The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1909-11-25

NO STOCK or may De issued
by the railroad companies without
the approval of the commission aid
they may be exchanged only for act-I
ual cash or properly.
Those who are familiar with the
often expressed views Of Senator
of Iowa and Senator La
Toilette of Wisconsin, will recognize
in this bill an Endorsement Of the
ideas of railroad rate regulation held
by the so-called sinsurgent" repub-
leans. With the exception of the
creation of an interstate commerce
court. these provisions were, we be-
lieve, all proposed to the Senate in
the form of amendments to the rail-
road rate law by Senator LaFollette,
at the time it was under considera-
ton. Whether or not President
President Roosevelt approved them,
he gave no indication Of approval at
the time. So, as far as the record
Allows, President Taft has gone al
considerable way ahead of President
Roosevelt in taking up policies of
railroad regulation which have been
called ultra-radical and which the re-
publican party as such has never yet
Endorsed.
The interstate commerce court will
meet with little opposition, we anti
cipate, for the reason that the rail-
road companies themselves would
rather have jurisdiction conferred
upon q court created for the special
consideration Of interstate commerce
than upon the interstate commerce
commission, which 1t has always look
ed upon as a prosecuting rather than
q judicial body. The radical repub-
licans will be inclined to favor it,
because it will take these cases out
of the courts Of United States judges
who have no special training for the
determination Of the intricate ques-
lions arising in rate cases and who,
for that reason, would be inclined to
err upon the side of the property
rights Of the railroads than the less
apparent, If not less real, rights Of the
public. Further, the proposed law
permits appeal to the United States
supreme court only on constitution
al questions. The rate law, through
the h~umiliating Allison compromise,
left this question open, so that even
now it is not known that the rail-
roads cannot carry through the whole (
line Of appellate courts every rate
case and stherebysvirtually nullify the
and thereby virtually nullify the
whole rate law. For it was just be-
cause, under the old law, the decis-
ions of the interstate commerce COM
mission had no standing until re-
viewed by all the courts having juris-
diction that 1t was next to impos-
sible for the public to obtain relief.
For these various reasons, the pro-
posed court will appeal to the Elm
surgent'' republicans.
The proposal to give the commits
sion power to change the classified
tion of merchandise by the railroad
companies is intended to prevent
the practice of favoritism through
special classification or through COM
modify rates; and also to prevent
what amounts to an increase of rates.,
made by changing c~lassifications.
There will be a spirited contest
over the proposal to give the commits
sion power to suspend new rates or
rules by the railroad companies, if it
gets before congress. The railroad
companies claim that, if they must
secure the approval of the commits
sion for every new rate, it will be
next to impossible for them to meet
sudden situations and take care of
the interests of individual shippers
or communities by special rates. On
the other hand it will be argued that
the railroad companies can, by put
ting in a new rate, accomplish what
amounts to discrimination or a sub
stantial increase in rates, and that
the time that would elapse before the
matter could be considered by the
commission and a decision made,
would be too long to provide relief or