Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1910-10-15
Things You Want to Know

1t is probable that no other bureau in
the government service will Increase so
rapidly in size and Importance i'm the ap-
preaching decade as the Interstate Com
morce commission. The entire trend Of
recent legislation has been toward a more
stringent regulation Of railroads and other
common carriers Of the country. The
commission was founded two decades ago
II had comparatively little work TO do
until the agitation OF 1906. which resulted
in the passage Of the rate bill Last winter
it was found advisable further to
strengthen the hands Of the commission
and 1t Is probable that during the next
two years its power will be greatly in
creased
The commission has governmental super
vision over the common carriers OF the
United States. This includes not only the
railroads and steamboat lines, but express
companies, the Pullman company and ne
telegraph, wireless telegraph and tele-
phone lines OF tho country doing an in
terstate business. 1t also watches the
operation Of the pipe lines OF the country
which carry petroleum. The corporations
over which 1t has this supervision. enjoy
an annual revenue of more than 5000
100000. The transportation lines have a
mileage Of more than $4,000 miles Much
Of the time OF the commission is taken up
in the Interpretation Of interstate com
merce laws for the benefit Of shippers and
carriers. A court will not answer a
hypothetical question or decide an imagin-
airy case but the Interstate Commerce
commission will turn aside from the red
tape Of the law, and offers all parties
interested the best Information it can give.
n la
mon interest or frequent rulings, the opin-
ions Of the commission are printed and
placed in the hands of AL who need them.
BY this means comprehensive code of
rules is in process of development the
observance OF which operates to promote
Just and impartial conduct on the part of
shippers and carriers.
The commission considers two classes of
complaints--informal and formal &c in
formal complaints may be filed by any
citizen having a grievance against a COM
mon carrier The commission investigates
these complaints in an informal way. II
they are found to DO Justified It recon-
mends to the carrier at fault that salts
faction be given to the complainant. These
complaints range all the way from an
alleged overcharge 4or a railroad ticket
to an unsatisfactory method Of handling
tnOuSdIus OF tons OF coal.
Formal complaints may be filed only Oy
accredited attorney and they cover every
sort Of subject from a claim for repara-
ton, involving a few dollars, to a COM
plaint against the entire freight handling
system Of given carrier. In the investiga-
| ton Of formal complaints some 900 hear
ings year are held, and in these hearings
more than 5000 pages of testimony is
taken. The commission, or it's various
members, visit diff erent parts of the
country and hold as many hearings as
possible. If the pressuSe of business re-
! quires 1t, this duty may be performed by
special agents designated by the com
mission.
The enforcement of the law recurring
| railroads to equip their cars with safety
appliances is entrusted to the commission.
This law has worked admirably in pro-
tecting railway employees, as is shown by
the fact that in 1893 seventy-seven out OF
each thousand men in the service were in
jured, as compared with sixteen out of
each thousand in 1909 The railroads long
opposed the proposition that they should
be required to equip their trains with power
brakes and automatic couplings, but they
now admit that this equipment is as much
to their interest as to that Of the employee.
question Of the substitution of the tele-
phone for the telegraph in train dispatch
ing These Investigations show that wher-
ever the telephone has been tried il has
demonstrated its superiority over the tele-
graph.
1t also has been charged with the investi-
cation of block signals and other accident
preventing apparatus in train operation
A board of practical railroad men has been
organized, whose duty it is to investigate
the various systems of block signaling and
the various inventions for automatically
stopping trains. This board has come to
the conclusion that only one type Of auto
matte train control IS feasible. This is the
closed circuit electrical control. Under such
a system the signaling apparatus must
stop the train when II is out of order, as
we'll as when danger threatens. II an oper
circuit apparatus we're used, it might get
out of order and the signals would continue
TO display the signs of safety. Thus, If a
bad boy were to cut signal wire on the
open circuit the semiphore would continue
to signal safety beyond But where that