The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1911-12-20
To Maintain Transportation
Rates Hostile to One Region
TO ADVANCE OF ANOTHER
Interstate Commerce Commission, in Its
25th Annual Report To-day, Takes
Sharp Issue with the United
States Commerce Court.

Washington, d. c.. Dec. 20.-sharp is
sue is taken by the interstate commerce
commission with the commerce court in
the 25th annual report of the commits.
sion transmitted to Congress to-day.
The issue is made principally upon
what popularly is known as the trans
continental rate cases" involving freight
rates from the Atlantic TO Pacific coast
terminals and to intermediate points.
Existing rates of the transcontinental
lines from eastern points to inter Rocky
mountain cities are materially highe!
than to Pacific coast terminals. In a
decision interpreting the long short
haul provision of the present law the
interstate commerce commission direct
ed. BY order, that relation OF rates
should be established between the Pa
cifc coast and points Of origin in fve
zones, into which the United States was
divided.
The effect of the order was to reduce
rates to inter Rocky mountain cities and
prevent the railroads from exacting from
shippers the Pacific coast rate plus the
local rate from Pacific coast terminals
to the intermediate points. The orders
of the commission, on application of the
transeontinental carriers were eninined
BY the commerce court and the matter
has been carried on appeal TO the United
States supreme court.
IN its report to Congress to-day, the
commission declares that "it is a waste
Of transportation and therefore uneco-
nomical and wrong to maintain sys-
tenn Of tariffs whcih are expressly in
tended to develop the Pacific coast cities
and to arrest the development OF the in
terror points.
at Is impossible to disassociate the
intermediate from the long-distance
point. Whether the intermediate rate
is reasonable depends upon what rate
is made to other points on both sides
of ii. and TO permit the railroads Of this
country TO select points where they will
and where they viii not compete would
be intolerable."
In discussing the effect Of water com
petition upon rates, the commission says
that il Cannot fix rate from New York
to San Francisco below which the rail
line shall not go, for II has no authority
to fix a minimum rate. There is, there.
fore. no way in which IL can prevent dis.
elimination by the fixing OF an absolute
rate at San Francisco and another alb
solute rate at Reno II can only accom-
plish this purpose by prescribing the diff
ference which may properly exist owing
4 aF . hsa 4 I
lowing the carrier to make whatever
rate il sees fit to the more distant
point so long as 1t observes this differ.
entail"
The report indicates the desire of ship.
pers from points in the interior OF the
country to obtain the same rates to the
Pacific coast that are accorded by the
railroads to their competitors on the
Atlantic seaboard. The rates are made
the same by the transcontinental lines
on the ground Of market competition.
"To justify their rates from coast to
coast says the report, 'the railroads
advance water competition, and to iusti-
fy the same rates from interior points
to Pacific coast points they rely on mar
ket competition, under which they give
lower rates from all the interior cities
two-thirds of the way across the CONT
nent to the same coast cities than to
intermountain points This is the kind
of discrimination the commission has
attempted to minimize"
While the commission recognizes the
fnll effect of water competition upon the
rail rates it says, "We have the frank
admission of the railroad managers that
they have subsidized or bought some of
the steamship lines and terrorized others
until they can make the boast that the
effect Of the sea has been "neutralized.'