Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-03-01
DOLLWER ON RATES
Continued from Firs. Page,

which places private car lines under the
interstate commerce law and provides THAI
shippers shall have their dealings only with
railroad companies, and that the railway
companies themselves shall settle the BUSH
ness of the private cars
He then outlined the purposes OF the blu
and said he believed that the machinery
that has been used in the form of the In
terstate commerce commission for the past
twenty years could be used very well.
II know" said he, sit has been fashion
able to insult the Interstate commerce COM
mission. am going to be absolutely square
now. l, myself, may have Joined with the
multitude In general condemnation OF that
commission composed Is 1t Is of hard-work-
ing and able men, but in the last year It
has become my duty to read the records OF
that commission from the day Judge Cooley
took his seat on IT. Those records are con-
tanned in ten volumes, and I want to say
here that Notwithstanding any prejudice
that l may have had against them l do not
propose to withhold from them here that
tribute to which they are entitled as hard
working men, broad and fair minded men.
which is shown by the able manner in
which they have handled these cases.
Continuing, Mr.. DolliYer said:
II these able lawyers who have ap-
peared before that commission had dealt
decentiy by the commission, as they have
dealt with the courts of the United States,
the record of the commission would have
been much more satisfactory"
Peace, Not War, Proposed.
Mr.. Dolliver said he was not one of those
who Joined in the alarm about this legisla-
ton. He did not want to see any hostility
between the railways and the great bust
ness communities of this country. In the
words of Justice Harlan, he declared that
the railways are the servants of these
shippers. He wanted to battle be-
tween these conflicting interests He held
to the doctrine that the laws of business
should govern in these matters.
He believed that time went on vol
untary boards OF Cancellation would be es-
tablished in every traffic district of the
United States, and he believed that in these
boards the theory and practice of making
rates would be discussed so that very little
clashtng of interests would be felt. Tho
Hepburn bill would promote that. He be-
lieved that this would result in lessening
to very great extent the actual labor
that would come before the interstate COM
meree commission.
Senator Deliver said that the pending
bill proposes that when any shipper has a
grievance against carrier as to the rea-
sonableness or lawfulness of a rate he
shall bring his complaint to the interstate
commerce commission. II the commission
concludes that the rate Is unjust 1t shall
state the maximum rate above which the
railroads shall not go The commission
does not actually fix the rate. That power
should be and is left TO the railroads to
change It, as changing conditions require.
but having in mind all the time the maxi
mum beyond which they cannot fix the
rates.
He said that the contention of the oppo-
sition agains' the bills provision giving the
commission authority over through routes
and joint rates, if sustained. would mean
that any road could nuilify the whole law
by canceling its joint rate.
Senator Dolliver made appeal for
fair play and absence from prejudice in
solving the problems of the bill. He said
he is a believer in the law of property and
indorses the law authorizing the forming
Of NArnfi i'm. for hlI Sir1Gs r11rn
declared that there is not d line in this bill
drawn in hostility to American railway
SyStemS nor a word written down In II
against these enterprises. He asserted that
the agitation for the legislation was not
revolutionary. Ii had started with q petit
ton from shippers and had proceeded along
normal lines.
Senator Dolllver created ripple of
laughter in the chamber by referring to
the senator (meaning Mr.. Lodge of Massa-
chusetts) who had unloaded his railroad
securities in order 10 spiritually prepare
for this struggle.
He also took shot at former Attorney
General Olney, who is declaring in es-
says and pamphlets that railway rate MAX
ing IS in violation of the Constitution. SEN
ator Dolliver said that Mr.. Olney had found
warrant under the Constitution at Presi-
dent Cleyelands bidding to send United
States troops into a state of the Union in
defiance of d governor and mayor to pre-
serve the peace and keep open the high
ways of commerce.
The Rate-Fixing Power.
Senator Dolliver humorously traced the
application of the earliest rate-makng
power 10 a period some 300 years before
Christ. y tablet recently unearthed and
deciphered told of the governmental fixing
of the hire of horse and wagon or sail
boat in that remote period, earlier than
the Decalogue and older even than Abra-
ham sitting in the door of his tent. He
g.. ftxf.a
rates in 1880 to suppress combination OF
wagoners who, as Senator Dolliver said,
were mauifesting a tendency, never since
entirely lacking in carriers. to unite for
the symmetrical dispensing of the profits.
He made homely and local application
of the constitutional right of Congress to
fix rates. and drew picture of a poor old
hack driver sitting on the box of his dilapi-
/ dated night-liner in front of railroad de-
pot n the rain. waiting for chance fare,
who is regulated by the great Congress as
TO the price he shall charge. Every city IN
the United States and in the world gives
example of the power of government to
! regulate transportation in similar ways.
Struggle With the Railroads.
Mr. Deliver Declared that the railroad Is
essentially monopoly, and the fact that
there is more than one railroad between
two towns does not alter that situation
very long The railroad IS a monopoly be-
cause ordinary business methods do not
apply to IL. The law OF competition has
no application 10 the railroad situation. He
commended the hard work that had been
done by railway managers ia this country.
''Tbey may have made stupeldous errors .
he said, but all their mistakes put to-
gether do not equal that mistake of the
American people. which has allowed the
United States government to go TO sleep
during this mighty struggle for commercial
! supremacy In which they have played so
important a part"
This struggle he said is now under the
able leadership of the President of the
| United States. There is no malice on the
part of the people. and surely there was
none on his part against legitimate railway
| investment.
81 am prepared" he said, 'for sneers, for
! coutemptuous attitudes OF persons who I'M
der ordinary circumstances would at least
| be agreeable. / understand all that.
stand in the position ] am today, which
| did not seek, because of my belief as to the
| line OF duty | should pursue. and because
as a senator OF this body l do no
| other thar 1 propose to do. The American
people themselves demand this legislation
| and they are demanding 1t none too early