The Clarksburg telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1874-1926, 1909-12-23

Amendments Proposed.
The commission expresses It's con-
viction that certain amendments to.
the present law are necessary to ena-
BILE It fully to; accomplish the purposes
of Congress. briefly summarized, the
proposed amendments are as follows:
That a physical valuation be made
of the interstate railroads of the.
country. The commission points to
the difficulty experienced in certain
cases where its orders are attacked in
court In meeting the testimony as to
tyhpslcal value offered by the carriers,
and says that If Its rates are to be de-
Tended, some method must be fur
-nished by which value can be es-
tablished which shall he binding on
the courts and the commission.
The commission again suggests that
1t be given power to prevent advances
in rates or changes in regulations or
practices to the disadvantage of the
shipper. pending an investigation into
the reasonableness of the proposed
change. 1t is stated that where rate
has been in effect for years 1t is pre-
sumably reasonable and that there
would be no hardship on the carrier
in giving the commission authority to
require continuance of the rate until
opportunity had been afforded to in
vestlgate the proposed advance.
Through Route Rates.
The commissions authority to es-
tab'ish joint rate and through route
is limited to cases where no such route
exists and the commission recon-
mends that this limitation be stricken
out of the law. so that 1t may estab-
lish through route wherever uprn|
investigation, it is found that the publ
lie necessity and convenience require
such action. A further recommends
ton is to the effect that in certain in
stances the shipper be permitted to-
direct the intermediate routing of his
traffic. 1t is further requested that
the law be so amended as to give the
commission undoubted authority to
enter a corrective order as the result
of an investigation Instituted by the
commission upon its own motion.
The commission again calls to the
attention of Congress the increasing
Importance of some form of federal
control over railway capitalization and
expresses the opinion that adequate
legislation upon this subject is re-
CURED by the interests involved.
vrt,o 20 the ~. TO,
sion from the carriers show that for
the fiscal year ended June 80, 1905.
the gross operating revenues of all
railroads in the United States were
s2,461.521,s45, and the operating in-l
come derived by subtracting operat-
ing eNpenses) was $656,41S,321. For
1903, the operating revenue was s2,-
494, 1859 and the operating income
$742,9sI191. indicating an increase
for 1909 of s32,594,244 in gro IS earn
ings and sS6.56S.S7o in net earnings
The average number of miles operated
in 1908 was 22S,164 and in 1909 2$3.-
DOE. The large increase in net asI
compared with gross eernings is ac-|
.....,eu Tor by a reduction of operat-
ing expenses in 1909 below those of
1908 of $5S.224.9Ss.
Many Complaints.
The report indicates that larger
number of formal complaints was fled
with the commission in 1909 than in
1908. During the last year 1907 for
NAL proceedings were Instituted and
during the same period 7SS formal !,
cases were disposed of. Approximate
ly 5000 informal complaints, of which
about half involved informal repara-
ton claims. were adjusted during the
year. Six hundred and one hearings
and tnvestigations-an average of
two for each working day-all lnvolv-
ing alleged violations of the Interstate
commerce act. were held at sessions
of the Commission in Washington and
in various cities of the country, at
which $1,000 pages of testimony were
taken.
Since December IL. 1905. thirty-fve /
indictments for criminal violations of
the interstate commerce law have
been returned and forty-two prose- \
cutlons have been concluded. Prac-
tically all of the prosecutions we're
for some form of rebate or concession.
The mes collectedNunder these lndlct-
ments aggregated s304.233.s4. The
opinion is expressed that violation of 1
the law. such as rebating in one form
or in another. is decreasing.
Some account is given of the pro-
ceedings had during the year in the
Of the safety appliance
law, and the commission states that
the results in this respect are graft
flying. In 1908 the number of men
employed in coupling and uncoupling
cars for each ono killed was a4a. whilell