The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1906-05-06

Of the railroads. bu of course the ulti'
mate resnlt IL that II obtains a much
larger profit at the expense OF the pub
lis. A very striking result OF the in
vestigatiOn has been that shortly after
the discovery of these secret rates by
the Commissioners of Corporations, the
major portion of them were promptly
corrected by the railroads, so thai
most of them have now been done
laway with. This immediate correc.
ton. partial or complete. OF the evil
of the secret rates is Of course on the
one hand an acknowledgement that they
We're wrong, and yet were persevered
in until exposed, and on the other
hand a proof of the efficiency Of the
work that has been done by the BIZ
reau of Corporations The Department
Of Justice will take up the question OF
| instltuting prosecutions in al least Ger.
tain of The cases, But IL IL most de-
sirable 10 enact into law the bin intro
! dnced by Senator Knox to correct the
| Interpretation of the immunity provis
I .
! decision. The hands Of The Goyer:l.
ment have been greatly strengthened
| in securing an effective remedy by
the recent decision of the Supreme
! Court in The case instituted by the
Government against the tobacco tr1sr,
which decision permits the Govern.
| ment TO examine the books and rec.
ords of any corporation engaged in
interstate commerce; and by the re-
cent conviction and punishment or
the Chicago, Burlington ana Quincy
Railroad and certain of its officers.
But in addition 10 these secret rates
The Standard OIL profits immense!"
BY open rates, which are so arranged
as 10 give il an Overwhelming aG-
vantage over its independent competi-
tors. The refusal Of the railroads in
certain cases TO prorate produces ana
lCgous effects Thus in New England
The refusal of certain railway systems
TO pr0rate has resulted in keeping
the Standard Oil in absolute monoDo-
listic control of the field. enabling il
10 charge from three TO four hundred
thousand dollars year more TO The
consumers of oil in New En- gland than
they would have had to pay had the
price paid been that obtaining in the
competitive field This is a character
istc example of the numerous evils
which are inevitable under a system in
which the big shipper and the railroad
are left free to crush out all individual
initiative and all power of independ-
ent action because of the absence OF
adequate and thorough-going govern
mental control. Exactly similar con.
ditions obtain in large part of the
West and Southwest. This particular
instance exemplifies the fact that the
granting To the Govern nent of the
power to substitute proper for an
improper rate Is in very many in.
stances, the only effective way in
which TO prevent improper discrimina-
tions in rates.
II is NOT possible TO put into figures
the exact amount by which the Stand.
ard profits through the gross favor
ltism shown it by the railroads in con.
neciion with the open rates. The
profit, of course, comes not merely
by The saving in the rate itself as com |
pared with its competitors, but by
the higher prices II is able TO charge, |
and teven without reference TO these !
higher prices by The complete con- |
troll of the market which il secures. |
thereby getting the profit on the whole |
consumption. Here again the only way
by which the determinations can be
cured is by comforting upon the Inter
state Commerce Commission the pow |
or TO take quick and effective action IN !
regulating the rates.
One feature of the report which IS
especially worthy of at IGNITION Is the |
showing made as to the way in wh.ch |
the law f. eyaded by treating as State |
commerce what is in reality merely |
part of interstate commerce. II is !
clearly shown, for instance, that this |
device is employed on the New YORK |
Central Railroad, as well as on many
other railroads in such fashion as 10 |
amount TO thwarting the purpose Of
the law. although the forms of the law
may be complied with.
II is unfortunately not true that the
Standard Oil company is the only
great corporation which in the imme-
dite past has benefited, and is at this
moment benefiting, in whilly improper
fashion by an elaborate series of rate
Determinations, which permit il to /
profit both at the expense of its rivals
and of the general public. The Attor-
ney-General reports 10 me that the
investigation now going on as To the
shipments by the sugar trust over the
trunk lines running out Of New York
City tends 10 show that the sugar trus
rarely If ever pays the lawful rate for
transportatio" and is thus improperly. !
and probably unlawfully. favored at
the expense Of its competitors and of
he general public.
The argument is sometimes all |
vanAed against comforting upon some /
governmental body the power of SUI |
pcryisiOn and control over interstate /
4.