The Connecticut labor news., 1921-07-15

the members Of the cOmmlSSlOu d
 Ever since the passage of the Hep burn law in 1900, and the allelulllcl' of IoIo giving the com1nlSolon power to suspend advances III rattS lnc Coll- Inissioners have been the supreme reeulators of 100000 miles Of rallro@u. The transportation act Ot 1920, gen erallv spoken of as the ESch- Cu1llllll, act. enlarging the membership o1 the commission from nine to II anu greatly increasing its powers, lnpoSeu for the first time measure ol
 sDonsibility. It gave the commlSSion mower to grant or refuse permnSS1on TO any railroad to issue stocks or , bonds itself, or to guarantee the Se- curities of another company.
 Not only can the Commlss1on deny an aDDlication to issue and sell SeCur1- ties. but it can deny i'll part or grant in part such permission and make sucil notifications and such terms and con ditions a. the commission may deem approDriate, and may issue supple mental orders, modifying prevlous or ders This virtually gives the com mission the right to say hoW' Wnen and where any railroad company can raise money and to continue the pow CT of supervision indefinitely.
 Can Regulate NdtcS. .
 The commission also can preeCllOe both maximum and minimum 1ates' and if can prescribe the division which shall be made of through rate par, ticiDated in by two or more railroad companies It can forbid the consoli- dation of railroad properties, and 1t has interpreted the transportation act as giving it the power to and duty 10 lav ont a scheme of consolidation Ot railways into certain nunDel o1 great systems, Its permsslon Is nee essary for railroad extensions or TOT building new railroad facilities, such as terminals. It can compel one railroad to share its facilities with an other. It has jurisdiction over car CaI, service, and as corellary ol all these, has both mandatory and inqulsrc itorial power over the keeplhs oi railroad accounts. IL,
 The most radical departure III tIle transportation act is placing on the commission the responsibility to see that the rates that 1t preScrlbss snail he sufficient to yield the railroads as whole in any one section ot the coun- try 5A to 0 per cent. interest on tue valuation of the property, Wh1ch va nation, however, IS a matter TOT uE termination by the commlss1on ltsell' The chairman of the commlsslon Is E. E.. Clark, who as a railroad cohduC tor was grand chief ot the Order ol Railroad Conductors and was mem Der of the commission apPolnteu DS President Roosevelt to settle the an thracite coal strike. In his work or this arbitration commission MT. Clark showed a spirit of fairness and hrst- hand knowledge of relations DetWeH emDloyes and employers which won the respect of the coal operators ana inc public generally as well as that ol svmDathizers with organized laDol He has been a conscientious Interstate t Commerce Commissioner and ,thougn not credited with having rendereo > any decisions of striking br1ll1ancy has the respect of both shoppers alio railroad men generally r
 Next in power probably IS John, J Fech who has just been appointed commissioner and was chairman ol the house committee on interstate anc foreign commerce during the torma tion of the so-called Esch bill, winch when combined with the Cumm1ns D1l and modified in committee, was pass. ed as the transportation act. lie nae been a representative since 1899, anC as far back as the passage ot the Hep burn law had been one ot the most ac- tive members of the lower house II framing laws dealing with railroad regulations.
 Another New One.
 Ranking with MT. Esch is Mark w Potter, who prior to his appolntmen by President Wilson was corpora ton lawyer, representative or Dlal & Co.,, and was president ot the NaIo lima. Clinchfeld & Ohio during th' wears that the road was extended an' developed into an important coal car rier. Having been on the commlss1o1 such a short time his qualification for the judicial duties of commls sioner have not had thorough n test In equipment for his work, and espe cially in knowledge of the complex ities of financing a railroad, he stand ont as a contrast to most ot the me- who have been appointed since tn commission was formed Tn 1887:
 w. M. Daniels was, before ms dp Dointment as a commissioner by Tres ident Wilson, a professor ot polltlce economy at Princeton. B. H. Mey,e was a professor of economies at LII University of Wisconsin and men her of the now almost forgotten HaG lev securities commission, which mad an exhaustive study of railroad hnanc under the chairmanship of Preslder Hadley of Yale Bankers who tollo" ed the work of this commission close lv were generally of the opinion ths Commissioner Meyer showed uncon promising integrity in his attltud toward railroad finance, but lack C qrasD of the broader aspects ot tn Subject. He was an appointee President Taft, backed. 1t was 2u ger 1 erally understood at the time Tn Wasl ineton, by Senator La Toilette Henr C Hall was a lawyer and has snow a grasp of the complicated ques''olL ol, which have been presented to LII commission since he became 11lell Der in 1917. ,or on twice chairman of the oregon Stdt railroad commission. tie IS thorousi ly familiar with the feelings or loC' communities toward state raiiroa regulation and with the course oI S"o regulation. 1o- ,f tn
 I. B. Eastman was a memDeI ol Ill Massachusetts state rallroau con mission, one of the best ot the stat commissions. ,o,,uer
 Charles C. McCord was lawyer,
 state commissioner ot hentecks it and was the principal author oi h II, Kentucky raiEroad law. He hao LII