The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-06-04
THE NEW BAGGAGE LAW
A Protest From the Commercial Trav-
eIlcrs of America.

eIlCrS OF AmerIcu.
To THE EDITOR OF THE SUN-Sir: We
wish TO protest against the perniclouf
legislation exemplifed In the amend
ment of the interstate law
Introduced by senator Cummins OF Iowa
and known as the Cummins amend
ment to Senate bill 4J22. which be-
comes operative this week.
This amendment will cost tho com
mercial interests OF the United states
unnecessary millions without n APP
| parent benefit except that derived by
the railroad companies. The bill was
rushed through both the Senate and
the Hous without debate. and on its
face indicates the efforts of lobbyists
rather than intelligent consideration.
Quoting from the Interpretation OF
the measure:
The passenger must give the right value
OF his property. and a failure to do so IL
a misdemeanor For Instance, II a pas.
senger gives the va,ue OF tho contents OF
his trunk as 800 and the trunk goes
astray and IL later recovered and found
10 contain articles worth 5000. the pas
senger has violated the law and may be
sent to Jail. In case a trunks contents
are worth 5000 The passenger will say so
and his check will he issued TO him when
he has paid 10 cents for each additional
WV, Wnitu III tHis tdsr WVu'N pS ~
cents.
A point to emphasize the burden that
the law imposes on houses that carry
very valuable samples. such az jewelry.
furs. &c. Is shown In the fact that such
houses carry floating insurance which
covers all losses while ;heir travellers
are on the road. whether such losses
occur while the baggage Is In the pos
session OF the railroad companies or the
hotels or other points during the period
when the commercial travellers are en-
gagged in selling merchandise. The In
surance which this new law requires will
not reduce the insurance already car
ried ON samples by mercantile houses.
consequently the tax is manifestly un-
fair.
Jewelry samples will run into thou
sands. For instance. supposing u s5,-
600 valuation were placed on samples
carried by "A jewelry salesman the AK
would be s. "A day, and II a house had
five commercial ira vellers this would
mount to s2o a day.
In the event OF a loss by the rail-
roads the question will arise regarding
the exact value of the goods lost. and
the railroads will contest tho claim OF
the commercial traveller owing to the
t~iuctuatiny values of merchandise of this
sort. A commercial traveller may start
out in the beginning OF a season with 4
line %: samples having a sale value of
$4,000, but in a month or even less the
value OF these samples ma be reduced
owing to a change OF styles and a de-
creased demand for certain lines. IL a
salesman placed a value of $1,000 on
his satlples in the beginning of a season
two Weeks later he might be justified
in reducing the value possibly to $4,000.
Then in the event OF a loss OF these
samples by a railroad the question will
arise whether the first valuation was
justified or the second valuation not
sufficiently high. The penalty for L
m.sstatement of value according to the
Interpretation by the Interstate Com
merce Commissioner is seytre.
Commercial travellers are LETT with
out any protection II the railroads may
be able to establish by testimony which
they may secure that the values have
been overstatcd or understated. Values
at the best are comparative. and GER
tainly there will be questions arising
constantly regarding values placed on
baggage. This will lead to long drawn
out litigation in The event OF losses by
the railroads. The chief profit which
will arise from conditions Of this kind
Will be to the attorneys who Will be
employed by the railroads and who
represent the concerns in the litigation
VIM u must necessarily arse. II ne
question OF values placed on samples
were left TO the discretion of CONNER
cial travellers instead OF being an ar
bitrary measure. there would be little
objection to this law on the part of
commercial houses or their representa-
tives even though these houses carry
floating insurance, they would not OBJ
ject TO paying a tax on a few hundred
dollars to the railroads in order to in
sure some extra protection.
1t may be estimated that the CONNER
c!al travellers of the United States. OF
which there are more than 500 600, con-
tribute fully 60 per cent OF the passen-
ger and freight revenue OF the railroads
or this country. Commercial travellers
are really the advance agents Of the rail-
roads and go out 10 secure orders for
freight which Is shipped over the rail-
roads. and for which the railroads eX-
act the highest possible rates. The rail-
roads do not grant any special on-
cessions to commercial travellers on ac-
count or the role they play in securing