The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-11-10
MELLEN COURT
 LACKS POWER
President Jones Declares Could Not Remedy Abuses
 He Specifies
CONSTITUTION LIMITS IT
Business Mems Head Maintains Utili- ties Commission Would Be More
 Effective.

merce" proposed by President Mellen of the New Haven road instead of a public utilities commission would not fill the need because it could not rem edy the abuses which it is desired to remedy by the establishment of a com- mission, President Andrew R. Jones of Danbury, head of the State Business Mems Association, has written a letter to the Connecticut Editorial ASsocia- ton, setting forth the need of com mission rather than a court. The Leg islature, he says, has no power, ac- any court the powers which would be needed to remedy abuses which are set forth, while the commission could go into these matters and improve cOndi- tfons. He sets forth the main abuses which are being fought against and in concluding asks MT. Mellen which of the specific abuses named could be remedied by his proposed court, by what judicial process the remedy could be accomplished and whether the meas ure of the State business men would not be an effective remedy for these abuses in large measure.
 Text of Letter.
 President Jones' letter follows:
 Danbury Conn, Nov. 9, 1910. Messrs. Everett T. Hill, President, and
 Arthur s. Barnes, Secretary, Con-
 necticut Editorial Association, New
 Haven, Connecticut
 Gentlemen:
 MT. MeHen in his first letter to you requested "a precise preliminary state- ment of the abuses which are found in the experience of this State to need correction In reply I suggested as same of "the evils to be remedied" the following:
 Evils To Be Remedied.
 1. Unused charter rights.-by reason of which the public is wholly denied the desired service.
 2. Traffic in special charters.-the largest single cause of the existence of the legislative lobby.
 3. Unsafe conditions,-resulting in the death or injury of many hundreds of persons annually.
 4. Incorrect meterS,-manys of which no public official can now inApect or compel to be corrected.
 ,. Refusal to supply service,-there- by unjustly depriving many citizens of electricity, gas and telephone connec- tions.
 6. Unsatisfactory service, over crowded cars, poor gas, etc.
 z. Unfair rates,-possibly causing a large aggregate loss to the community as a whole
 8. Over-capitalization, - resulting in poor service, higher charges, and less desirable investments.
 9. Lack of publicity-rendering the public interests more difficult of pro- lection.
 In his next letter to you, MT. Mel len referred explicitly to my reply and said: T do not intend to seriously criticise his CMr. Jones) general state ment of evils sought to be remedied by proposed Legislation, but suggested as the remedy for these admitted abuses the establishment of a court of commefce", which he has now de- fined as branch of our Superior court As MT. Mellen agrees with me that these specified abuses exist and should be remedied. it would give me great pleasure to agree with him upon the form of remedy. But unfortunately I am unable to do so.
 Court Without Power.
 Our Supreme court has repeatedly decided that under our constitution the General Assembly could not give the Superior court-or any other court power to determine the method by which unsafe conditions should be remedied. The Supreme court of the United States has always held that the power to fix rates could not be exer- cised by any judicial trtbunal-a1thOugh the courts have power ito set aside a rate fixed by an administrative trf- buna1 if it is such as to deprive the corporation Of just income. do not know of any process by which a court could ordinarily compel cor poratlon to furnish better service, or by which it might examine and cor rect meters, or through which it could prevent over-capitalization, or by means of which it could provide for greater publicity in corporate affairs for the protection of the public
 On the other hand, the general pow CTS which the State Business Mems have suggested should be vested in an administrative tribunal. have been granted to similar commits sions in other States; and the laws creating them have been held to be and have proved effec- tive. Why should not the same prove true in Connecticut? Judge Baldwin Governor-elect (until recently chief jus tice of our Supreme Court of Errors), states that in his opinion Gas a law yer", the act prepared by the State Business Mems Association as a whole is constitutional. He apparently be- lieves that the suggested powers are administrative rather than judicial, as the word judicial is defined by our courts.
 Questions For Mellen.
 I would appreciate it, therefore, if you would ask President Mellen to