The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1913-04-25
MAKE RATES FAIR
State Commissions Cannot Dis
criminate All Competition.
lis Decision From Commerce
Court This Afternoon.
JUST SHIPMENTS TO ALL
Jntra and Interstate Rates Are
Ordered Reasonable.
Power of Interstate Over Local
State Commission.
JUST SHIPMENTS TO ALL

Washington April 25.-The COM
merce court today upheld the inter-
state commerce commissions orders IN
the Shreveport. Texas, rate cases ana
in many respects sustained principles
which the railroads are asking the
supreme court to adopt in the state
rate cases now awaiting decision. The
commerce court entirely upheld the
powers of congress and the interstate
commerce commission to remove dis
examinations caused by a state railroad
commission enforcing intrastate rates
lower than interstate rates which have
been held to be reasonable. Because
of the similarity of the Shreveport
case to the state rate cases. Attorney
General McReynOlds last Monday flled
a brief in intervention in the state rate
cases with the supreme court, as a
friend of the court"
Attorneys for the state of Mime
sofa today filed their reply, but eX-
pressed their opinion that the ShreVe-
port decision would not affect their
case because the state of Minnesota
as distinguished from Texas. is seek
ing to sustain the right of a state TO
establish system of intrastate rates,
presumably reasonable in themselves
and having no reference to interstate
commerce.
Texas cases involve practically the
same principles rs are at stake in the
court. The decision is broad afflrma-
ton of the power of congress and of
the authority of the commission to
remove discrimination induced by
rates made by a state railway com
mission which are lower than inter-
state rates held to be reasonable. In
view of low Texas state rates Shreve-
port La, imm ediately over the Texas
line. found it impossible to compete
with Dallas, Texas, for example, be-
cause the interstate rates from ShreVe-
port were much higher than those
from Dallas TO the same destination
in Texas
Interstate Rates Reasonable
The commission found that the dis
elimination against Shreveport by the
Texas state-made rates was obvious
and conceded that the interstate rates
were reasonable. Evidence was
brought to show that the lower Texas
rates were imposed for the declared |
purpose and in pursuance of a settled
policy of the Texas railroad commits
sion to give Texas jobbers preferential
advantage over their competitors in
Louisiana and other states. The COM |
mission therefore orders the railroads |
to remove the discrimination. To do |
so, it would have been necessary for |
the railroads to advance their Texas |
state rates in opposition to the state |
commission orders.
The railroads applied to the COM
merce court to set aside the interstate !
commerce commissions s order. 1t is |
alleged the federal commission has not |
control of state made rates. This con-
tention the commerce court rejected |
by holding the action of the Texas
state commission result in a viola
tion of the under preference sec
tiOn of the federal law. The court dis
tinCtlY upheld the paramount authority
of the interstate commerce commits
sion. 1t says. in effect that the car
riers were not under compulsion to
obey the order of the Texas commits
sion because that. by the interstate
commerce commission order had been
superseded by direction of "superiori
authority and that therefore they
had ceased TO be bound by any incon-
sistent laws or administrative policv."
Not Impede Flow of Commerce.
The effects of the courts holding
is that no state may, by it's state rates.
impede the flow of commerce from
other states or protect its own ship
pers against outside competition.
Attorneys for the state of Minnesota
in the Minnesota rate cases soon after
the commerce courts decision was an
nounced, filed with the supreme court
their reply to Attorney General Nc
Reynolds brief filed last Monday.
Thomas ID. O'Brien of counsel for
the state of Minnesota in the brief
filed today outlined reasons for distin-
gushing the Shreveport case from the
state rate cases. He said:
The Shreveport case was brought +o
OBTAIN reductions in individual high
rates; the Minnesota case to fnvalidate
the state regulation of railroad rates
10 the end that railway revenues might
be thereby increased"