The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1911-12-21
COMMISSION IN
ISSUE With new
COMMERCE COURT.
Trans-ContineD.al Rate Cases Main
Point OF Disagreement
In Report
FAVOR RELATION OF RATES
Think Nation 81 onld Be Din ided
Into Five Zones For
Shippers Benefit
FAVOR RELATION OF RATES

Washington, Dec. 20. Sharp Is
sue is taken by the Interstate Cons
merce Court in the 25th annual re-
port of the Commission transmitted
to Congress today.
The issue is made principally up
on what popularity is known as the
"trans-contincntal rate case" involv-
ing freight rates from the Atlantic
to the Pacific Coast terminals and to
intermediate points. Existing rates
OF the rans-continental lines from
Eastern points to interRocky Noun
tain cities are materially higher
than to Pacific Coast terminals. In
decision interpreting the long-and-
short haul provision of the present
law, the Interstate Commerce Com
mission, derected, by order, that a.
relation of rates should be estab-
lished between the Pacific Coast and
points OF origin in five zones, into
which the United States was divided
The effect of the order was to re-
duce rates to inter-Rocky Mountain
cities and prevent the railroads from
exacting from shippers the pacificI
eaast satsspfas the lSosl rates from
Pacific Coast terminals 10 the inter-
mediate points. The order of the
Commission, on application of the
trans-continental carriers were en-
joined by the Commerce Court and
the matter has been carried, on ap-
peal to the United States Supreme
Court
Tariff System Wasteful
In its report to Congress today the
Commission declared that ut is a
waste of transportation and there
fore uneconomieal and wrong toI
maintain a system of tariffs which
are expressly intended to develop
the Pacific Opast cities and to arrest
the development of the Interior
points.
at is impossible to disassociate
the intermediate from the long dis
tance point Whether the interme-
date is reasonable depends upon
what rate is made to other points on
both sides of it, and to permit the
railroads of this country to selec'
points where/they will, and where
they will not compete would be in
tolerable."
In discussing the effect of water
competition upon rates the Com
mission says that it cannot fix a
rate from New York to San Francis
co below which the rail line shall
not go, for II has no authority to FIX
minimum rate. There Is, there
fore, no way in which it can prevent
discrimination by the fixing of an
absolute rate at San Francisco and
another absolute rate at Reno. II |
can only accomplish this purpose by
prescribing the difference which may
properly exist owing to the effect Of
this competition and allowing the |
carrier to make whatever rate 1t sees
fit to the more distant point so long
as it observes this differential."
Interior Shippers Complain
The report indicates the desire Of
shippers from points in the interior
CT the country to obtain the same
rates to the Pacific Coast that are ac.
corded by the railroads to their conf
petitors on the Atlantic Coast sea
board The rates are made the same
by the trans-continental lines on the |
ground of market competition.
''ro justify their rates from coast |
to coast" says the report, "the rail-
roads advance water competition, |
and to justify the same rates from
interior points to Pacific Coast |
points they rely on market compet,-
tion. under which they give lower
rates from all the interior points to
Pacific Coast points they rely on
market competition, under which |
J they give lower rates from all the
interior cities two-thirds on the way
across the continent to the same
coast cities than to inter-mountain |
points. This is the kind of discrim-
ination the Commission has at
tempted to minimize."t
While the Commission recognizes