Norwich bulletin., 1914-06-23

washington. June 22.-The supreme court today reversed. the commerce court and upheld the Intermountain rate order of the Interstate Commerce Commission.
 Chief Justice White first decided that the long and short haul clause was constitutional. The commerce court had held that the commission could not make blanket or zone rates That is the contention of those who are opposed to the five per cent. increase in freight rates now being asked by the eastern railroads.
 The chief justice next upheld the making of rates by the commission by zones
 'sThe zones selected by the commis- sion were in substance the same as those previously fixed by the carriers as the basis of the rate making which was included in the tariffs which were under investigation and therefore may put that subject out of view, said he.
 Facts Sustained the Order.
 Indeed. except as questions of pow CT. there is no contention in the ar gument as to2 the inequality of the zones or percentages or as to any un- due preference or discrimination re- sulting from the action taken. But be this as it may. in view of the find ings of the commission as to the sys- tenn of rates prevailing in the tariffs WHICH were DcloTe Ol tHc lucQddI- ties and burdens engendered by such system, of the possible aggrandize- ment unnaturally beyond the limits produced by competition in favor of the competitive points and against other points by the tarim in question, facts which we accept and which in- deed are uncha1lenged. we see no ground for saying that the order was not sustained by the facts. upon which 1t was based or that it exceeded the f&I -kA AxzAA .fz~< transcended the limits of the sound legal discretion which it lodged in the commission when acting upon tile sub ject before it."
 constitutionality of Clause.
 On the constitutionaiity sof the long and short haul clause. Chief Justice White said:
 Tt is certain that the fundamental change which it makes is the omission of the substantially similar circurn- stances and conditions clause, thereby leaving the long and short haul clause in sense unqualified. except in so far as the section gives the right to the carrier to apply to the commission for authority to charge less for long CT than for shorter distances for the transportation of persons or property and gives the commission authority from time to time to prescribe the ex- tent to which such designated common carriers may be relieved from the oper- ation of this section.
 Commission Acted Within It's Power.
 From the failure to insert any word fin the amendment tending to exclude the operation of competition as ade- Quate under proper circumstances to justify the awarding of relief from the long and short haul clause, and there being nothing which minimizes or changes the application of the pref erence and dfsordmfnationS caasaaes of the second and third sections. 1t fol- lows that in subsnance the amendment intrfnsically stAtas no new rule or pro- vision but simply shifts the powers conferred by the section as 1t orig inaliy stood; tha& Is. 1t takes from the carrisxs the deposit Of public power prevtoUs1y lodged in them and vests it in the commission as primary in stead of as a reviewing function.
 Tn other words. the clements of 1udgment or 90 ro speak, the system of iaw by which judgment Is to be df6eren4 tribunal Is created for the snfoccoment of the existing law.
 This being true, as we think 1t plainly ts. the situation under the amendment is: power in the carrier primarf1y to meet competitive coudi- dons in any point of view by charging . lesser rate for a, longer than for e shorter haul has ceased to exist be- cause to do SO. in the absence of some authority would not only be inimical to the provision Of the fourth section but would be in conflict with the prefer enoe and discrimination clauses of the second and third sections
 Rights of Carriers Defined.
 'But while tho public power so to speak, previously lodged in the carrier is thus withdrawn and reposed in the commission, the right of carriers to seek and obtain, under authorized cir- oumStances, the sanction of the com mission to charge higher rate for . longer than for q shorter haul be- cause of competition or for other ade- quate reascns, Is expressly preserved and not. is in any event, by neces- saxy implication, granted.
 Duty of Commission to Safeguard Pri-
 vats and Public Interests.
 And as a correlatlve. the authority q the commission to grant, on re- the statute to depend upon the facts established and the judgment of that body in the exercise of q sound, legal discretion as to whether the request should be granted compatibly with a due consideration of the private and public interests concerned and in view of the preference and discrimination clauses of the second and third sec eions"
 Ruling That Has Bean Sustained.
 The commission refused to let the yailroads charge a higher rate to the protesting cities, than was charged to points beyond them. on shipments originating west of n line that would run north and south through St. Paul Minn., but op shipments original ting between St. Paul and Chicago the rail- roads were permitted to charge an in. crease of not more than seven per cent, on shipments originating be- tween Chicago and Pittsburgh and the Atlantic, not more than 25 per cent The commerce court set aside the or ders on the ground that the commis et6H had n6 authority to issue plan