The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-05-01
RAIL ROADS MUST!
 HAVE NO SECRETS. Law 10 Make Public Railroad Accounts to Be Enforced MORE MONEY IS NEEDED MT. Townsend of Michigan Introduces Bill To Provide Funds To Pay Ex-
 aminers For Interstate Com
 merce Commission.
MORE MONEY IS NEEDED

Washington April 3O.-The usual point of no quorum was raised when the House reconvened today on the motion pending from yesterday that the House go into committee of the whole for the further consideration of the sundry civil appro- priation bill under the fve-minute rule The doors were locked and the roll was called on the motion which prevailed
 In accordance with yesterdays agree ment the committee took up the amend ment proposed by MT Townsend of Mich igan to increase from S50,0OO to $500 the appropriation to enable the interstate commerce commission to enforce that clause of the interstate commerce act di- recting tine commission to examine into and make public the accounts of interstate railroads and authorizing the employment of special examiners for that purpose.
 Speaking to that amendment, Mir Town send said that the publicity provision had not been a part of law long enough to enable anyone to say that it should be abandoned; that the purpose of the pro- vision was to find out whether the rail- roads were obeying the Hepburn act, and that refusal by Congress to provide for the expenses of these examinations would be tantamount to an informal repudiation and repeal of the law itself.
 MT. Fitzgerald of New York asked if it was not true that the commission had dis covered that instead of an examining force of 2S5 men, 15oO men would be required to investigate annually the accounts of 10 and that the cost would be so great that the commission was afraid to state it.
 MT. Townsend's reply was that it would be impossible to put the full quota of ex- aminers into the field before January l., 1909, and for that reason the sum of $350, GOO would be adequate provision for the present.
 MT. Tawney declared that if it required an army of examiners and delivers and special agents throughout the country to enforce the publicity clause of the com merce act, then that clause was com plete failure. He said that if an annual inspection was to be made of the books of every interstate carrier the work would amount to yearly federal audit of all the business of all of tho railroads iii the country. MT. Tawney said that in the il- i auguration of a new service, such as this, Congress should not begin at the top. 1 thereby committing the government to a big annual expense which never could be cut down, but should begin at the bottom, and if the service proved to be a good thing work it up and enlarge it from time to time as the wisdom of experience should dictate
 MT. Keller of Ohio opposed the amend ment for the reason, among others, that he revolved i'll the inauguration of a policy that would turn loose on the railroads of the country an army of spies to pursue system of espionage under which every hnan would be considered to be a law breaker and scoundrel until investiga- ton should prove the contrary" MT. Cooper of Wisconsin replied that the railroads themselves indulge freely and universally in the practice of employ ing great numbers of private detectives Ito follow their employees to their homes, trying to discover whether they have stolen property from the company s yards.'
 Debate proceeded under the five minutes