St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1913-10-15
G. A. PROUTY HONORED

VIII Become Director of The Bureau
of Physical Valuation OF the In
terstate Commerce Commission
Charles A. Prouty, the New Eng
] land member of the Interstate Com
/ merce Commission will resign his
membership in that body to become
/ director of the Bureau of Physical
/ Valuation of the Commission says
\ the Washington Correspondent of
| the Boston Transcript. He contin-
/ ues:-
Judge Prouty expected to see Pres
/ ident Wilson today and announce his
I intention to resign. The position of
/ director is filed by the Commission
| and the salary will be $I2, 800, or
/ $4,000 per annum, against the
! $4,000 of a member of the Inter
state Commerce Commission. This
( consideration, however, has had no
I influence on Judge Prouty, who is a
man of means. It has long been
understood among his intimates that
he would decline reappointment to
! the Commission for the seven year
| term beginning in December, 1914,
and when his present term expires.
Judge Prouty, although a republic
can, was appointed to the Commits
sion in 1895 by President Cleveland.
He represents the highest grade of
ability that ever has seen service on
the commission and his withdrawal
would be a distinct loss to the coun-
try, were he not to continue in SER
vice in another line. The plan of
ascertainThg the physical valuation
of the railroads of the country never
has received the enthusiastic approx
al of the members of the Interstate
Commerce Commission. Men inside
the Commission and out of it have
held that physical valuation, in
view of changing circumstances and
other factors, could supply no sci
entific basis for the assessment of
freight rates. The plan was engin-
eered through Congress by Senator
LaFollette of Wisconsin. The inves-
tigatiOn will cost perhaps twenty mil
lion dollars and cannot be completed
for several years. It's value is prob
lematical or not, according to the
point of view
Judge Prouty has regarded the
LaFollette plan probably with less
disapprOval than some of his col
leagues. He may even have thought
well of it. However that may be, he
has regarded the proposed investiga-
ton as a great work, and his willing
ness to take charge of this work and
to apply to it the benefit of his years
of experience as a member of the In
terstate Commerce Commission and
the rare powers of his legal mind,
will tend to encourage a public con-
fidence in the idea which might be
lacking were the investigation to be
made a mere perfunctory task. 1t
is believed that not only will the
new work gain in public estimation
through the association of Judge
Prouty with it, but that the railroads
will appreciate the value of their in
terests of having a man in charge of
the work whose fairness as a mem
Der of the Interstate Commerce
Commission has never been ques-
toned.
A volume might be written of the
railroad cases in which Judge Prouty
has been a deciding factor. His
browning work undoubtedly was his
recent decision relative to the New
England railroad situation so broad
and strong and impartial that it
promises of itself to preclude the
necessity of a government suit to in
stitute a reorganization of the New
England roads and to serve as a
guide for future managements. The
rights of the public and of the rail
roads ever have been evenly bal
anced in the mind of Judge Prouty
and both parties to future contests
before the commission will feel that
they have lost a useful adviser by his
retirement.