The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-05-18
AT WORK ON THE RATE BILL, Senate Considers Various
 Amendments. THE ANTLPASS PROVISION Senator Culberson of Texas Pre-
 sents a New Draft. Much Debate over the Inclusion of Pips Lines Which Carry Gas-Bev-
 erfdee Not Enemy to stan-
 dsrd on Company.
 
THE ANTLPAss PROVISION

Washington, May 17---when the Sem ate met today 1t promptly entered up- on the confederation of the rate bill az reported by the committee of the
 whole
 Senator Beveridge moved to strike out
 the words excepting gas iines, nat | ural and artificial" from the operation of the provision making pipe lines ] common carriers. The suggestion was
 sharply antagonized by Senator For aker who charged that the change is desired to meet the whims of some
 body who wants to influence legisla- | ton"
 Senator Lodge, author of the amend
 nent admitted that he cared very little I about the gas feature of the provis--
 ion. My object" he said 'is to bring
 the pipe lines of the Standard oil Com
 rany under the Jurisdiction of tho h.
 terstate Commerce Commission. l don't see why that corporation is ex- 1 empted from the operations of the law; 1 there is no reason why it should es- | cape. As matters no stand 1t holds the {. entire oil industry by the throat.r | Senator Beveridge contended that the
 provision should apply to gas as welt | as to oil Senators Scott Gaiiin9er
 and Nelson opposed the change 1 After further debate Mir. Beveridgo | withdrew his amendment in order to | permit Senator Taiiaferro to present
 provision excluding only natural gas | for municipal purposes.
 I Mir Taliaferro declared that the Sen- | ate had twice taken a position against MT. Foraker's "pet line and yet, he added, as the bill new stands 1t appears | tc have been inserted. He attributed | this change to the skilfful management | Of Messrs Aldrich. Foraker and Carr | ter.
 remark" said Mir Foraker in resporse.
 and he then outlined the course of tho l iegislation by which the anendment | was adopted In defensescf his ccnten~ ticn The change was not due to nae'' tAes said ! do not do anything sir. a
 surreptitious manner dld not rrAssns the Amendment"
 l Appareut Conflict
 Senator cniberson called attention to apparent conflict between the amend-
 ment making pipe lines common car-
 riers. and the other amendment nnak- ink if unlawful for common carriers Co l transport commodities produced by themselves He said that under the second provision, the pipe lines must go out of business entirely or devote l themselves to the exclusive business Of | carrying tn coil or gas of other own- | CTS
 senator 8everidge said that he did | not syrnpathize with the attacks on the | Standard Oil Company He would dis-
 criminate neither for nor against that | organization, nor in favor nor again | any other commodity. The law should | apply equally to all people and all com nioditles He did not believe that an | exception should be made in favor of | the Cincinnati pipe line He also | spoke of the Senate's change of mind | on the gas question, when the provision
 was under consideration in committees l of the whole, but said that he did not | charge any manipulation. l The debate then drifted into general l discussion of the right Of emonent do- | main which was participated in by | Senators Bacon, Scott, Fulton. cuieer- son Clark (Arkl. Teller, Clay and | Elkins. Senators Scott and Elkfns said that the people Of West virginia | obtect to the taking of gas out o& their | state as is done to build up the manu- | featuring Interests of Ohio and Penn
 sylvania
 MT Taninferros motion was retee- | ted and the amsndment left as it | stood before the controversy began. The provision including express com | panics and sleeping car companies as l common carriers was also left undis- | turbed
 The anti-pass provision was then taken up and a new draft by Senator l Culberson was adopted in place of the | amendment yesterday. The only | change made was In phraseoiogy and all the classes specified yesterday were accepted The provision was still fur | ther amended at the instance of sena- tor Hansborough so as to make the penalty apply to persons asking and accepting passes, as well as to those granting them The penalty Is a fine of from s1 900 to s2,ooo.
 The Final Exception.
 Senator Deliver moved to add trav- cling secretaries of Y. M. c A. and the amendment was accepted. The amendment was modified was the hnai- ly accepted
 The provision prohibiting common carriers from transporting articles of their own production was then taken up and after some changes Tn phrase ology the amendment was agreed to. There were several efforts to extend the time when the provision shall go into effect. but they were unsuccess- ful
 senator La Toilette secured the ad- dition of penalty clause 70 the provts- ion requiring railroad companies to put in switches and supply cars to ShlppefS
 The amendments 10 section 2. deal ing with the railroad tariff schedules were all accepted without discussion and it looked for a time as 1T the en- tire section might be disposed of very speedily until Senator Lodge sought to have the words: Knowingly and will fully" inserted in connection with the penalty for granting rebates or dis eliminating in favor of any shipper. The amendment precIpltated debate.
 Mir. Bailey suggested that if the pen- sitv against both carriers and shipper should stand the government would find itself without witnesses In the prosecution of offenders
 The Ledge amendment was accept cd the precision was agreed to after the acceptance of a suggestion by Sen stor Stone making the penalty clause erplieitlv applicable to shippers as well as carriers
 Senator McCumber presented a suh- stitute for his provision imposing a pcnalty for accepting rebates amount -------------------