Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1920-08-26
THURSDAY E1EN1SG, August %
NATIONAL AND STATE HATES.

gAs5TN ny SI1OQlu AZ COSl. lIlOISt VI 1889 w
carrya passenger or to ship a carload
OF merchandise 100 miles across a
state than Abssbel4orm the same service
sever h, sinEllar distance within a state?
The reason that there IL q differ
ehca u.s. Of course, that interstate
TRANSPORTATION is controlled by the fed
eral government, and intrastate trans
sportatfon is regulated BY the state. The
interstate commerce commission reg
ulAtes interstate rates, while rates for
TRANSPORTATION within each state ARE
regulated by the commission or other
appropriate body OF that state.
But while that explains the manner
in which rates are regulated. it does
not afford an explanation Of why diff
ferent rates for the same service for
similar distances owe the same lines
should be made.
The present situation is a survival
OF conditions which existed when The
constitution was framed. and when
modern transportation methods not
only did not exist, but were not even
remotely anticipated. When the men
who framed the American constitution
1T in conference III Philadelphia 1913
years g there was no such thing In
existence as a locomotive, a railroad
ii q Steamboat. Since that time the
world HIS witnessed a revolution, not
only in the machinery Of Transports
titn itself, but in the related things
that influence transportation which
make II Necessary, and which are
served by It.
The wagon road Of 1887, with its
freight wagon and state coach, Was
very naturally considered 8 local At
fair ave where It actually crossed
I STATE sltne. hut 1t is quite probable
thatlf the fathers had had an inkling
Of what was to develop III the I'M Of
transportation they would not have
leSislated as they did.
Today the amount Of Transports
ti6n that can be considered strictly
local is almost negligible. The fact
that q given shipment may not cross
4 state, line under one billing does
not alter the fact that in nine cases
out OF ten it Is Interstate business. Al
though its journeyin a particular form
Ahd onga particular waybillT may be-
fin and end within a single state, in
nearly every case 1t enters into prh-
ess OF manufacture or into some other
activity whose field is not limited even
BY the boundafies ofJthe nahon itself.
sbut extends throughput the world.
The distribution If rate making
functions among the 4s states and
the nation results in numerous COM
plicatfons and in q lot Of lost motion.
II increases the cost to the railroads
Of doing Business and whatever In.
creases :na1fnoad costs adds to everSt
Individuals cost Of living. There is
n6 reason why a properly constituted
federal commission, cannot prescribe
Rates Al fairly ana Satisfactorily on
stIibmetfts between 1t. Paul ande East
Grand Forks as between ST. Paul and
Grand Forks. There is no reason why
the two rates should not be uniform.
IS they are not uniform, one is too
hAsh of the Utl1er IL too low. Ana
whichever way the answer lies, the
private citizen pays the price,
There rs a field for state railway
66fdmisai0ns in the regulations Of con-
dfttons OF service, because conditions
governing Thesis things vary with the
territory. But it would BE to the in-
tefesttf both railroads ana the gen
SeAl public DO nave the whole matter
q rates regulated by n board, with
q msny branches as might t4 iIeces-
aIft for the sasdsfactory transaction Of
biilness.