The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-09-08
MELLEN ADVOCATES
 COMMERCE COURT
He Indicates That Rate Regulation for Railroads May be Fol- lowed by Rate Regulation for the Commodities Sold
 by Other Corporations

wrong principles are now followed in | dealing with the possibilities of over 1 charging by railroad, telephone and | lighting companies, the same principles
 are likely. to be soon applied in a, much 1 wider business field.
 My own attitude toward the present l progressive" program, whether con
 fined in it's application to a few kinds
 of business or more widely applied to
 many lines of business, cannot be | adequately stated in single letter. I | can, however, point out what seems l to me the chief danger. My principal
 fear is, that in their zeal to apply the strong hand of executive power to the 1 correction of real or fancied evils, the l 'progressives' will weaken the princl- l pies which are the essential safeguards 1 of civil liberty
 1 One chief guarantee of civil liberty, i which our fathers with difficulty won i by a long historical struggle, was the | separation of the legislative, executive and judicial departments of govern | ment. It is natural to earnest reform | CTS. whose whole minds are entirely | occupied by the contemplation of what
 senfs to them some evil, to disregard the9 principles of civil liberty, and to demand that an executive deSpot be created to deal with their evil. Thus
 is a tendency to be watched and guard l ed against by the sober minded friends 1 of constitutional liberty.
 suggest careful thought whether | this caution is not greatly needed in 1 framing the legislation now under con- l sideratfon. An administrative com
 mission which shall have broad dis
 cretionary powers to prescribe how Fthose engaged in the various kinds 1 of business which most directly and
 substantially affect the general public | shall be obliged to serve the public, l and what prices they shall charge. in l wolves a confusion of judicial and ad- l ninistrative functions, if this commits
 sion is both to investigate and prose 1, cute, and also to sit as a tribunal to 1 try the cases which it has started.
 Such commission will also involve
 a confusion of the legislative and ex- ecutfve functions, if in hearing the complaints against service and rates.
 it is not required to apply established
 rules of law, but is permitted to de- bitrary discretion which. in constitut- iona1 as distinguished from despottc 1 governments, is properly enjoyed only by the legislature in establishing gen eraI rules of law.
 PRINCIPLES OF PROPER LEGIs- I LATION.l
 I believe that, the legislature proper l 1y may, in language to be chosen with | a deliberate care commensurates with i the importance of the subject, declare | lie of those who furnish comm bdities l or services to the general public. I
 believe that administrative machinery l may properly E@a created and main | tained which will with practical cer- tainty bring to light and to correction
 any violations of the laws so enacted | any business shall dispute an accusa- tion that they are violating the law. they ought, under all the rules of free | governm ent, to have a fair trial before
 a Judicial tribunal. It mays be said i that a trial of intricate commercial 1 questions in the existing courts will be unsatisfactory. because of technical 1 procedure and necessary delays. 1 therefore. suggest for thoughtful con- l sideration the idea of the establish ment of a court of commerce for the trial of such cases in which the pro
 cedure shall be simple, sensible and | speedy.
 As one of the business men of this | State, agree that I and my company | can properly be held strictly to the
 performance of duties to the public.
 If we fail to perform these duties, l agree that we ought to be compelled l to perform them. But I respectfully insist that if we honestly think that l complaints against us are unjust, we should have the right to be heard. not 1 before a despotic political board, but
 before an unprejudiced judical tribunal which will appply the law to the facts, l without fear or favor
 This letter is already too long, and
 ask a further suspension of judg ment for a discussion in the near fu ture of other features of the interest | ing statement of MT. Jones.
 Yours truly,
 l ~