The Washington herald., 1918-10-30

Within the week the Interstate
Commerce Commission has come into
its own.
This for tho information of that
motley group of citizens who insist
| ed the railroad control legislation
passed last March meant the death
\ of the /. c. c. and the substitution
OF railroad autocracy which would
never have done with its imposi-
tion of stifr and unreasonable rail-
| road tariffs upon our suffering and
| supposed-t benighted people.
Commissioner McChord is the mem
Der Of the rejuvenated body who
writes the interesting opinion. He
makes 1t very clear that Presiden-
| ually-initiated rates have to be fair
| If they are to be maintained Other
wise the commission can pass upon
them and modify them-bearing in
mind always the purposes for which
| the roads were taken over for ma
tional operation. Mr.. McChord sums
up the interesting part of his many
page opinion in this language:
This law requires that the Com
mission in determining questions
concerning rates initiated by the
President shall take into consid-
Grafton the fact that the defendant
carriers are>being operated al a uni
ned and co-ordinated national sys-
TEN and not in competition; that
| the rates were initiated under q
certificate of the President; and
that consideration shall be given to
that certificate and to any recon-
mendation the President may make
with respect to such rates. In
other words. Congress intended that
the Commission is not to interfere
by any action it may take, or any
order 1t may make. with the opera
tion of the railroads of the country
for purposes for which government
| control was assumed. or reduce
rates initiated by the President
without carefully weighing all the
| circumstances under which they
were initiated and fully consider
ing the reasons therefor and the
purpose sought thereby.
The words just and reasona BILE
as used in the control act obviously
bear similar or closely analogous
meaning to that attaching to their
use in the act to regulate commerce:
| in both cases they are to he con-
strued in the light of all the cir
cumstances and conditions: GER
tainly they are not to be more mar
rowly construed. Rates made by
the President must be reasonable
| in and OF themselves and they
! must be relatively just in view OF
all the conditions enumerated in the
control act and in view Of other cir
cumstanCes and conditions"
There it goes again,
Our beloved former President, Mr..
Taft, insists upon making sport for
the country whilst Frank Walsh is
hogging the honors of the Taft
! Walsh commission. the body to
which the name OF the beloved for
mer President Is added merely to
| give it weight" For Mr.. Taft re-
Dukes the President for not consult
ing our co-belligerents before he
essayed to write notes in response
to the documents the Damned One
sent over.
Mr.. Taft says:
The President. as our commander
in chief. and as the initiator of in
choate treaties, should take no step
and make no communication with
our enemy until after consulting
those who represent our brave, self
sacrificing partners and comrades.
IF 1t be true that the note of the
three inquiries directed to the Ger
man government was sent withou.
consultation with them, this would
seem TO have been slip that ought
not to be repeated. 1t would have
| been wiser if the President had re-
! piled that he could only act in those
matters after consultation with his
allies
Neither the United States nor the
| Chief Magistrate is the arbiter IN
the settlement of this peace. The
nations united in carrying on the
war against Germany are equally
interested in the outcome. and bv
every rule, being engaged in a com
mon cause, one of the parties should
Iake no Independent action that NAV
a1ect the present or future interest
OF the others in respect to the war
| or the peace"
Does Mr.. Taft think the President
| did NOT consult our co-beIligerents ?
Does Mr.. Taft think our President
did not have the fullest understandIng
| with our co-belligerents in the hand
ling of the situation which has de-
Veloped since early September?
Does Mr.. Taft realize what he is
saying? We seriously doubt If he
does. We think if he would give
caretul scrutiny to his subject he
would be silent-or. if gessaying to
speak for publication. that he would
| speak from American motives first
and partisan motives afterwards. We
are sure if he would do this his au-
! dience would be more in sympathy
with what he says and the chances
| OF his doing our cause some good
| would be considerably enhanced.
| Give a couple of winks to it to-
| night before you retire. Mr.. Taft, and
| 1t would surprise you what conclu-
sions you arrive at-par.icuIarly II
! you forget for a moment that a week
! from yesterday is a day of Conse-
| Grafton for our American cause
THE OBSERVER.