The National tribune., 1910-06-09
miscarriage of Justice that might he

msscaEFiage of Justice that m'ght he
imminent"
itiata proceedings fer the correction
6f unreasonable rates is regarded ii
amendment which the railroad bill
makes to existing law. For the entire
bill amounts to an amendment of the
law as enacted in 1881, and subsequent=
ly amended during the Roosevelt Ada
ministration. At present the Comnris-
able rates only after complaint has been
| filed. This requirement has proved
cumbersome and has often worked to
the great advantage of the railroad
carriers:
! The burden OF Proofs.
Not only must complaints be filed
| by shippers. under the current law,
! but the burden of proof Is upon the
complainant. The latter requirement
has proven especially irksome. Very
determined efforts have been made in
| the course of the Senate discussion to
get into the bill provisions that would
put the burden of proof upon the car
| riers. This has succeeded in some
part. Among the last amendments ac-
| cepted in the Senate was one by Sen2-
tor Cummins, of Iowa, providing that
at any nearing lilNolNlHS IL I'itt III
creased after Jan. 1, 1910, or of rate
sought to be increased after the passage
of this act, the burden of proof to show
that the increased rate or proposed m
creased rate is just and reasonable shall
be upon the common carrier. While
this provision is not as comprehensive
as some Senators have advocated, it is
practically satisfactory. Both shippers
and the Interstate Commerce Commits
sion have gained very great adVan-
tage in methods for adjusting increases
in freight charges.
A long and hard-fought contest in
the Senate was over the so-called long
and short-haul clause. The House
adopted a provision which is supposed
to prohibit railroads from charging as
much for a short as for a longer haul
There was much tactical manuvering
in the Senate and a long campaign for
and against the language of the existing
law 1t all ended in q hodge pOdge pro-
vision, the exact meaning of which ap-
pears to be clear to nobody. There is
considerable uneasiness among Eastern
shippers over the Senate amendment
on the long and short haul, lest it de-
velop to the great disadvantage Of that
section of the country. Lawyers who
have examined it with some care say
that the Senate provision, in spite of
its abundant Verbiage, is virtually the
enactment of existing law regarding
long and short hauls, except that the
burden of proof seems to be placed more
upon the railroads. Apprehension lest
there be more jugglery of words on
this provision in conference and that
somehow or other the eX sting law Will
be repealed and open the way for great
embarrassment to industries, is the
cause of a food of petitions and pro-
tests now coming to the Senate.
Lesalizing Traffic Agreements.
Another great battle in the Senate
over the bill affected the legalization of
traffic agreements. 1t was charged that
this amounted to the repeal OF the
Sherman antitrust law. An effort was
made to amend the section containing
that provision. so that traffic agree
ments and the rates Hereunder, must
first be approved by the Interstate Com
merce Commission before they could
become effective. Finally that provi-
sion was eliminated entirely and the
attempt to modify the Sherman anti
trust law in that regard was aban-
doned.
Among the additional powers given
to the Interstate Commerce Commits
sion is that of postponing the date when
rates shall take effect. The Senate has
provided that rates under nvestiga-
ton by the Commission may be sus-
discretion of the Commission, for six
months, longer,
An unexpected provision of the rail-
road law amendments. as advocated by
President Taft during his long Western
tour last year and also during the
earlier portion of the present session.
was a prohibition OF railroad mergers.
The bill drawn by Attorney-General
Wickersham under the Presidents di-
rection, has such a prohibition, but it
was attacked by the insurgents as in
iquitous and speedily abandoned.
Originally 1t was expected to provide
Federal regulation of the issues of rail-
road stocks and bonds. The sections
of the bill covering that feature were
assailed as providing a scheme which
would be welcomed by the railroads.
Democratic and insurgent votes forced
it out of the Senate bill. A modified
capitalization provision is retained in
the House bill, but the opposition in
the Senate is so strong that probably
the entire subject will be dropped in
conference
There are numerous other provisions
of the bill. mostly of minor charac-
ter. In many particulars the bill will
be made in conference, because of the
dissimilarity of language and provI-
sions This is very marked with refer
ence to the control of telegraph and
telephone lines by the Interstate Com
merce Commission. The House p.<-
vision is comprehensive; the Senate
provision more crude But 1t is claim
ed that conference agreement ought
to be reached without great difficulty
and without long delay, if the House
refuses to accept the Senate measure.