New-York tribune., 1910-06-07
EEPANnING REGEL4TION.

Tire present demand that the Inter
state Commerce Commission pass upon
the justice OF all increases in railroad
rates before those rates go into effect
is one of the many illustrations of the
tendency Of regulation TO expand and
grow in various directions. Hitherto the
policy has been 10 allow the railroads 10
adjust their own rates. and if in practice
any Of those rates seemed 10 be inequi-
table recourse lay TO the Interstate Com
merce Commission That is obviously
pract icabIe system. for the number of
complaints against rates as unfair COM
pared 10 the total number of rates is
relatively small During the existence of
! any schedule of rates the commission
would have TO pass upon few of the rates
/ in that schedule. To pass intelligently
upon those few is humanity possible.
But regulation once begun is not easily
/ kept within reasonable bounds. Regula-
| tive commissions constantly seek ad-
ditionaI authority. Politicians anxious to
show the public how jealous they are Of
its rights are energetic in bringing new
fields of public service under regulation.
/ ne DllnilC user. NlSDlIiZ interference
with some distasteful plans Of the cor
porations. demands that regulation
be extended 10 meet new situations.
Thus a regulative body comes constantly
To have new duties laid upon it and new
authority conferred upon ii.
This session in Washington illustrates
how regulation advances. 4 few years
Iago 1t would have seemed absurd to sug-
gest conferring upon fEe Interstate Com
merce Commission authority to pass
upon all railroad rates before they went
/ into effect To-day it seems probable that
within certain limits that function will
/ he conferred upon the commission. And
public opinion seems to require that it
shall be The pending railroad bill. even
though ii is changed materially in con
/ ference. will undoubtedly add TO the
duties and powers of the federal regula
/ tive body in other respects. But the bill
/ itself gives only a partial indication Of
! the tendency. Many schemes for increas
/ ing regulation were only barely defeated
in Congress; perhaps. like that for phys
ical valuation of railroads. being car
ried in one house hut rejected by q close
vote in the other. All these plans
! have great vitality. They are beaten at
one session of Congress only TO come
/ back stronger at the next session.
Perhaps this would all be IS il should
be if there were no limit TO human ca
pacity If regulative commissions could
really regulate in every way that human
/ ingenuity discovers and proposes, we
might not hesitate about heaping new
duties upon them. But obviously in
/ the multiplication of tasks it is pos
sible 10 reach a point where some
must be neglected. some half performed
and some accomplished by guesswerk.
When the point is reached where the
public complains that The regulators are
not doing this and not doing that out of
( the multiplicity Of things that the law
said they should do, then what? The
Tribune has supported the policy of regu-
lation and does still. but in the general
satisfaction with this device for adjust
/ ing the relations Of the corporations with
the public there is q tendency TO forget
that regulatiye commissions are only
human