Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1910-04-15
COMMERCE COURT
BILL HAS FLAWS
DRAWN IN THE INTERESTS OF
THE RAILROADS, THINK THE
PROGRESSlVES.
THEY WILL PROTECT PEOPLE
Congressman FoWler's Able Speech
on Needed Financial Legislation
Limitation of Speakers Pow
err Still Is Subject Of
Warm Discussion.

hlngtOn.-During the speech OF
Senator Root upon the commerce
court bill it became apparent that the
railroad senators have a disposition
to improve the bill or have come to
the realization that concessions are
necessary to pass it through the SEN
ate. The surface indications are that
the railroad interests are becoming
worried over the fate of the measure
in its present form but that does not
mean that the struggle for additional
railroad privileges is abated.
Senator Root was forced to admit
that traffic agreements between rail
roads, which the administration bill
proposes to legalize should be sub
Ject to the approval of the Interstate
Commerce commission. The bill, as
it came from the committee, did not
provide for such an approval. This
admission of needed amendment
was the greatest concession made thus
far in the debate as to the right Of
the contention of the Progressive SEN
ators. Even Senator Depew inter-
rupted his colleague to volunteer the
statement that the railroad men of
the country are agreed that the ap-
prevail of the commission should be
obtained before traffic agreements be-
tween the railroads become opera
tive, and that the supervisory author
ity of the commission over all such
agreements should be exercised and
they should be subject to control so
long as these agreements continue.
Power of the Commission.
Traffic agreements are not freight
rates. The commission is clothed
with authority to determine the rea-
sonableness Of freight rates, but no.
where in the bill is the machinery
provided by which it can ascertain
what rates are reasonable and what
unreasonable. The reasonable rate is
one that will return an adequate divi
dend upon the value of the property
employed in the service. In order to
determine this, the body charged with
the ascertainment of the rate must
know the value of the property. The
bill reported from the house commit
tee provides for valuation of rail
road property In certain instances and
for the purpose of determining the
amount of securities which should be
issued upon that property in cases
where one railroad company buys the
property of another railroad company.
The Progressive senators and repre-
and believe that the commission
should have authority to value all rail
road property for the purpose of de-
terminlng what are reasonable rates.
Traffic agreements are instruments
in writing to the effect that rates up
on great number of commodities and
Of freight shall be the
same over all the lines of railroads
entering into the particular agree
ment, and the instrument is not to be
until the Interstate Com
merce commission has given it's ap-
prevail. The rates which are the sub
ject of one of these agreements are
first filled by each railroad as it's own
and become effective Immediately
without regard to the action of the
can suspend given rate for
60 days, but it is manifestly impos-
sible in the cases where rates are
filed by wholesale for the commits
sion to determine the reasonableness
of all of such rates within the time
specified in the law and there would
be nothing for the commission to do
but accept the rates filed as reason
able, and traffic agreements which
would cover these, while the law
would make a pretense of giving con-
troll, would in effect be nothing more
than legalizing whatever rates the
railroad companies choose to put into
effect under such agreements.
For more than quarter of CEN
fury the railroads have been fighting
for the privilege of pooling, and these
traffic agreements which the admins
tration bill provide should go into eff
feet without exercise of supervisory
on the part of the commits
sion. and which it is now admitted
should be subjected to such super
visory authority, gives to the railroads
this privilege for which they have
been fighting.
1t is evident that the purpose of
the railroad senators now is to make
a show of conceding everything that
the progressives demand and then by
cunningly wording the amendments
by which it is proposed to grant the
to nullify the concessions
and to put the bill into the form in
which the railroads desire it.
Fowler on Finance Reform.
Congressman Charles N. Fowler of
New Jersey always commands the
attention of students of finance when
he addresses the house upon his IA
vorite theme. All Progressives do
not agree with him, but all concede
that he has made an honest study of
the problem with a view to working
out a system which will make our
currency more elastic and make it
serve more effectively the needs of
commerce.
His study of the subject has brought