The Washington herald., 1915-10-03

known men in the church. the legal pro-
leSsion and in business. 1t is therefore
| hardly fair or wise to attempt to asso-
ciate prohibition laws with the criminal
statutes against murder, theft. and vice.
which laws are universally upheld in
every part of the civilized world by pub
lie sentiment. CHARLEsTONIAN.
Railways and the 1. {. l..
Editor of The Washington Herald:
While | hold no brief for the Inter-
state Commerce Commission, ! feel it
my duty as a citizen and one familiar
with transportation matters. to reply
10 Mr.. Ryan's article in last Sundays
Herald. | fear that Mr.. Ryan views
regulation of railways from stand
point rather biased. and. accordingly
has made some statements in his most
recent article that will not stand the
! tests of investigation and analysis
For instance. he claims that the COM
mission has been "a failure and n
stumbling block to the prosperity of
the nation"-a broad statement put
forth without supporting facts, or
without any justification that can be
drawn from the record of the commits
sion to date. He further claims that
the commission is unable to appre-
ciate the situation of the American
Who can better appreciate the situa-
ton of the carriers than the commits
sion, fortified as il is with data from
the carriers themselves as to their
financial situation. the extent and
earnings of their traffic. and COM
piete file of their tariffs. freight and
passenger. covering a period of about
thirty years? Will not Mr.. Ryan ad-
nit that in all judicial proceedings
relating a ,iS-
sion. in possession of such information.
and with Il due regard for the provis-
ions of the act to regulate commerce.
and it's oath of office, renders decisions
strictly in accord with the record in
the case? The fact that a minority of
the commission has in some cases filed
dissenting opinions. does not, il would
see. vitiate the opinion of the ma
jority no more than would a minority
report of the United States Supreme
Court under similar circumstances
AS to his statement that the COM
mission has faltered in the so-colled
) per cent case and the Western rate
case. an unbiased examination of the
record in these cases will convince
Mr. Ryan that the commission has
acted wisely and in accordance with
the act. Ii would be well for the car
riers If they could come into court
with clean hands-witness in the East
the New Haven case and in the West
the Rock Island case. with it's recent
developments. the action instituted by
the receiver to recover $500. 900 un-
lawfully diverted by the officers of
that company.
We can afford to pass over Mr..
Ryan's quotation from the Deutsches
Bank. No doubt our German friends
would like to see an advance in our
freight rateS-not surely from a scien-
tific or unselfish standpoint. but simply
to increase the dividends on the Amer
lean railway stock they hold
The writer has spent practically a
life time in the transportation service
and can view the situation from the
railway and the public Standpoints.
Criticism has recently been directed
against the commission by some of
the chambers of commerce of Western
cities complaining of discrimination in
favor of railroads, but the commission
will. no doubt. continue 10 interpret
the act and render its decisions on the
facts disclosed by the records in each
case.
In closing let me advise Mr.. Ryan to
familiarize himself with the records
of the members of the commission.
their broad experience and knowledge
of traffic matters, and ! think he will
ton is one of which the American
public may well Ice proud.
u. J. FRANCIS.