Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1910-03-25
DEBATE
TO Be LONG ONE
Difference of Opinion Manifested
Among Legislators as to In
terstate Commerce.
BILL DRAWN BY PRESIDENT
Chief Executive Said to Have Given
: the Measure His Personal Atten.
tion-ProJected Court of Pat
emit Appeals-The Presi.
dents Tour.

Washington.-There is every indica-
ton that the debate in the senate on
the amendments to the interstate com
merce act will be long drawn out and
that 1t will be marked by many of the
acrimonious features of the tariff de-
bate of last spring and summer The
alignment of senators on the measure
Will not be exactly the same as that
on the customs measure, but the ma.
Jority of those who will be In opposi-
ton to the bill as 1t was introduced
will be the senators who fought many
or the provisions of the Payne Aldrich
bill
1t is doubtful II there ever was in.
troduced into congress a bill upon
which there were exactly so many d.
verse opinions as there are upon this
measure which the senate now has
under consideration OF course the
measure affects largely the work of
the members of the interstate COM
merce commission, and yet the mem
bers of the commission themselves are
at variance in their views as to the
efficiency of the bill in some of its par
ticulars. The amendments were pre-
pared in the first instance by a COM
mittee appointed by President Taft
every one of the members of which
was lawyer of high standing. Then
Mr.. Taft went over the measure him
self, bringing to bear on it all his ju-
d1c1al training. The cabinet officers
took It up and sanctioned it and said
1t was proof against attack in the
| courts.
EXPERTS Disagree.
There never was such a case per
haps of supposed experts disagreeing
on the efficiency of bill There is
| provision In the proposed legislation
which allows the railroads to enter
into traffic agreements on rates, the
| agreements to be submitted to the in
terstate commerce commission, who
shall be allowed to pass only on the
question as to whether the rate as an
average is exorbitant
Some members of the interstate
commerce commission declare that
this takes away much from the prop
osition as advanced originally by The
odore Roosevelt. The former presi-
be allowed to make traffic pools, but
said that the interstate commerce COM
mission should be given the power to
nullify them provided it was shown
that the pools were contrary to what
might be considered public policy.
Other members of the commission say
that as long as they have the power
to get at the rate that is all that is
necessary and all in which the people
are interested. Mr.. Taft and his law
| yer members of the cabinet hold to
this view and seem to believe that
they have smoothed the path through
many difficulties by giving the rail-
roads the pooling right under the law.
| President Taft believes that appeal
cases should be put into the hands of
the attorney generals office for de-
| Tense because he has implicit conf
dence in the ability and sincerity of
the law officers connected with the
cabinet department. Moreover, he is
averse to multiplying the legal depart
ments of the government.
For Court of Patent Appeals.
For years the lawyers of the
country, particularly the patent law
yers. have endeavored to get con
gress to pass a bill to establish a
United States court of patent appeals.
Senator Beveridge recently introduced
such bill in the senate and the
Judicial committee, through Senator
Brown of Nebraska, has Just reported
it favorably.
The day that this bill was reported
to the senate it happened that Fred
erick 2. Fish, an eastern attorney.
and who Is called the father of the
proposed legislation, was arguing a
case In the supreme court only a few
yards away from the senate chamber.
Mr. Fish ten years ago began a cam
paign for court of patent appeals.
and he has been assisted in the work
by Edmund Wetmore of New York.
at one time president of the American
Bar association, and by other promf.
nent attorneys in the work of attempt
ing to secure the passage of the meas
ure.
In discussing the proposed bill, Mr..
Fish had something to say about the
patent system of the United States
and he gave some interesting informa-
ton concerning what might be called
the patent industry of the United
States and the inventive genius of the
American people. THE patent laws
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