Los Angeles herald., 1910-03-16

here and now against practice Wh,cn
/ believe to be full of dangers ana dis
asters." a,u
Relates Origin of Bill
Declaring to be extraordinary the
circumstances connected with the OIL
gin of the bill, the Iowa senator de-
tailed the meeting last August OF AT
torney General Wickersham in New
York with others who, he SAID had
undertaken to put in shape for enact
ment the various recommendations OF
the president on railroad legislation.
The report as made to the chief exec
utive was supposedly confidential ne
said, but as a matter of fact long be
fore it reached the president it had
fallen into the hands Of railroad men.
Discussing the progress OF the Dill
after it reached the president, Mr..
Cummins declared it had been vastly
changed. Indeed. he declared, but for
the birthmark of the commerce court,
no one would recognize the measure
born in the dog days up there In
New York
These changes he attributed to the
influence Of the railroad men that had
been brought to bear upon the presi-
dent and attorney general before jan
uary II, when the bill WAS presented
to the chairman of the committee on
interstate commerce. He asserted that
from the time the measure had been
turned in to the president until it left
him nearly every railroad president In
the country had visited Washington
and had been heard by the president
and the attorney general, many OF
them twice. Substantially every change
had been made to suit the railroads.
He did not object to the granting OF
hearings on legislation, he said. His
objection was to the course Of the
executive officials i'm taking i'm hand
the entire direction Of legislation. If
the attorney general and president
were to prepare the bills, ii was 'emi-
nentlY fair they should hear those in
terested."
But while the railroad men had pre-
scented their views to the president,
only one Of them had been heard by
the senate committee.
Senate Kept in Ignorance
Because Of the method of proceeding
the senate, he urged, necessarily was
ignorant OF the arguments used to
bring about the changes No doubt
there was good reason for the changes,
but be that as it might, the introduce
ton of a system (which would lead
those desiring to influence legislation
to appeal to the White House rather
than TO congress- he considered per-
nicious.
Mr.. Cummlns inveighed against the
proposed court of commerce as unnec-
essary and expensive. He asserted
that not to exceed seven or eight cases
a year would come before the court.
and the expense would not be short of
100000 per annum. lie also argued
that any court created for the trial of
railroad cases alone would be unwise,
because Of influences surrounding tho
selection Of members Of the court and
because Of "the tremendous power OF
the railroads"
Mr. Cummins also pointed out the
possibility Of the enlargement of the
jurisdiction of the proposed court over
that now exercised by the federal
courts. He thought the Jurisdiction
should be made as specific as possible.
Blow at All Shippers
More serious and disastrous than any
OF these objections, he said, was the
blow to shippers in taking the inter-
state commerce commission out Of the
case, making the defendant place the
cases entirely in the hands Of the at
torney general. Such a course he
said, would give the department of
justice power Of secret review from
which there could not be appeal or re-
dress. This course, he thought must
necessarily destroy the effectiveness of
the law.
Mr.. Elkins defended the provisions