixed by Parlia-
mc,it i'll schedule and the prohibition
against raising rates. without the con-
SEM of the railway commission court
the rates arc higher than ours, incltS-
TIC and Gpn't decline in accordance
with tie fall of prices. or indeed, i'll
any substantial degree
GOA the continent Of Europe gcncr-
ally rates are fifty per cent. higher
than ours and shows The same quail
ity Of imicXibility ana the same lack of
adaptation to changing conditions
W hich we find in England We have
the lowest average freight rates in The
work. and yet our railroads are run az
4 profit without, Of course g dollar of
expense to the taxpayer. Government
rate making in this country directed
as il can only be against place diScriln-
nations and excessive rates, therefore,
if the expenses Of all the rest of the
world is of any value and | regard it
as conclusive. would either not reduce
the rates generally, il would destroy
the profits of the roads and lower tho
wages of those employed upon them
unless VIC accepted the other alterna-
tive of government ownership with the
roads run ut a loss and the people
taxed to carry them on.
The third and last principal is that
of discrimination between localities.
That determinations exist under our
system which work injustice, it would
be folly to deny, but it would be
still greater folly to establish Il new
series of Giscrmna tons. working
larger injustice, in the hope of curing
the orig inal inequalities. Whatever at
tempt to remedy place determinations
we may make we should 50 guard it as
to avoid applying remedy for worse
than the disease. The expense of the
world leads me to doubt most seri-
ouSly whether any government rate
making with Il view to curing place
Determinations can be affected with
out bringing change for the worse,
but # it is to be tried at all. it ought
not t. 80 Beyond the fixing Of a maxi
mum rate by the commission, with the
most absolute protection against hasty
or prejudiccd action through provision
for an appeal to the courts OF the coun-
try. This certainly is Us far as We can
safely GO
Lodge combattcd the idea that the
railroads are owned by il few meu and
that they are nimical to and independ-
cnt of all other interests. He said:
I'VE all want to see the settled and
sections Of the country
thrive. but to the railroads the we'll be-
Ing Of such places IS n matter Of life
and death. A sudden and il-conSidercd
revolution in our methods of railroad
would bring on a business
panic. reduce wages and probably car
~ disaster to our trade aud commerce
in a degree which it is, impossible to eS-
innate"
For those reasons" he added. eve
in
railroad legislation" and continued:
we should have proper legislation
ia regard to the railroads.: there
should be government supervision and
re gulation. we should stop the intoler-
able abuse of rebates or discrmina-
tcnS between persons because If We
do not we may find ourselves pre-
cipitat"d into that worst of all diSaS-
ters. government ownership. Put it is
equally essential that the legislation
We undertake should not itself lead to
ownership til" dangerous
1itfall we are seeking to avoid. 1t is
vital that this legislation should sue
coed but il can only succeed by being
effective against the evils which it can
cure while it proceeds with the utmost
rnce has shown that some Of the
re mcdi.S row proposed have introduce
cd evils far more unhrarablc and far
more injurious than those which It was
sought to remedy"
Pointing out possible dangers to the
proposed Legislation, he said. the first
Of these is found in the possibility of
failing to provide an effective remedy
against personal Determinations. That
which is to be feared as to rebates he
said is that the law will not 20 far
enough and Will not he intolligcntly cf-
f,ctive. He suggested that the power
delegates to IL committee should not
go beyond that of fixing IA maximum
rate on freight.
Lodge EXPIRE ssod the opinion that
there should be ample provision for
review of the findings of the commits
sion by the courts.
He concluded:
There seem to be prophets of a
new diSpcnsation who wish to depart
from the line marked out by the Presi-
dent in his message and accepted in
the House bill of last year by remov-
ing so far as possible from the pro-
posed law all proper provisions for
review by the courts. This seems to