New-York tribune., 1910-01-08
MR. TAFT AND THE RAILROADS.

HR. TAFT AND THE RAILROADS.
President Taft's proposals in regard
to amending the interstate commerce
act had been foreshadowed in his
speeches and those of his Attorney Gen
eral, and upon some of them We have
already commented in referring to tho
recent report OF the Interstate Com
merce Commission. The most impor-
tant recommendation of the message
sent TO Congress yesterday is that for
the creation of an Interstate Commerce
Court. TO which all appeals from the
Interstate Commerce Commissions de-
cisions shall 60. Use object of the
establishment of such u court is to
hasten the disposal of railroad cases--to
reduce the laws delay That is so
laudable an end that public opinion is
likely to he enlisted in its support. The
railroads are said TO object to an Inter-
state Commerce Court on the ground
that it would he only a second COM
mission that it would take different
views of tho law from those taken by
the courts 10 which they now have ac-
cess and that those views would be
likely TO be favorable to the Interstate
Commission and unfavorable TO the
railroads. But inasmuch as appeals
from the decisions of the proposed court
would go TO the Supreme Court and it
would have To he guided by the law as
laid down by that court, this objection
has no great force
The particular increase in the author
@t,4
mission recommended by Mr. Taft
which will meet with the greatest op-
position will be the comforting upon that
body of the right TO initiate investiga
tions into individual rates without the
complaint of shipper and TO initiate
inquiries into changes in rates and claS-
Sification OF rates on notice of such
changes. The former extension Of au-
thority appears reasonable enough and
can hardly be of great practical i'm
portance, for there surely can be 10
lack of prompt complaints regarding
excessive or discriminatory rates. The
latter doubtless aims both at eXpeditinS
the determine ton Of the justice of
changes and at further protecting the
shipper
AS it is now. the railroads can file
several thousand changes in rates at one
time. The commission must wait for
them to go into effect, and can in
vestigate each change separately only
as a complaint is made upon each in
dividual rate. Obviously. it is difficult
TO see how the determination Of the JUS
tice of rates can keep pace with rate
making. AS The Tribune once said, the
railroads can make rates by the whole
sale while the commission can investi
gate only at retail. To meet this situa-
ton it has been proposed that the COM
mission have authority to suspend the
operation of such general changes in
schedules until it has investigated and
determined their justice or decided
what rates are just. But this avoids one
difficulty only by creating another-the
placing upon the commission of task
beyond its powers. namely. that of de-
termining the justice and propriety Of
a prodigious number of rates in rea-
sOnably brief time.
Mr.. Taft sees the force of this Objec
ton to comforting what would virtually
be rate making power on the commits
sion. and concludes that the authority
to suspend changes in rates should oe
granted only in "a very limited and re-
stricted form He therefore would
have the commission empowered to in
vestigate at once upon notice of change
of rates. and at its discretion to post
pone for sixty days the date on which
the proposed rates would so into effect.
the changes to become effective then if
the investigation is incomplete. This
may be practicable compromise,
though its advantages TO the public can
hardly be judged without an actual
test. The difficulties in the way Of "A
single body of regulators confronted by
the possibility of change of two hun
dred thousand rates at once are evi-
dently inherent. AS to the other changes
in the railroad law recommended by
Mr.. Taft. we have at other times suf-
fciently indicate o~r opinion.