The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1914-12-21
A NEW Attitude.

While the recent freight rate decis-
ion of the Interstate Commerce Com
mission should mean much In revival
Of industrial and commercial business
marking great degree Of restored
prosperity, 1t really has far greater
meaning in that 1t is the beginning Of
Ia new policy in railroad regulation.
1t is true that former railroad policies
led UP to strenuous measures on the
part OF the government to correct
. abuses the railroads were either pow
lerless to or would not willingly cor-
rect. These stringent measures not
only taught the railroads to observe
better decorum toward the public but
they also formed the basis for volun-
tary and welcome action on the part
of the railroads to cut loose from
many Of the customs and handicaps
contracted. and fostered by the old
time relationship to part Of the pub
! lie at least at whose mercy the rail-
roads were for various reasons.
In short, there was a new order Of
things with the railroads as result Of
those measures. A limit, however. had
to come to such corrective attitude
toward the railroads. and the com
mission. found, although It's legal adj
,visers sought to convince 1t that OPP
pressive. reform should continue,
that the railroads were incap-
able of standing up. under con-
tinued restrictions and limitations
which along with exigencies had
brought them to the door of more or
less inef1ciency through lack of suf-
ficient revenues to operate satisfac-
ltorily to the public and their share
holders. In short, the commission
discovered that the railroads were in
dire need Of help, and the rate decis-
ion is designed to furnish that need
ed aid.
Thus, instead of acting under the
advice of its lawyers and over-zealous
lreformers. the commission courage
ously assumed a new attitude. whose
first effects will be business revivals
but whose lasting effect will be recog-
milton Of fairness and justice for the
railroads as we'll as the public at all
times.
The New York Times puts the case
clearly as follows:
This tardy concession to the neces-
stiles Of the railways and of the COM
mission does the right thing at the
right time for the stock market and
the country, but not at the best time
for the railways or the commission. 4
"The broad meaning of the decision
lis that the ordering Of changes
against railway profits has been
checked, because lis perceived that
I the limit has been reached. The dem
onstration has been carried to the
cracking point Of railway credit, and
to the extreme OF injustice to the rail-
ways. The injury to everybody of
tkeoretic regulation is perceived at
last, and 1t Is, no small gain that the
perception comes before 1t Is too late.
The commission undertook to die
tate to investors what should be a
fair profit on their money. The COM
mission further undertook to manage
4 the railways rather than to regulate
their rates. If 1t had succeeded, 1t
would have been entitled to the cred
it. Having failed, as 1t was sure from
| the beginning that Is must fail, 1t
must take the discredit. The failure
lis a death blow to regulation of the
sort imposed upon the commission by.
its advisers, its counsel. Mr.. Brandeis
and Mr.. Clifford Thorne, the Iowa
commissioner, who appeared for the
commissioners of eight states against
the railways over which they had
power.
'Mr. Brandeis's error was an ex-
cess of zeal for reform and what he
thought the public interest He Ia mt
likely soon to press his views in pub
lie or to be retained anew by the com
mission. 1t would be better without
counsel of any sort. Mr.. Thorne's
procedure was an abuse of his office.
which ought to be dealt with by the
people from whom he received his
power"
In Illinois the average salary Of the
$500 men teachers is $732.67 a year.
Richard Fritz, Topeka. in Is years
as cemetery sexton has dug 1000