Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1909-04-24
PROBABLE INTERSTATE COM.
MERGE BODY WILL MAKE
VALUATION OF ROADS.
AUTHORITY is FOUND
UNDER OLD STATUTES
CONGRESSES Refusal to Give Added Leg
islation Comes at Time When Conn
mission Must Act-senate to Under
90 Some Undertaking by a Student
iu criminoIosy.
Especial Correspondence

Washington, April 24.-The unwill-
ingness of congress to pass legislation
authorizing the interstate commerce
commission to make a valuation of the
properties of the nations railroads, is |
likely to result in the commission go
ing ahead and making a valuation
without special authority, of all the
transcontinental roads.
1t is maintained that there is ample
general authority in the commission to
do this, by reason of the broad pro-
visions of the Hepburn law. The COM
mission has repeatedly recommended,
however, that it be given special au-
thority, in view of the fact that max
ing valuation Of all the roads in the
country would cost somewhere from
two to five millions of dollars.
But congress has been unwilling to
act, and now the time has come when
the commission finds that 1t simply
must have a valuation of certain sys-
TENS in order to go ahead with the
business in hand. The Hill and Harri-
man systems have forced the task upon
the commission.
laid down the remarkable proposition
that the railroads are entitled to earn
fair return on a fair valuation of
their properties The Great Northern
and Northern Pacific, in that case, had
submitted their own valuations of their
properties, and the commission felt the
need Of dts own valuation in order to
judge the accuracy of that made by the
that its entire system was worth about
s4oo,oO0,ooo. Despite this big valuation,
the commission found that the rates
on the investment.
| Now, in preparing to appeal this case
to the courts, the railroads are making
revised valuations. The Northern Pa
Gifts has discovered a series of trifling
errors in its former valuation. and has
decided that the total ought to have
been s7O0,0OO,o0O instead of 100000
900. This is to be followed by the fill
ing on a revised schedule by the Great
Northern, which will increase its val
uation in about the like proportion.
| These valuations must be analysed,
attacked and discredited If the COM
mission shall win its case, which Is
the most important 1t has decided I'M
der the Hepburn act. There is no way
to do this except to make a govern
ment valuation for purposes of COM
parison, and then go into court and
secure a judicial analysis and deter
mination as to the elements Of value
that are to be accounted, and how
they are to be determined.
Such judicial consideration will be
of the most sweeping importance. 1t
will mean more than any other de-
cision ever secured, as to the final
powers Of the commission over these
subjects. If the courts ever get gov
eminent valuation before them, they
will have to decide whether it was
properly made, and then whether 1t is
properly to be used for the purpose of
determining rates.
Several states have made valuations
Of their roads, and to considerable ex-
tent. have used them as the basis for
determining rates. But there is Moth
ing which may be regarded as indica-
tive of the final attitude Of the federal
courts, save that the decisions gener-
ALLY are looked upon by the commits
sion as indicating that the supreme
, court will hold that these corporations
must be satisfied with fair CONNER
cial return on the actual value of their
property. 1t has been held a good many
times that neither the stock-and- bond
valuation nor the market valuation
has so much to do with it as the actual
, valuation; but how to decide what ac-
tual valuation means is a tremendous
, question.
The valuation, If it is made, will be
managed by the bureau OF statistics
and accounts, at the head of which is
; DR.. Henry c. Adams, professor OF
political economy at Ann Arbor. He
was also head of the commission
which made the state valuation of the
railroads in Michigan. That valuation
is generally accounted q model one
and has been sustained in all the
courts.