The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-12-10

WILL IRWIN ,terstate Commerce Act, "1hyr,gns; TSasnsor passed in 1887, was in tended to wrest from the railroads their chief weapon in this warfare-the pow CT to charge lower rates for long haul than A Short one over the same line or route.
 Unfortunately for the waterways, the law as enacted included a wide loophole. It forbade the common carried ito charge or receive any greater compen- sation in the aggregate for the trans nortation of like kind of prop erty, under the substantially similar circumstances and conditions for a shorter haul than for longer distance over the same line in the same direct ion."
 I have italicized the words which form the joker. Doubtless, the creators of the interstate commerce act did not so intend it. They were dealing with a most complex situation; justice de manded some provision for exceptions But joker it proved nevertheless. Nc two parallel cases in human affairs are exactly similar. Few probably are sub stantially similar. Over long space of years, the railroads were bound to win such a game as this. They could employ high-salaried attorneys, stand all the expenses of ponderous legal pro, ceedings extending over months and years as the small community strug gling line of river steamers which felt itself injured and aggrieved could not
 Railroads Hold Advantage
 No one can be so unfair as to say that section four did not fulfil part oi it's purpose; that things went as madly as in the old free days before the in terstate commerce act. But the rail. road held the advantage they had gained over the waterways, even ln' creased it.
 ..The south testified a witness al the recent senate investigation, lis just one web of long and short haul vlo lations.'
 In 1910 congress frightened it bi' Such relief as the railroads might ob tain must come now through the inter state commerce commission after in vestigation." The job was getting hard CT; still, the obstacle was not insuper able. The commission is large body constantly changing in personnel. its members have varied in abilities be tween such intellectual giants as Frank lin K. Lane and some mediocre gentle men chosen through political influence The commission as whole has beer more than reasonably honest; it never yet spawned a scandal. But it is { judicial body and before any court II the world, the party with the mos money to spend on his legal proceed ings enjoys an undue advantage. Nor | hlN, Rn mHk( thorough investigation into all applica tions for relief from the fourth sec tion. The senate investigation brough out the fact that out of 5,579 applica tions granted only 303 followed hear Ing on the merits of the case.
 Often the commission acted to mee an emergency where the justice of re 1 lief stood beyond question. A few year ago, for example. there was through in Arizona. Cattle were dying by who'll herds and the cattlemen were ston broke A ruling of the commission per hitting the railroads to charge lowe freight on feed shipped to the affected area than to intermediate points helpe' relieve the Arizona cattle industry Doubtless, too, many of the application dealt only with trivial matters wher | rPIlcI WdS LO tue lHteTeSt oi ViLNiChNs 7 But many, on the other hand, had n other object than to meet and eventual iy to destroy the competition of som water carrier
 Cut Rates Against Government
 As a very pertinent instance show: Taking advantage of the shipping lei over from the war, the government ha for two years been running barg service on the Mississippi and Warrio rivers. After many unforeseen ditflcu ties, the Mississippi service has begn to pay. In the last six months of l!l2 it returned handsome profit Fo reasons toa complex to go into here, tn Warrior service has had harder tlm' Just when it was getting on its ice, the railroads operating on parallel llnc reduced the rates on ore from %'.lO $2 per gross ton.
 "There was no reason why they (theo rates) should have been made" r'
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