Omaha daily bee., 1910-04-23
FLIGHTS TRAFFIC COMBINE
Senator Cummins Of Iowa Voices
DisapprOval of Rate Agreements.
DEFENDS THE ANTITRUST LAW
Says It's Had Enough 20 stand
AgrcsSiOns of One Railroad
without Facing Ten or
Twenty.

WASHINGTON, April 22-Traffic agree
ments consumed the entire time given by
the senate today to the railroad bill and
thoy were under consideration when the
senate adjourned. Senator Cummins held
the floor throughout, He spoke against
the section permitting such agreements
and against the Crawford substitute for It.
Declaring his intention to denouce any
legislation which nullified the antitrust
law as this provision did. he said the ulti-
mate purpose of the legislation was to
allow the railroads to fix their own rates
without first submitting them to the Inter-
state Commerce commission. Without the
establishment of rates any traffic agree
ment must be vague and shadowy and Of
little effect
II was difficult enough for the common
people to stand against the aggressions
of one railroad; to stand against those
of ten or twenty or thirty would be more
difficult still, he said. II the rates were
not to be approved in advance by the com
mission then there would be no substi-
tute for the antitrust act, and that, he
said, was the difference between the Craw-
ford amendment and his own.
It was not true as had been stated, that
President Roosevelt had advised the un-
conditional repeal Of the antitrust law,
he said, nor that the Interstate Commerce
commission had done so.
The question at issue, he said, 'ls, shall
the agreed rates Of the railroad companies
go into effect without the approval Of the
commissionT'
Mr. Aldrich interrupted. He asserted
that under the terms OF the amendment the
ates might be specified II an agreement
ent into effect as did individual rates
and did not go into effect by reason Of the
contract.
Approval of Agreement.
Mr. Crawford said this was not his un-
derstanding, but that his opinion was that
the provision would require approval OF
the agreement before the rates took ef-
feet.
Mr.. Aldrich said that by none of the
propositions Of the bill could a rate be
fixed by an agreement because all OF the
rates must be subject to the control which
the commission has over other rates.
You propose by indirection to give the
commission the right indefinitely to suspend
rates-to suspend them forever If so de-
sired"
Replying. Mr.. Cummins said his COM
plant was against the permission to the
railroads to enter into agreements that
may become elective without the previous
approval Of the commission. In such agree
ments he argued, there was no opportunity
for the individual initiative. The two
classes Of rates could not be placed on
the same level and he urged that IL the
antitrust law was to be repealed better
remedy must be found than that provided
by the bill as 1t stood.
Mr.. Ell6ins declared Mr.. Cumnins con-
tention for approval of rates in advance
to be impractcable absurd
He said that from 5000 to 1000 people
were now employed by the railroad COM
panies In establishing rates and asserted
that the Interstate Commerce Commission
must have q great force OF experts In
order TO carry out Mr.. Cummins' idea.
II am not ready to stand here and
destroy the entire freight traffic structure
Of the railroads" he said, ''and do not be-
lieve that the people demand that we
should do So"
He said he did not want the antitrust
law repealed, but he did desire TO assist
in relieving the executive officials Of the
embarrassment they find themselves under
in enforcing the law.