The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-01-12

conssisuties os ti,s t9nsses ss ns sresTchn Th orders. of the cenmissiQn which are at
 court sfe, ssunnsf fised, in fks rspofs. Tn its last anhuai srspost Attention was. called to the fact that tho .Commis- . sion has no a1thority to restrain an advance Tn rates er to chanee a rule tionai burden. < Raiiways. may establish whatever interatate rates they choose, No proceeding, can Dc begun before the Commission upttl the, schedule estAb- order. of the comiei issiSk when made can not take effeet inf5less than thirty days If the sinvestishtion is to be one n reality as welisA name, if all par erat weeks, and usuaiiy several montl,s. must elapse before ia conclusion reauit. Ing in an order can be reached. Mean time the rate stahlished sy the .carsisr required to reduce its rates without . | fair heafink; neither. in the .Comnis. sion,s opinion. should the. public be re- suirsd tS pay. .adYsnced retes without ton fs called to .a casekfn which the Commission has recently held that "a rule in Odciai Classification; territory
 psosieitins the .ssc se2ssi;da;ion at cafs different fndtviduah Is unlawful. The carriers secured from the Circuit Court an igtuncticn ssnersnding theS order Of
 eo .p riersS in Southern and Western ClhsslH. cation territory have not In the past prohibited such conhoiid iidation. but t1trant- estabiishing the lame .rure. efssctivs January I. The Commissfon is In re- ceipt of earnest protests from shippers against such action. It-is Asserted that
 po that buslness % eosaitions 1 wifi 5: i"o ssa rtously interfefed with There is. every reason why such k-fufe should not take enect until the Supreme Court of the fniness of the .regIiztion. 1t ought not In the opinion of the Commission, to Be
 left to the grace Of the carriers them selves to. say whether such postpone ment shall or shall not be granted.
 Tn several cases courts have granted injuncfions againek changes fn rates pending proceedinssr before this Com mission. but such injuhctions have run tonly in favor. or complainants, with the result that at the present time these carrfers have established and are col ;, lecting one rate under their starifrs and.
 unaer an order. of court; are,coflecting, ceeding. The jurBsdiction of the courts. to grant such fnjunctions is svigoroua-l ly -combatted by the railways, and very. dificuit-aueations-Aftsel where the sey-, line are in the siurdsdiction of different courts As a apracflcei matter, in such proceedings the small, shipper who can. not fie bond.to secure anlinjppction can, under the higher rate s1tswould be easvs to multiply fstancss and illustrations
 showing the confusion and discrimina- s,Sn1 !!s ,v which now now exist in this respect ation of one year ago that 1t be given apthority to restfain the advance of sl rate! or sthe change. of a railway regu-.
 ss SefSfe the ,s. rsss
 ablenesst of an, advance or change, and 1t earnestly calls attention to the neces.
 sity.'for ,iMmediates lotion. \ .,
 2 ,'i Tke Ekses Sche&uies.l :,
 ,. The effort Eto. reach sdefihiteness, clear
 ness. and simplf ttx and absence Of con- niets and. contradictions in the rate
 scheduless of caffiefs. has been. vigor- the result that Tlatsriai and snbstantiai
 proEresk has been made. Tn fact more
 has. been accomplished than appsRrg on
 the. surface. because much of the work
 % far done .hasyof necessity been in the
 nature of laying, . proper foundation.
 The code of regulations. governing the, construction ofstarins has on the whole
 been found practfcable and efficient.
 made as experience has. shown tnemlt to
 De needed Or justifi4d.c The underlying
 purposei Is to fpaintainl all of the sub .ataIitive and simportant features of the M . "a
 same time to impose as little addition &l expenge or inconvenience as possible upon. either carriers or their patrons.5
 Lax methods 0fi1part of carriers in years gone by. resulted insthe practical
 abandouu1erits of ssfsany rate schedules, and in adopting. others in lieu Gh ereof
 yithout properly cancellng from the nies, of the Cos1nalssion the schedules SO discarded. It was Softenf utterly ffnpos-
 sible. for even the most expert 10 de- fteFmine definitely, which was the lawful rate among two yor. more rates that m mignt yntt be .c, claimed to apply or would iict with each other Sl1npliflcetion and dirsctness in the preparation of rate sehedules elimination of ambi guities number of such inStAnces. Manifesfiy. better understanding and more, satiss factory conditions will obtain when ti1e correct charges are-assessed and charx- ed in the first instance and when .oue9. tions, of f-overcharges, underchargess ana refunds occur but rarely. and then oniy beeause of clerical error. t-r
 m,ony n,y with the decision. of the .commis- sion Tn the case of 4Cosnnopolitan Ship ping .Company3 yst Hamburg American stea mship Company ct ai., a regulation Teaurna Tss shss tsfssy sy aSa tas fic exported to or imported from toreign countries not adjacent to the United States must show the rates, N.%ASSg anu St1hA SCSs OL. IUSt lnt1nQ CHr- riers to the port from the port in the United. States. and. for good cause shown. carriers were given permission to make changes in their rates ap- pitcabie to such import and export traffic to and from our Pacific coast ports upon notice of three days of re- duction in rates under ten days as to advances in rates. .'-.f .. '..
 Following this order, the, transconti- mental lines withdrew, effective November I. 1908. all their through i'm port and, export rates via the Pacific ports and applied to the inland car- riage of export and import traffic to those ports the )domestic rates, ap- plieahle to and from the. ports proper. The Canadian Pacific Railway, in con- nection with a large number of car riers in the. United States with lines east of the Mississippi river, published and filed proportional class and com Tnodity inland rates applicable to Van. couver. British Columbia. on traffic deattned to. oriental points. the PhMip- pines. Australia, and New Zealand, which proportional rates are much lower, than the domestic rates apply Ing on traffic destined to Vancouver proper No 0ptnion was expressed by the Commission that the inland por- ton of export and import rates might not reasonably and properly be less than the domestic rates to the ports The order simply required the car riers to conform to the plain reQuire1 ments of the law and to- publish in the