Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-19

maaer of delivery Mr. BikIe says: "Tn
the first place. all the authorities agree
that common carrier by railroad is
under 10 obligation to make personal
delivery of freignt-that is to say. 1t
discharges the full measure of its duty
, When ii brings the goods to its station at
the point of destination and makes them
available 10 the consignec.
The rule of the common law required
in general that carriers by land should
make personal delivery of the goods
intrusted to them for transportation, but
at an early day it was found Impractical
bio to apply this rule to carriers by wa
ter. since obviously such carriers were
not equipped with facilities to make de-
livery on land.
when the question arose AS to the
obligation of the rail carrier the courts
held that the manner of transportation
was analogous to the method employed
by the water carrier rather than to the
method employed by other land carriers.
and accordingly decided that the carrier S
obligation terminated with the delivery
of the goods at designated station at
the point of destination.
After citing many authorities to sustain
this contention, Mr.. Bikle declares that it
is not believed that any authority can
be produced which tends to throw any
doubt upon the rule as recognized by
these decisions. From those decisions,
according to the railroads counsel. it
1DiiOWS tTdI III Tue carriers voluntarily
undertake to perform this service they
may make such a charge therefor as
will not only reimburse them for the
cost of the service. but will also give
them reasonable profit. He then quotes
two decisions of the United States Su-
preme Court to support this contention.
Question of Free Service.
Discussing the matter of whether the
&c Ia arpS
that in the present instance it appears
that the carrier has published a separate
tariff, so-called local freight tariff,
which provides that this terminal service
will be rendered in Washington free"
He declares the tariff provides that rates
to and from Baltimore and Washington
include free carriage, which is different
than if it had read rates to and from
Washington will include carriage. 1t is
manifest, therefore. he says. that the
service is free.
After declaring that the carriers are
entitled to discontinue this service or to
receive compensation which will give
them profit Mr.. Bike says:
This is certainly true unless the car
riers are mistaken in their contention
that the service has been accorded in the
past without assessing charge therefor
and unless to withdraw the service in
Washington while maintaining it in Bal
timore is unduly discriminatory as
against Washington.
Rates and Carriage.
He says that various considerations
seem to show that the rates never we're
instituted with reference to the carriage
service, which. he says, will be shown by
these facts: In the first place. there was
no increase made in the rates when the
free delivery was inaugurated: the
other hand. the rates have been material
~ reduced since the free delivery was be-
gun: the free delivery was established
not because of desire TO secure addi-
tional revenue. but was primarily Il solu
ton of operating difficulties; the rates
to Washington. whether the commodity is
intended for consignee residing within
the free delivery territory, or residing be-
yond the free delivery area, ire the same !;
that the free delivery applies only to the
first four classes of freight: that it does
not apply to all freight under the first
four classes and that there is no reduce
ton in rates for the excepted cOmmOdi-
ties; that comparison of rates to Wash
ington with other rates for similar dis
tances shows that they represent nor
NAL basis of rates, and not basis rela-
lively higher because of carriage service
according In conjunction Herewith and
that the commissions decisions in the
Casassa and Anacostia cases repeatedly
and uniformly refer to the delivery as
fTee QcllEcTN, anu III oTuSI Tue
carriers to accord free, etc, delivery
to the compliments so long as they
maintain such delivery in Georgetown.
On Normal Basis, He Says.
In Mr. Bikle's opinion these facts prove
conclusively that the Washington rates
are established on normal basis.
AS to the matter of discrimination in
favor of Baltimore should the service in
Washington be discontinued, Mr.. Bkle
points out that in the former city it is
due to local conditions not now prevalent
in Washington and that if the existence
of the practice in Baltimore is sufficient
reason to require free delivery in Wash
ington Il demand will at once be made
by other cities for the establishment of
free delivery within their limits. In fact,
he SAYS movements have heretofore been
show that service may be instituted
without dscrimination where local con-
ditions seem to require it, and declares it
is difficult to avoid the conclusion that
the carrier should be entitled to with
draw it i'll Washington, where the cOndi-
tons necessitating it's institution have
disappeared.
In concluding, Mr.. Bike says it may be
doubted whether abandonment of the
service will in any way harm the city of
Washington ION the contrary, if the
proposed tariffs are permitted to go into
effect it is not unlikely that jobbing
houses will be established in Washing
ton To a greater extent than has hitfer-
to been the case. and that the prosperity
of the community will be ultimately ad