Weekly journal-miner., 1910-01-12

tions tends, in my opinion, to impair
 the efficiency of the commission, by
 clothing it with partisan character
 istics and robbing it of the impartial
 judicial attitude it should occupy in
 passing upon questions submitted to it.
 In view of the complete control
 over rate making and other practices | of interstate carriers, established by
 the acts of congress and as recom-
 mended in this communication, I see
 no reason why agreements between
 carriers, subject to the act specify ing the classifcations of freight and
 the rates, fares and charges for
 transportation of passengers and freight, which they may agree to es-
 tablish, should not be permitted, pro- vided copies of such agreements be filed with the commission. subject to the right of any parties to such agreement to cancel it as to all or any of the agreed rates, fares, elas- sifcations or charges by thirty days notice in writing to the other parties and to the commission. Much com plaint is made by shippers over the state of the law under which they are held bound to know the legal rate applicable to any proposed ship ment without, as a matter of fact, having any certain means of actually aseertaining such rate. It has been suggested that, to meet this griev- anee, carriers should be required, up- on application by a shipper, to quote the legal rate in writing and that the shipper should be protected in acting upon the rate thus quoted; | but the objection to this suggestion is that it would afford a much too easy method of giving to favored 1 shippers unreasonable preferences and rebates. I think that the law should | provide that a carrier upon request | by shipper, should quote in writing the rate or charge appliable to the shipment under any sched- ule or tariff to which the carrier is appliable, lest the party making such application suffer in the event of either refusal or failure to quote the proper rate or in consequence of a of the rate, the carrier shall be liable to a penalty in some reasonable amount, say $25O, to aecure to the United Sites and to be recovered in a civil action brought by the appropriate district attorney. Such a penalty would compel the agent of the carrier to exercise due diligence in quoting the applicable egal rate and would thus afford the shipper a reasonable measure of pro- lection, while not opening the way to collision and the giving of rebate or other unfair discrimination.
 Taft Recommendations.
 I recommend that the Interstate Commerce Commission be empowered, whenever any proposed increase in 'ates is filed, at once, either on or of its own motion, to Inter upon an investigation into the easonable ness of such change, and hat it be further empowered in its discretion to postpone the effective ! late of such proposed increase from
 period of exceeding sixty days be- -Ond which such rate would take fleet. If, within this time, it shall determine that such increase is un- easOnable, it may then, by it's or er, either forbid the increase at all q T fix the maximum beyond which it hall not be made. If, on the other and, at the expiration of this time, he commission shall not have com leted its investigation, then the ate shall take effect precisely as
 would under the existing law, and ne commission may continue it's in- c with such result as might f e realized under the law as it now d ands. Il
 Monopoly Abhored. Monopoly destroys competition ut a 'rly and the restraint of te full and T,