The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-04-13

to take complaints as to railroad abuses would not be accepted as a substitute for the House bill. He had therefore decided to present the matter in the form of an amendment to the House bill In the hope it would be not re- jected He added his amendment was in the language of the third section Of the Elkins law.
 EuIoEi1es Elkins Law.
 Mir. Foraker eulogized the Elkins law that 1t covered all railroad evils ex- cept excessive rates.
 MT. Deliver made the point that ex- perience had not shown that the El- kins law had been very generally fn- voked and in reply Mir. Foraker cited the Wichita case, alleging discrimina- ton.
 MT. Foraker admitted that the law had defects. the most important of which was the failure to provide a remedy against exorbitant rates. For that matter. however. he had not heard any complaints on the score of rates until very recently. So far as he had heard, the dificulty had been with re- bate and discriminations and these. he declared, were quite fully covered by the Eikins law.
 Taking up the thread of his dis course. MT. Foraker urged that the omissions of the House bill were due, as Mir. Deliver had said to the gen. eral confidence in the Elkins act. He said that one reason why there havc not been more complaints was found in the expense to shippers. very few of whom were willing to go to law with railroad as an antagonist. He pro- posed that the government should as- sume the expenses of the proceeding in behalf of the shipper.
 MT. Foraker discussed court review amendments of the pending bill. saying that the courts were open to complaints of extortionate rates on the one hand. but that between. .the two there was a wide range and that there should be an opportunity for judicial review In this class of cases.
 In reply to Mir. Bacon he said that when a case gets before court 1t will become necessary to go into the entire court. He would have a broad review.
 Does the Senator mean that in the end the courts Instead of the commis- sion would in effect fix the rates '' asked Mir. Bacon, and Mir. Foraker de- nied that such was his purpose. The only question that a court could decide would be as to whether given rate was just and reasonable. No court could decide whether any given rate was confiscatory without going into all the facts. He declared that a greater Cheat and humbug could not be con- ceived than the review suggested in the bill''
 Bill Craftily Drawn.
 Referring to the use of the words ''in the judgment of the commission" in dealing with extortionate rates. Mr.: {: Foraker declared that "the bill Is craf- tily drawn by lawyers, who knew what they were doing, and Is intended de- finitely to take away from the courts all power of reviewing the findings of the commission"
 He declared that if the power of rate making was conferred upon the com mission, Congress must be careful to confine the work of the commission to administrative service and he argued that as the bill stands, 1t entrusts legfs- lative judgment to the commission.
 He did not believe in a flat mileage rate as suggested by Mir. Tillman and in case of such legislation he feared the result would be serious matter for the strawberry growers of South Carolina and the peach growers of Georgia.
 MT. Tillnnan declared that although a peach grower himself. he was willing to take the chances on a flat rate.
 MT. Foraker said that the manufac- turing industries of the west and also of the South were very prosperous and MT. Tillman responded that this was true of the South, despite the discrimi- nations of the tariff and of railroad rates.
 Referring to Mir. Bailey's use of the phrase just compension" Mir. Foraker said that it could not be established without revolutionizing the rate mak- ing system and Mir. Bailey said that he proposed the change because he considered 1t desirable that the lam guaEe of the statute should conform to the constitution. He announced in conclusion his support of the mileage rate basis. II do not believe in mak- ing things even that God Almighty has made uneven." he said.
 MT. Foraker referred to a recent shipment of railroad rails from Pitts burg to Galveston via New York, say ing that the water facilities which the good Lord had given to New York had made this advantage possible. This brought out from MT. Tillman the in- quiry whether if the good Lord had helped out in this matter. the devil had had anything to do with other cases.
 The Senate adjourned after an execu- five session of five minutes.