The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-09-10
RAILROADS SHOW
 BETTER FEELING Commerce Commissions Power Now Defined LOOKS TO HARMONY States Do Not Question Federal Gov ernment's Right To Handle All
 Matters Relating to Inter-
 state Traffic
By SIDNEY EsPEY

sion issues some general order concern
 ing the operation of the roads, or makes
 1t imperative that they shall observe
 working hours for their employees, accord
 ing to the hours of labor law Much of
 the bitterness which has existed in
 former times between the railroads and
 government regulation through the Inter-
 state Commerce Commission has ceased.
 Decisions of the United States supreme
 court have had a great deal to do with
 bringing this about. The tendency of
 these decisions Is strongly in the direction
 of the proposition that interstate railroads
 must in all substantial respects be subject
 to one power. The court now manifests a
 more decided tendency than in former
 years to hold that regulation of interstate
 commerce falls within the power of the commission. The stand which the su- preme court has taken has simplified the Irailroad problem to a great extent in ;his
 country. By setting up that Congress, rather than the states, has the right to regulate the railroads, it has made one
 rule to govern all the railroads in the country. If it were left to each state to
 regulate interstate commerce, there would be no uniformity, and what was legal in
 one state might be illegal in neighbor- ling state. Each state would have plan
 of regulation probably different from any other. In some states such drastic .egs-
 ation would be enacted that 1t would be harmful to the roads. In others practi- lcally no steps would be taken to remedy
 existing evils.
 Even the most ardent supporters of the
 state rights theory do not dispute the right of Congress to regulate interstate
 commerce, but Congress does not pre-
 sume to take away from the states the right to regulate railroads operating with lin their boundaries. The supreme court
 has held several of the rate laws passed
 by state legislatures valid and the "ail-
 roads have been forced to comply
 Some of the states have made little use
 of their power, and others have made too
 much use of their power. according to the
 roads. Since the supreme court has es- Itablished the ruling that Congress Is not Ioverstepping it's prerogatives in regulating
 the railroads, the railroad problem has Host much of it's seriousness.
 Several years ago the problem of the railroads loomed up as a dangerous thing to tackle. The railroads, by federal aid, had grown until they had almost unlim- l ited power It was in their power to make or destroy a community at their pleasure If a certain section of the country in- cured their dispeasure it was not iong before the community began to feel the wrath of the railroads. All that was nec- essary for the railroads to do was to make discrimination of rates in favor of some nearby section, and it was not long before the offending section found itself cut off from the commercial world. Nor were the roads slow in using their power. Things came to such a pass that Congress was forced to act.
 The first efforts of Congress to regulate the railroads were bitterly fought oy the roads. Public clamor against the rail- roads was so loud that Congress took en- lcouragement and became bolder.
 The Interstate Commerce Commission was established and 1t has gradually worked up to its present powers. The railroads today recognize it's authority, and offer no resistance to it's rulings. To- day the commission holds firm hand over the railroads and has allayed the cry of government ownership of railroads It has shown there is no necessity of gov ernment ownership if there is proper and effective government regulation. The government thus escaped the responsibil- Iity of the operation of the roads and the enormous expenditure necessary to sc- quire them.
 State acts and regulations prescribing maximum charges for the transportation of passengers and freight have caused much of the litigation between the rail- roads and the states mad have frequently been declared unconstitutional by the su- preme court on the ground that the charges prescribed were so low as to be lconfiscatory under the 14th amendment of the constitution. which provides that none shall be deprived of life or proparty without due process of law. It has been held that such acts deprived the railroa 1s of fair return on the amount of capital invested.
 1 It is the contention of one school of law lyers in this country that the courts must ultimately go further and hold that under the constitution of the United States, as under the common laws of England. .he railroads cannot be deprived by legisia- ton of just and reasonable compensation lf for transportation service rendered. Sma II profits will not justify, however, greater charges, and greater profits will not al- ways justify a smaller charge being made by governmental regulation.
 1 This school contends that the right given to the railways by the present in terstate commerce law to make a reason able charge for each service performed is but the expression of the constitutional fright.
 l In some instances the legislation of the states has been so drastic that it has not been upheld by the courts. Some states have gone so far as to try to prevent the testing in the courts of the constitutional- l. ity of state acts. This has been the case in Minnesota, North Carolina, Alabama, Arkansas and Missouri.
 I One of the most recent important cases to be decided was in Minnesota. The leg
 slature of that state passed law cutting
 the rates practically one third. The state
 stitutional. Should this decision be uphelc
 by the United States supreme court fl
 would in effect destroy the right exer.
 cised by the states in fixing transpo -ta tion charges.
 While it is evident that civil authoritia: will not permit the railroads to oppress the public it is also evident that they dc not intend that the railroads shall be Ge prived of a fair return on the vast amoun of capital which they have invested. Thi. sense of fairness has done much to dimin ish the animosty that existed on the par of railroads toward government regua tions. They are confident that they vii