Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1906-02-08
solution OF Tho Rate Problem.

of the problem OF Federal regulation oi
railroad rates
Clearly convinced Of the unconstitu-
tionality of any law designed to clothe
the Interstate Commerce Commission
an executive, not a judicial body-with
power to establish rates in any manner,
Mr.. Ireton has given careful study to the
matter Of evolving some scheme that will
give promise Of proving lawful, effective
and reasonably satisfactory. This he
thinks he has found in a special tribunal,
clothed with all authority necessary in
the premises, consisting Of a requisite
number Of appointees, learned in the law,
to be selected in the same manner as are
other Federal judges, i e., by appointment
by the President, and possessed Of the
same qualifications.
This special Court Of Commerce, Mr..
Ireton explains in del4il, should be
created, with exclusive jurisdiction over
rates. rebates, concessions, discrimina-
tions and all the abuses and practices
prohibited by the Interstate Commerce
law as amended 20 date, and this should
be forther improved to embrace the ter
minal reads. elevator charges and private
car abuses.
Railroads should file with the clerk Of
such court duplicates Of tho tariff sched-
ules, both freight and passenger, published
and charged by them, and likewise, within
ten days, duplicates Of alterations, addi-
tions or amendments to same. Such
duplicates 70 be iudicially noticed by the
court and to be conclusive evidence Of the
rates in force, whenever the same may be
questioned.
Such tariff schedules should be open
10 public inspection on demand, at the
several ticket offices Of railroads engaged
in the business Of transportation, in every
town or city of 10000 inhabitants or up
wards, throughout the country, under
penalty Of a fine, TO the end; That the
public and shippers alike be afforded the
widest publicity as to the rates and charges
in force, and in order TO check the practice
of rebates and secret tariffs.
The doors Of this court should be open
to the complainant directly, and not
through the cumbersome Intervention Of
the Interstate Commerce Commission.
Il is necessary, in the case Of a minor, to
appoint guardian ad Item; but the aver
ago shipper can be safely entrusted with
tho task Of protecting his own rights in
sua propria persona.
Process should be brief, swift and in
formal and entirely free Of cost to the
complainant. Hearings should speedily
follow notice to the carrier, and in cases
involving the "unreasonableness" Of
rate, II the court be of opinion that the
rate in question is unreasonable. unfair
or unjust, then the defendant carrier shall
be enioined from further charging, col
lecting OF demanding same. Otherwise,
the complaint shall be dismissed by the
court.
A right Of appeal within ten days to
the United States Supreme Court should
be allowed, and, in certian cases, in the
discretion Of the court, operate as a super
sedeas
In regard 10 rebates, determinations,
terminal roads, elevator charges and
private car abuses, information should be
presented by petition to the court tsitting
in equity, and possessing all the chancery
powers Of the Circuit Court of the United
States, under the Elkins law Of February
10th, 1908, and its process should con-
form 20 that therein outlined.
Congress should prescribe the form in
which all railroad books Of account should
be kept and the same should be open to
inspection Of expert accountants, sent TO
examine same by the Interstate Com
merce Commission, under conservative
restrictions as to the time and manner Of
such examinations Should such exami-
nations reveal evidences Of wrongdoing
on the part Of the railroads, il should then
become the duty of the commission to
appear before the Court Of Commerce
as an ordinary suitor and present its COM
plant, as, likewise, in the case of any trans
gression on the part of the railroads of
which It might become officially cogni-
zant, but not otherwise.
From a study of the records Of the Inter
state Commerce Commission, which show
that tho yearly average Of complaints
made before that body is only 254, and
the greatest number Of decisions rendered
in one year only as, Mr.. Ireton concludes
that the special tribunal whose creation
he urges would not be seriously over
worked. The commissions records. he
also holds, establish concmsively the
falsity of the assertion that "there is
great public demand for railroad rate
regulation. II this were true, il would
be based on some recognized abuse and
the same would be promptly laid before
the commission; but the statistics are
not at all conhrmatory Of the existence
Of such a state OF affairsl Ergo, the
public demand is conspicuous by its
silence and the noise is supplied by the
iobbers and minority shippers, who care
not straw for the consumers, but hope
70 benefit from the agitation they have
aroused"
Through an oversight, the letter Of ex-
Congressman Robert Baker Of BROOKLYN
on "a Lesson in Protection" " alludinr 10
/ the famous sale Of Au,ericsn ,-ot,l..- ~.