Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-25
TAFT PLANS MESSAGE
President Will Advocate Inter-
state Commerce Court.
C0NFERS WITH ADVISERS
Five Judges to Consider Rate Ap-
peals, His Idea.
WOULD STOP STOCK WATERING
Ownership Of Competing Lines He
Would Also Prevent-Other
Changes in Law Advocated.
CONFERS WITH ADVISERS
WOULD STOP STOCK WATERING

| From until o'clock yesterday after
noon President Taft was engaged in
long conference over amendments to the
acts regulating interstate commerce and
proposed amendments to the Sherman
antitrust law
In few days the President will begin
the preparation of his recommendations
to Congress. which will indicate the i'm
portant legislation he hopes to have eff
| fected at the coming session.
Those with the President were Attor-
ney General Wickersham. Chairman
! Knapp and Commissioner Lane of the
| interstate commerce commission, District
Attorney Sims of Chicago. who prose-
cuted the Standard Oil in the famous
| twenty-nine million -dollar-fine case before
Judge Lands, and Representative Mann,
| chairman of the House committee on in
| terstate and foreign commerce. Mr..
| Sims is under consideration for appoint
ment as the successor of the late Judge
| Bethea of the United States district court
| at Chicago.
| President Taft made known many of his
views as to proposed amendments to the
| interstate commerce laws in his speeches
Attorney General Wickersham has like
wise frankly discussed the subject in
public.
Interstate Commerce Court.
| Unless the President changes his mind
| before he completes his message he will
| propose, among other things, to estab
! lish an interstate commerce court, of five
members, to consider appeals from rates
| fixed by the interstate commerce COM
mission.
The President will also recommend
| legislation to prevent one interstate rail-
road from owning stock in competing
line, and compelling roads thus owning
stock to dispose of their holdings with
| in given time
| Legislation to prevent the overissue of
stocks and bonds and the watering of
stocks will be one of the strongest recon-
mendations MIR. Taft will make. The
Presidents proposition is that no stocks
or bonds shall be issued, except by per-
mission of the interstate commerce COM
mission, after an inquiry has been made
| into the necessity for the issue.
| Giving to shippers the choice Of routes
over various connecting lines is another
| important amendment which the Presi-
dent favOrs.
President Taft believes that one of the
great detriments of the interstate COM
merce law is delay entailed by litigation
in the courts over an order of the COM
mission. In favoring an interstate COM
merce court, he is backed up by nearly
every member of his cabinet, and by
members of the commission.
Power to Hear Complaints.
The President believes that another
change in the interstate commerce law
should give to the commission the power
to hear and entertain complaints against
unjust classification of merchandise for
1 se- nott oil he
declares. that by including articles in
the same class which ought to pay diff
ferent rates a railroad can commit ex-
actly the same kind of injustice as 1t
would by imposing an exorbitant rate as
to any one class. The President will
recommend that the power of the COM
mission be extended to include not only
the fixing of rates, after complaint but
! also the readjustment of classification, IL
it proves on complaint TO be unJust. :,
To give the commission power to in
stitute complaints of its own and not to
limit 1t to the consideration of complaints
made from the outside is another OF the
important changes In the law to Whlch
the President and his advisers are devot-
| ing a considerable share of their atten-
ton. The President believes that this
authority must be given to the commits
sion, in order to make its work truly ef-
! fectiVe.
Initiative for Commission.
Mr. Taft is not in favor of letting down
| the bars entirely, however, and giving
the commission absolute power to fix
rates in advance and on their own mi
tiative and without complaint filed and
| investigation made. 1t is the desire of
! the administration to proceed cautiously
| along this line in a way which eventually
| will accomplish it's purpose without too
! drastic or radical action.
1t is proposed that the interstate COM
merce commission shall be given author
ity to suspend for thirty days the carry
ing into effect of the new rate classih-
| cation, providing complaint is made that
the new rates are unjust 1t Is argued
that in this way the shipper is given
equal rights with the railroads, which are
permitted to take appeals from orders
Of the commission.
The subject which has given the Presi
dent and his advisers much concern is
the proposal to permit railroads to pool
rates The President takes the position
that railroads should be permitted to
agree upon traffic rates that shall not eX-
actly be pooling contracts, but shall con-
sttute agreements as to Unsupported
always that such agreements shall re-
ceive the approval of the interstate COM
merce commission
In this way the operation of the anti
trust law against traffic agreements be-
tween railroads will be abolished, and
against their absolute prohibition will be
substituted requirement that such
agreements shall meet the approval of
properly constituted tribunal.
A delegation of coal operators. and a
representative of the miners union called
upon President Taft today to urge that
the railroads be permitted to pool rates
as a means of providing against car
shortages in the future and to enable the
| quicker transportation of coal.
of Cd wis