Newspapers / The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, … / March 14, 1906, edition 1 / Page 2
Part of The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
by the more insidious method ot xonw ' ' FBEIOHX' CflUASSlHCATIONV, s Heirlnhtn with the year 100. bun' - dreds and even thousands of articles have been reclassined oy raising therfl from a lower to a hlgherprlced , claw n the various orders) promul-r - gated bJMhe railroad in the several 'divisions into which they have di ' vided. for this purpose, the whole country. In one classing ion, known ,' j -m order No. 20, issued early In that year and applying to Northern nnd H Eastern traffic, there were nearly six hundred reclassifications, of which ST. 2 ' were increases and only six rvduc , - ilona By. another reclassilh atlon or ntade In the same year and l;n..vu f t'4 aa order No. 30, and applying to We.it- fcrn business, 257 reclassifications wvre made, of which 240 were lmreu.-40.-i 'ji and only 17 reduction, while hy order K, 25 applying to Snuthtrn traffic ' "'" made in the same year out of i.Si'e i Y reclassifications 531 were inivru-es. iuV Considering all reolassifleiiiii'iir made during these years, II may l.e ' , (hat the number f articles actually ' i 'raised did not greatly exceed the f number nominally reduced, hu. Mr. f President, the relative number ( ar ticles raised or reduced Is comparti- J tively unimportant. The significant , fact 1 the comniercial importance of J ' the articles so raised or reduced and ', the resultant Increase or decrease in ' the cost of their transportation. Kx nattag on all railroads, or stated In figures, these products constituted in 1890 129,000,000- out ot a total tonnage in that year of 274,000,000, while in 1904 they constl luted 30,000.000 Out of a total tonnage of 641,000,000 originat ing on all railroads. Lumber, and other products of the forest, also low grade and low priced products, consti tuted in 1880 only 10.89 per cent., and in 1904 12.53 per cent of the total rail road tonnage of that year, or. staled in round figures, these prodlicW con stituted in 1889 only 48.000,000 out of a total tonnage In that year of 441,000,000, while in 1904 they constituted tw.uw.- 000 out of a total tonnage In that year of 641,000.000, originating on all rail Dads. In this estimate, to avoid the duplication necessarily Involved, I do not include tonnage from connecting roads. With practically no increase during these years in the tonnage of manu factures and merchandise, and other like high grade and high price com modities, contemporaneously with this enormous increase In" the products of the. mine and forest, and other like low arade and low price commodities. Is it not apparent If there hud hot been a ereat increase In specific rates there would of necessity have been not a small but a large decrease in the aver age rate pec ton mile? . THE INCREASE IN" RATES. I!ut, Mr. President, if, for th reasons 1 have Just stated, there has been in recent years no Increase in tni: private switches,' cars., refrigeration. ventillation and icing, have for soma time past compelled and to-day in many Instances compel, the rallroau to accept such compensation as . tney are willing to pay fop the transpeta- tion of commodities in which they deal or for!" the traffic which they conto This control of the big hippers Jhv etudes not only the oil and fresh meat business of the country, oat It extends to the fruit business, the dairy busi ness, the truck business and the brew ing business, as well as to other Im portant lines of business. This traffic, added to the domestic traffic ot the States having commissions with rate fixing powers, constitutes no inconsid erable portion of the total freightage of the country, with respect to which the railroads do not now and have not for a long time pat exercised a free hand over rates. This Interference with their control over rates on this large portion of their business has not proven disastrous to the railroads; It has neither bankrupt ed them nor prevented them from making money and paying dividends on stocks largely. In some instances several times. In excess of the value of their tangable properties. Mr. President, I do not wish to be misunderstood about this matter of rates While I believe, indeed while 1 am iMire, that rates have been greatly Increased since the beginning of the year 1300, I do not believe that all rates, or even the larger part of them, animation conclusively show that trie; average rate jer ton mile, the records; are to-day unreasonably high, or that commodities reduced compared with of the railroads themselves snow tnaiiat present tne trend or rates is up those Increased in these yearn, arc there has undobutedly been a decidedly i ward. I believe that to a considerable not only relatively of liul-' comnior-! large Increase In the average rate per ! degree commercial conditions are at rial Importance. Inn that the p-.--.-ent-i ion. ! lowed to control in adjusting rate, nr. of th i.-HiK-t.iipo In rates cm ai-i For the year ending June 3ftth, 1901, and that when these conditions con- ticles reduced is far below the per- j centagc of increase in rat o'j ar ticles increased. For example, as a result of (Ipse . reclasftiflcations in I 9 10 hay was r.ils. ed from the slxUh to the lif'n i-l.iff. and the frelgM on it thereby In - creased eighty cents per ton. In 1903, ' hy the same process, the rate on iron and stel was advanced twenty cents, that on coh ten cents ami that on lumber forty cents. , Thes and like commodities which have been advanced by this process are articles of enormous production and consumption, constituting In the aggregate n largo per cent, of the to tal railroad tonnage of the country nd It Is obvious that an increase in the rates charged on a few articles Of this character more than offsets many hundreds of reductions on com modifies of lesser commercial Im i" portanre. -I have In my hands ft letter from ; ; the chairman of the railroad cotninls - Slon of my own male, a lawyer of , great ability, who has devoted the last six years of his life almost ex clusively to the study of questions , connected with his official duties. In Which he says that the railroads of that ghae In I !I0 attempted a sw wrtlch he presides. 'Would have raised rates upon domestic traffic In that ftate at least thlrty-thiee and a third per cent. Mr. Vresldent. t have often thought II every commodity of commerce had Attached to It a IhIicI showing the difference in Its cost to (he tlnal pur chaser on account of (lie high tariff schedules the rankest stand-patter In Congress would be unable to re sist the overwhelming demand which ivould come to uh for a reduction pf those schedules. Likewise, an Overwhelming is the prcsom demand lor government Interference to pro tect the people against excessive rail road rates. I have no doubt the .uh. the Increase In tnis average over me . inn, mey are generally aojusiea iairi. year ending June 30th, 1X911, was 7.4'J My contention Is that most of the cents per ton, the aggregate Increase evils of whlch'the. people complain ana in revenue to the railroads from this have a right to complain, and which cause In that year, being in round ' demand remedy at our hands at this numbers eighty million dollars. Foi time, grow out of the abnormally hlgn the year ending June 30th, 1903, the rates arbitrarily fixed by many rail average rate per ton was nearly twelve , roads in disregard and defiance of and three-fourths cents greater than in tin-He commercial conditions, and the the year ending June 30th, 1899, the ait- abnormally low and discriminatory gregate increase in revenue to the rall-jiateH forced upon the railroads by the roads from this cause in thut year he- i biff shippers In the way and manner I lug over one hundred and fifty millions ' ha ve described. of dollars. I'BMEDY FOR THE EV1U Now Is it not plain, In these condi- The remedy or these evils, in my Hons, if there had been rto Increase In j judgment, Mr. President, consists not specific rates the average rate per ton j so much in government rate-making, as well as the. average rate per ton; since to the extent the railroads fix mile would of necessity have been re-1 their tariffs In response to commercial dueed, and the fact that this genera. ; conditions there is little need for average per Ion mile was not materi-i government Interference as In effective ally reduced, while that per ton was governmental control and regulation Increased, as 1 have shown, from seven ; with Incidental .power to fix rates and to twelve cents in five years, shows to 'enforce them where It Is found neces the point of demonstration that spt - I sary to do so In order to protect the cine rates have been largely Increased ; people on the one hand against these In that time. j unreasonable and extortionate rates Again, Mr. President, It is not true, rooted In the greedy scramble of rail that profits from capital Invested in roads for more and higher dividends, railroads in this country are relatively J and on the other hand to protect both small. As a matter of fact, as I shall the raihoads and the people against show, leeltimate railroad profits have the "hold-up" of these monopolistic greatly Increased in recent years, of combinations of shippers. if the bill under consideration shall d Is enforced .In the rlends, It will give merce commission ed not upon cost of physical properties power to restrain the Indecent rapacity or upon tangible values at all, hut j of both those offending the railroads based mainly upon estimated earning i and these blur shippers. When this Is capacity. done, Mr. President, rates will, I b- Hy this process of capitalization ' lievc, as 'a rule adjust themselves to which, a few years ago, under the In- j oiriiticrclsl conditions and there will in, re-iL in,!' , ." 7ThP ki c (course (he average percentage of pro.-' If the bill under . trfnsnor uh ,h i J .".UbJ?K ' ,f,uld 'x' h expected to he large I pass and can be and v i? ' m ' 11 ' ,""t hpen i uik.1, a. capitalisation Inc luding mil-: -ntendment of its fr S-hth h, , V.""' mission over j .,,1(J billion, of ddlars. has- the inter-Htatc comn It hit I ve of a great financier, became a fad In c ircles of frenzied linani. a large part of our two hundred and fifteen thousand miles of railway arm over eight hundred Independent lines have been re-organized and re-capltal-ized. be but little further necessity for gov- ernineiital interference. A consideration of the effects upon the railroads of supervision of rates In the past, both by the government and . the States, will demonstrate that the ! predictions made by the railroads and There Is a railroad In my own State on their behalf of Injury Ilkelv to foi whose stock was sold at one time since low from the enactment of this legls- the war at $10 per share of the par lation are unfounded. Value of $100. This road has recently Mr. President, during the ten years been taken Into a consolidated sy- rrotn 1SS7 o 1H97 In which the Inter Cfttlltlm, (U 1 ttA lORC-ll mu cc . .riiBiiiiuoirn Bjn- it. ni ci ill WHICH lP IClier- niiuiioii ot tne reclassification meth- tern, two shares of preferred stock and State commerce commission actually oa or rate advancement for the more open method of raising specific rates Of schedules and commodities has rerved the railroad well and operated to both postpone and lessen the force Of the present demand for relief but a In the case of the tariff so In (he se of the railroads the truth Is be- lorcea nome to the neonle the heavy drafts made by two snares or common storx ot tne par t exerciseu rne power of fixing rates, value of S 1 00 cash IicIiik Issued for , foi t y-flve thousand miles of railway each and every share In the original j was const ructed In this country. There company, and this railroad Is Io-c1h. j Is nothing In the railroad and business on this basis of four to one earning ! history of those vears attributable to dividends and carrying each snug sum to surplus profits. year the exercise by the commission of this power which Justifies these prediction upon their our more than eight hundred Indepen- day wrnings, ami ineir muttering of dis- eonnen: grow louder and lourler by day. Jlr. President, the argument made ay the railroads and In their behalf, based upon a comparison of The pres ent average rale per ton mile with that of a few years ago. is hs I nHid before, misleading, and even if the contention of the railroad that (here bat been no inc rease n lhls niir -noura oe anminert. it would nut Jus-!allv Increased In tlfy the conclusion sought to be , c I lit Increasing. "" roiii ir. mai rmre has been i no material Increase In the rates nr. ! lually paid and collected. A supcin-I Clal analysis of the problem will suf flce to show that the average rate per ton mile paid during two different periods, obtained by H calculation of -the total freight, number of miles It whs named una barges actually lor naming n in two given periods may he and are In r. -rutin cln uin stances of but htile or n. value in etc termlnlng the ac tual difference In llie transportation chui-gcs of these re speclve period. It Is obvious If the high-grade com modities on which high i.it.s un charged are mixed iiuliscrlinitNii.lv With low-grade c cniriwelil les which lower This Is given as a striking example (of disaster should C'ongresa now give of the way In which a large part of j the commission the powers exercised hy It during these early days of Its ex-Istam-e. The fact that In eight years the rail roads did not Judicially challenge the power of the commerce commission to tlx rales under the Act of 1SK7. despite the fin t that that power, if conferred dent lines have in a few years heen re organized and re-capltallzed Into the six or eight groups which now con trol the entire railroad mileage of the count ry. Notwithstanding this false and ficti tious capitalisation, on account of the , at an. was conferred only by impllcs enorinous earning capacity of our rail- . Hon taken In connection with the fact roads the perc entage of railroad i that In over 400 answers filed to con slocks paying dividends and the earn- ! plaints in proceedings before the com ing capacity or railroans tins mater)- i mission nurlng this time that this1 recent years and is power or the commission was not chat- leiig.d, strongly confirms the corirln- ItAlMtOAD DIVIDENDS. In 18h3 the percentage or iallroMd ' sloc ks paying dividends wus only 38.56 1 per cent, and the average rte of dividend paid on these storks was only' &.38 per cent.; the amount paid In dlvl- j (lends In that year being only a little i sion thai they did not And themselves seriously hampered or crippled by the right of rate supervision then claimed and exercised. Twenty-live years ago the States be gan to assert their Inherent powers over transportation charges, and to , ii no .. .1..U i ,..,""" "MiiMiinsHiiin vesica wiin control ..... I 1 "vri main y iiion'Min ll uuilllin. JO Jlfu-f , ..... .. , . P"1'1 l,i. ... j over rate's on all domestic business. To. IIICT NCI l.mi LHKt 1,1 1,1111 1,11 U VllHUMl II It-It . .. arc lip'in hurgeil, Ilie average cost per ton mile will In. ln- fluenced to a far greater extent l.y the amount of tonnage li, nihil ih.u, hv the rate charged. In other w nds, if , . the volume of low grade i -oinneeli'' li H Is Increased, while- the volume of Mult ;: grade coinmodlllea Is slat ionei v, -ir If the volume of the funner is li,i c. ac d Out of proportion to (hat of id.. Inner against cither, tin- average- p-r .,n mile w ill be r. dueed or e , o,Vi- i raised. To Illustrate: f p,v,, given sums of mot" y m,. lonm-i, ,.n.- ni higher rate and the other nt a l-m.-i rate of Interest, t Ik average return from each dollar w loaned win ,e i. than lh- higher ra'.- and mot, than Ihe lower tale i barged Now. It ik plsln if Mi-- Dm. Hint lei .it ;i lower rate Is grvatly liei.ieased. while thai ' let at higher rate Is n-.t Increased nt all, or if the f,,r. me r Is IiiumshI out of proportion to the latter. Hie sv-rae re-turn from each dollar so let will be reduc i ot e . converso Inc reased t Now. Mr. President. It is a fart of ecommon knowledege, shown by statis tics and verified by the le-poris of tin- 1 Irrter-fitate commerce c ommlnsloii, that w' during the period of our Bteal pros- perity and business loinlty Mure has V' Imm) an Increase In (hi- vilnm of V low grade freights altogethe-r out of .vfev proportion to the Increase in olume i s Of high grade freights, and thai this i faft lias held down tin- ine tease In i-4;" the aversge rate per ton mile. ( j Tor Instance: Manufac ture s, whje-ti , I r high grade and high prh e ceeriw 1 ' modifies, eronstltuted in l(i90 only 13.r.2 per ttntt of the tolal railroad t .eiinage OT that year, ami in mt 13.41 per e ent. Ing illvldends had Increased to 57.47 per cent, and the average rate of divi dends on these stocks had increased to .( per cent; --The amount paid In div idends In that year exceeding the en ormous sum of two hundred and twen ty millions of dollars. j- Hut, Mi President, illvldends do not correctly measure the profits of rail road investment. The true measure of these profits Is the- balance left after payment of operating expenses, Inter est charges and taxe-s. In 1H90 the sum of this balance, including all railroads, as In round figures, t74.000.OOo. while In ri4 It aggregated the great sum of tMV.'ssi (sill. In sk; the amount of railroad earn ings per mill' was t(i,:t'2, In 1904 lhe,v Me-ie tn.'im'i per mile, an Increase In ih n I line of about $3.0011 per mile', in 1h'.i (he- average revenue per train mile. I'ii linllng nil trains, was $1 an. I In I9IU $1.93, a gain of 71 cents pei mile. In ls9 the average- cnsl of eepei-at Ing a train utie mile, Including all klnelit of trains, w as Ml cents, ami in 19(i4 fl 31. ;i difference In cost of .V) (lay, and In the case of many of them tor rapid aa to attract general attention and comment. - . , s. , In this connection I want to read and extract from a letter from Hon.. Frank lin McNeil.;, chairman of , the railroad commission-' of ' Korth ' Carolina- It furnishes a striking argument against tho objection ao tho proposedyleglsla tloti so perststentiy urged that under the power to revise and correct a chal lenged rata the commerce commission will put Its hands upon every schedule and In the end. take over the whole rate-making bower and . tender scien tific and equitable rate adjustment- by the railroads difficult If not impossible. It sustains, by way of practicable ex ample, the contention of the friends of this legislation that the possession by the inter-State commerce commis sion of effective power over rates will render the use of that power In a large measure unnecessary, and will operate to coerce the railroads to correct upon their own initiative the inequalities ana injustices of which the people complain. In this letter Mr. McNeill, speaking of rate-making by the com mission over which he has for eight years presided, says "While we have full rate-making powers, we have not attempted to su persede traffic managers of railroads; on the contrary, we have adopted tar iffs made by them and only .changed rates on certain commodities as they appeared to be unreasonable or unjust. This has not been frequent; the fact that we had the power rendered it un necessary." , It Is customary. Mr. President, to stigmatise rate-makina by govern ment boards as political rate-making, and to charge that either through ig norance or in response to popular cla mor these boards cannot he trusted to deal wisely and fairly with the Inter ests of the railroads. Much Is at tempted to be made In this connec tion out of the number of times the Inter-State commerce commission has been overruled by the courts as tend ing to show Ignorance or bias. Much Is attempted to be made out of the fact that out of forty-live cases ap pealed to tho courts the commission has been reversed in twenty-nine. During the period of these forty-five appeals the commission tried and dis posed of three hundred and twenty seven cases. In over two hundred aaid eighty of these cases the railroads did pot appeal, thereby admitting their Justice, fairness and soundness. To say that the commission has been overruled in twenty-nine cases out of a total of forty-five is not, therefore, a correct statement of the case; a cor rect statement will show that out of a total Of about three hundred and twenty-seven decisions the commis sion was over-ruled In only twenly nlne. A proper consideration of these cases will show that the" commission has not made as many mistakes as the trafflc managers whose rates they have changed because l hey were found to be unreasonable and therefore un lawful. Mr. President, all laws must of ne cessity be Interpreted and administer ed by men, and the argument that the public cannot trust those delegated to administer the law is not an admis sible argument in a government like ours. If the personnel of a commis sion is unfit, the unworthy members should be removed, but to refuse to legislate where legislation is needed for the welfare for fear that worthy and fit men cannot be found to administer the law is to attack the very funda mentals of our system and question the capacity of our people for self government. We had as well look the fact in the face. The plain truth in this coniast between these corporations and the people Is that the railroads want the laws affecting them administered by tribunals composed of men appointed for life and whose amenability to the people is, therefore, remote They are not opposed to trusting the powers conferred by this legislation in the! commerce commission because they do not believe competent and Impartial i men will at all times compose that commission, but because they fear that the power of the people to quickly call them to account for any frgetful- ness of their Interest will lead them to put the public weal above that of special privilege. Of the score or more State commissions which for twenty five years have exercised power over domestic rates, not one, so far as I know or have ever heard, Is amend able to the charge of having sacrificed the legitimate interest of a railroad to public clamor. They have made mis takes and committed errors no doubt, but so have the courts and all other human tribunals. All of our laws, both State and na tional, providing for supervision or regulation of great private epterprlses affected with a public use or duty are administered by officers, boards, com missions or tribunals whose functions are administrative or executive. I know of no reason why the proposed regulation of the business of the rail roads, made necessary by conditions for which they are solely responsible, years past, twenty-six States have I " "V " V " . " commissions exei-piain ..,. ' : cannot ne sareiy aaminisierea in mo domestic business fur OVPr ! cnmA IKA if f r rt r tir ff n f SA(1 fl nrtllflVl morp nlfrini v ! .... .. .. . . than those it Is now rno.l . . .. . . entitles pern to the exemption wnicn over to r ne commerce commissi traffic- be tween the States. There is nothing in the bisi ,i v of these Slates n these vears which shows or tends to show, thut the rail roads oi- the people have suffered us a result of this supervision and con trol, or that this lower has been ex-cre-lseil vexatlously. arbitrarily or op pressively. On Hie contrary. their rail road. agricultural. "industrl 'l and commercial progress "iii.ares favorably with that of the Stales In which the railroads have-been given a free hand In adjust I "c rates, and In many of them the de- el lpinent along these lines has been see r.ir above the genci-nl average ns to attract widespread attention. In support of this statement I call attention to the fact that of the uiim iin Slaies and Territories In which railroad mileage was Increased one- hundred miles In the fiscal uer they clafrn and assert with such con fident persistency. RBVIKW BY THE COUItTS. I have no objection to such right of review by the courts as does not In effect either Interfere with the right ful authority of Congress in this mat ter of rates, or so hamper it in the discharge of these powers through It commission as to defeat or render in effective in whole or in part Its lawful purposes with respect to this subject. Within these limitations the right of review by the courts ought not to be denied and if It does not already ex ist It ought to be conferred. But, Mr President. I submit that the courts alreudy have without further leglsla tlon all the authority and power over this subject which they can exercise without substituting their Judgment for thut of Congress in a matter en trusted by the constitution to the ex weru with ..-in. snowing a net increase in proms endlnK June 30lh, 1904, fourteen for this time- ..f L'l c ent, per train mile 1 states which had commissions I his liii ieiiM of IS 91 per cent. In dlv-' e ile.mi.Ulnii- nn u i'Mi i.len.l paving sto.lcs; of $253,000,000 111 J v, ,UT rAriOI INA FVPVni 1,'Vcm net profits, of .'! iMi per mile In earn- ', , , fcXPkitlh.M H du Ing Ih- las. en r fifteen years not ' ,.,,, argument against govern only a s ea-ly. hu, a Itirge ncrease .,,, ,nlwf.r" ni.,. with rate, thin that the p.ont of ne!,. I Investment. j afr ,.,, by- ,,,. ,n my wn Mr Prescient, what leuaon is there Klnre 1801 North Carolina has had a nt jiiui. mi- eooie.iiiou oi me ran- commission with full rale-makitiir Ibis legislation win bring power. When this law was passed we thorn or the country? Is had only a little over three thousand contended, that iur rail- i miles of rullroads. We now have atinnt j four thousund miles, an Increase of 1 about nine hundred miles, while to- year elusive Judgment of Congress. , Merchandise, also high . 1" high " priced eifrrmod Itlvs, u-f in WW only 4.73 per cent and in 1W4 4.13 per cent of our total railroad ton ' . nag, On the other hand, coal and : ore and other products of the mines, '.which are lap grade and low priced i products, 'Tepefied to the commission, constituted la IftM 47.32 per cent, while In 1904 hy vonstuuted M.6 per cent. ot our total railroad tonnage, orlgi- 11 mart up-to-date women of to-day, i Know, how to bake, wash, sing and ': . - to play . . Without these taterito wife Is N. a. l Vnlesa she take llocky Mountain t , -Teav .. i lei.ols that disaster lo it Mil', ns i ileitis i .iniini mane money and prosper unless they are penult ted, Without outside liiterfcrene c. to make and en tiiforce their own rates without rvgitd to ihe Interest and the rights of the people'- Yr many vents past and to-day our railroad have not had altogether a free hand In fixing their tariff charges on inter-Slate tills! neNii In ln-Hiilv.rlw B.-U- ixiiHM, teeiiuy, situ In mot of that constituted i number f,,r venm iijm! mien on all a,,. metl- traffic (and this traffic con stitutes twenty pt-r cent of the en tire transportation business of the country) have heen fixed either by lo cal eommlsalwis. or by railroads under their control and supervision. The statement that for many years ptst and to-day our railroad have not had a free hand In nxing their tariffs Is also true as to a Urge, part nt Inter State as well s of domestic business. It la a well-known fact that certain combi nation have monopolised many of ihe prime commodities of Industry and commerce, and, through the enor mous volume of ouwInosN they can give W vWlUOwloV aided by the device C day nt least a dozen new lines are In process of const cuct Ion, with several more projected. Home of these roads ae being built by our own people, some by Kockefeller and his associ ates, and some by rich New England and Northern syndicate. All the cap ital needed for the purpose can be had Inside the Stale or outside by the mere asking. '. When dhls law was passed In 1R91 several railroads In my Htate were In the hands of receivers. Now there Is nut one In the hands of a receiver. When It was passed, gross receipts from railroad operation in the State were in round numbers $8,100,000; net receipts 13.100.000. In lm gross re. cetpts were I20.1WO.000; net receipts $7,600,000. .: '" - ' Mot only In North Carolina but In Georgia. In Mississippi. In Minnesota and lit a number of other States hav ing commissions with rale-making powers, railroad mileage, the value of manufactured products and of farm property has increased at v rale m S Iff'' If jjtuij, ( r , In saying the courts have this power, lam not unmindful of the fact that all Federal courts of original lu rlsdlctlon are statutory courts In the sense that Congress, acting under con stitutional injunction, created them and defined their jurisdiction, but, sir. when these courts were created and given Jurisdiction over certain specific subjects they became eo Instant! with out constitutional grant to that effect Invested, with all the Judicial powers of the constitution over and pertain ing to that subject. When Congress Invested these courts with jurisdiction over the property rights with which this legislation deals, as it undoubtedly did, the con stitution did the rest by imposing up on them the duty of safe-guarding these rights against any and all un constitutional acts of the legislative, and executive branches pf the govern ment and all their agencies. In the discharge ot these great powers and these great duties these courts are clothed with aU'equItable jurisdiction necessary for their exercises nnd per" formance. ' 1 . -, ' Under the law ss now written, the courts, by virtue ot their general pow ers, can set aside at the - instance ot the carrier a confiscatory rate, and perhaps at the Instance of the shipper an - extortionate rate; but under this bill the courts wlU not have and they ought not to have, the right to Inter fereavlth and set aside a Juat and rea sonable rate flxed by the commission. They will not have that "power and they ought , not to have, it, because the establishment 1 ef rates . Is a matter which the constitution entrust to the Judgement : ot Congress and such -. mlnlstratlve agencies .as it may em ploy to carry out Its wilt," , My ' chief apprehension concerning this - measure , is that whjie the courts nave not the constitutional right, as I see Jt, to review a lawful rate flxed and- ordered;; by the commission, and while this bin by not conferring It de nies to them that right, stilt in actual practice, by means of Interlocutory or ders baeed upon ex parte showings -of unreasonableness, these orders may be suspended pending litigation, and in this way many unreviewable as well as reviewable orders of the commis sion will bo held in abeyance until final decree. ' , , , It is probable that the - only escape from this danger will be found in tak ing from the courts the right to sus pend the orders of the commission in any and all cases. If Congress can do this, would it be right to do lb would it be good policy-' to do it? Whether good or bad policy, if it would be wrong or unjust to do it, we cannot, as individuals, or aa a nation afford to do It for mere profit's sake. In all history there is no grander nt terance than . that of Aristides on a memorable occasion when he said to the Athenian people: "what Themls tocles proposes would be greatly to your advantage, but it would he un justr i. .. In opposition to this suggestion It Is said In behalf of the earner that the con stitution guarantees him against the tak ing ot nis property oy tne snipper wiin out due process and without Just com pensation and that If the rate fixed by the commission can not be enjoined pendente lite he will bo denied the full benefit of this guarantee in caee he is successful in his suit, and left without remedy as to that part of his property taken before final decree. The force of this argument Is obvious, but. Mr. President, the law and the con stitution also guarantee the shipper against tho taking of his property by or for the benefit of the carrier without due process and without compensation. Now If the rate fixed by the carrier is un reasonable it Is, for that reason, unlaw ful. If it Is extortionate, to that extent It would be a taking by the carrier of the property of the shipper witnout aue pro cess and without compensation. If. therefore, the order of the Commission Is restrained pendente lite the shipper would be denied the full benefit of the law and of this constitutional guarantee and left without remedy -as to that part of his property taken by the shipper between the time of its suspension and the final decree. If, in answer to this1 argument, it be said on behalf of the carrier that the writ of restraint can only Issue upon a prima facie showing under oath that the order unconstitutionally takes his prop erty Without compensation; the reply on, behalf of the shipper is that the order! protecting him Is based op the finding of! the Commission made not on an ex parte showing, but after full hearing and in vestigation, that his oronerty has already been unlawfully and unconstitu tionally taken for the benefit of the carrier, nnd will, until the final decree. I continue to be so taken it it is suspended, I not only without compensation or due process, but without any process what-1 ever. i In these conditions it will be seen. . therefore, if the order Is not suspended ennente lite, and the carrier succeeds In , is suit, his proprty will be unlawfully taken, and if It is so suspended and the Commission is sustained the shipper's. property will be unlawfully taken. It is a case In which necessarily one or the. other must suffer. Which shall it be ; the master or the servant? The answer j I believe will largely be found In the In- quiry as to which, in balancing probabili-' ties as to the final result of the contro. , versy. is entitled to the greater weight, a finding based on an ex parte hearing without araument of opposing counsel or a finding after full hearing with both parties to the controvesy present and speaking through their witnesses and at torneys, by a board created by the law to make that finding. ' In these conditions the Imperial mind. nnd the legislative mind, should be im partial, will, I think, conclude that the finding of the commission so reached raises a stronger probability . that the rate supplanted was unreasonable or. extortionate and will, on final hearing, be so found and adjudged, than that the ex parte showing of the carrier raises that the substituted rate is confiscatory and will be so found and adjudged on the final hearing. Undoubtedly It is the duty of the legis lator to protect the shipper and his rights as much so as ' It Is his duty to protect the carrier and his rights. , Can this be done, ana ir so, now? ordi narily in such cases mutual bonds afford reasonable protection. In this case it is apparent that such bonds will be of little or no praotlcal value. Impounding the difference between the rate- supplanted and that substituted will help, and this should be done If nothing better can be done. But manifestly this would be a mere makeshift and at best would fall short of adequate protection even to the middle man, 'and would be practically none at all to the man upon whom the loss would, in the final analysis, chiefly fall. If there Is any way to secure protec tion to each of these conflicting interests without abridging the equity Jurisdiction of the courts, that way ought to be found and Incorporated In this bill. The situa tion would seem to devolve the dyty of finding that way upon those who insist that this function of the courts should not be impaired but, on the contrary, should be In express terms reasserted and affirmed In this bill. But however this may be. if no way can be found to accomplish this end, and I greatly fear none can be, I have reluctantly reached the conclusion that we ahould, if we have the power, employ It to prevent the sus. pension pending suit and before final hearing of the rate prescribed by the commission. ' Can Congress do this? Undoubtedly Congress has large regulatory and super visory power over these courts, their procedure and the remedies they may use In the enforcement and protection of rights, whether they be statutory rights or rights constitutionally derived and protected. The proposition that Congress can say to the courts in these conditions. In this rase, "your writ, while affording protec tion to the carrier, would deny the same or equal protection to the shipper, and as the law. as it l at present written, does not afford him this protection, and aa we are unable to otherwise provide for htm this protection, you must not and shall not Interfere except to administer the rights of the litigants as you may find them when von are ready to pronounce your nnai conclusion as to tnem, pre sents to my mind a very serlons Question with regard to which I frankly confess I have grave doubts and misgivings, and concerning which I do not care to vent ure an opinion without further investi gation and reflection. All I am prepared to say at this time is If we have the pow er to do this, and no way can be found to give to the shipper the same protection In this behalf which a suspension of the rate would give to the carrier, then, and In that case. In my opinion, it would be our duty to exercise this power In such a way as It may lawfully be exercised to acoompllsh this result. Mr. President, the evils with which we are confronted are not such as can be remedied through the court, either upon the Initiative of the Individual eafterer, or the government on behalf of the com plaining public- Any law regulating or attempting to regulate the great corpor At ed business enterorlses of the country. affecting the Interests of the whole peo. pie. over which the government has the right of supervision In the interest of the public, which can only be enforced throusrh -the courts, is, eo far as the se rompiisnmeni or adequate results is concerned, doomed to failure front the beginning; not because of any weakness or corruption ot the personnel of the courts for our judges are rarely subject to that crlticim hot because of the inadequate machinery end powers of the courts to quickly, efficiently and compre. hensively exert and apply the law end Its Remedies In enforcing obedience and punishing - disobedience to its commands and reouirements. ..-. ' , NO REOC1UATI0I .TWROUOB THE . '-c- CUUKT8. 'The futility of any attempt to regulate these greet eorporated - enterprises through the medium of the courts is ex emplified In- the open defiance and' con. tempt displayed by the trusts of our anti-trust laws, which the courts . have de clared ample in provision and scope to rtnedy the evils they denounce.- In anHe of these laws and the courts, these great monopolies erontinue in me jignt.or oar and wtthln the knowledge ef everybody. organising and extending their corporate combinations and Increasing their levies and eaaetion upon the people, if ere hud a oommlssloB from waioe corporations '-,- Vt, THE:.:; D::M: ;V':TOMPKiMS:-? CO, ; tMAiitRs MOULDERS : : GEARING T S J i A"- 'a 't PULLEYS HANGERS COTTON MILL MACHINERY COTTON OIL MACHINERY 'v- v-v - A--. - Presbyterian - College for Women CltAiaOTTf.IL C A high-grade College for Women, equipped with every modem im prevement. Special rates offered for second term. ' ' " f ej. R. BRIDGES, D. D, President, THE CHARLOTTE SUPPLY COMPANY TCWED TrVB ARB SOUTHERN AQSNTS FOR WIRE, GERMAN HEDDLES AND HEDDLB! FRAKES. GERMAK HEDDtiES AND WRITE US FOR PRICEa Foskett eV Bishop Steam Traps Carried In Stock; also Card Clothing ea4 a Full Line of Supplies. CHARLOTTH BIRMLV GHAM " SPARTAJTBTJRO mm: iNConrourto CAPITAL STOCK ..$30,000.00 Not the cheapest, but preeminently the BEST. These are the largest, oldest and beat equipped schools in North Carolina a positive, provable FACT. 1,000 former students holding positions In North Carolina. Positions guaranteed, backed by written con tract Shorthand, Book-keeping. Typewriting and English, taught by experts. Address ' ' KING' S BUSINESS GOLLEGB Charlotte, fi. C, or Raleigh, N. C. ELIZABETH COLLEGE AND CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC CHARLOTTE, N. C. Suburban Location, Extensive Campus, High Grade, Experienced, University Educated Teachers; Fire-Proof Buildings, First Cltss Equipment. Schools of Music, Art, Kxnresston, Business. Enjoys a Reputa tion for Thorough Work and Good Health. CATALOGUE SENT FREE. - CHAS. B. KING, President. Pain ting-Repairing-Rubber Trremg Have your vehicle painted and repaired be fore spring. Don't wait until spring to have this work done, for then you will want to use your vehicle daily. We have one of the best equipped carriage shops in the South and invite you to call and look through it. ESTIMATES MADE ON VEHICLES FREE. J. W. WADSWORTIfS SONS CO. A Gentleman's Cigar for "COUNTRY 6EMTLEMAN c ft 7 "4 DRAUGHON'S nalelgti, CViumbiaC Kaogvllle, Atlanta. U Colleges In IS States, POSTTIOX8 secured or money RE1TUNDBIX Also teach BY JMAUt. - CaUlogue will con vtnre you that Draughon'a U THE BEST, i Call or nd tor iU , I. THE DEI1I1Y CAFE piatFEcr ur appointment, '-l r- ELKGAMT SERVICE. . Spadal JDtnlnc .Boom fog. Ladle V . N,' , PablM SteBocraphew. , : - THE OEfiriY G1FE 1 V ? ft s l e T 1- 0 ' W " " """I,' -' 'Set sV-o 'A v-r s. ' p! I it ' , Sf( 1 T i-iAi-J -T--S--tf
The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
March 14, 1906, edition 1
2
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75