The Oregon daily journal., December 21, 1911, Page 12, Image 12

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THE OREGON DAILY JOURNAL. PORTLAND. THURSDAY EVENING, DECEMBER . 21. 1911.
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fitflK BOARD
WOULD REGULATE
TELEGRAPH TOLLS
Commission Recommends That
-Wire Companies Be Re
quired to Post Tariffs; Want
Rail Charges Uniform.
Washington, Dec. 21. The annual re
port of the Interstate commerce com
mission, which was given to the public
yesterday, contains recommendations
for many Important amendments to the
Interstate commerce act. Among these
recommendations .are:
"That section 6 of the act be amended
to require telephone, telegraph and ca
ble companies to publish, file, and post
" tariffs, and to empower the commission
to reject and refuse to file any schedule
tendered for filing which has the effect
of exceeding the number of supplements
or the volume of supplemental matter
, permitted under the- commission's tariff
regulations.
"To make the Elklns act applicable to
telephone," telegraph and cable compa
nies. "That the stimulus of requirement be
applied to the long delayed progress to
ward the adoption of a uniform classi
fication. "To provide additional safeguards In
railroad transportation for employes
and the public: (a) By standardization
of operating rules of all interstate car
rlpra: h hv rftniilrinir the ndontlon of
teel cars, postal, baggage and passen- j Spokane than
ger; (c) by amending the hours of serv
ice law, making clear the proviso In
section 3 of the act: (d) by legislation
requiring the use of the block signal
system.
"That the commission bo relieved of
the Jurisdiction of the physical opera
tion of street railways In the District
of Columbia.
"To provide for the regulation and
control of capitalization and suitable
provisions for the valuation of railway
property.
"The construction of an adequate and
suitable office building for the use of
the commission."
Work of Commission.
Decisions In 607 cases instituted by
formal complaints of shippers and
others or by the commission on Its own
motion have been announced during the
past year, and 145 cases of the same
character have been dismissed on stip
ulation of the parties or upon motion
of complainants. This removes from
the docket of formal complaints a total
of 652 cases. As a whole, the work of
the commission is well in hand.
During th year 881 formal com
plaints have been filed and 12 proceed
ings of inquiry Instituted by the com
mission on its own motion. In addi
tion there have been instituted 43 pro
ceedings of Investigations and suspen
sions of tariffs containing proposed In
creases In rates, resulting in a total of
68 cases of this character since the
commission was given the power of
suspension. Seven of these have been
consolidated with formal complaints;
advances were condemned In nine and
permitted In 24; partial advances per
mitted In four; and two were voluntar
ily withdrawn, leaving 22 pending.
82 Indlotxnenta K turned.
Since December 1, 1910, 62 Indict
ments for criminal violations of the act
to regulate commerce heve been re
turned, .many of which were against
two or more defendants Jointly. Of
these, 29 are against carriers or car
riers' agents, 26 against shippers of
passengers, and seven against carriers
and shippers Jointly.
During the past year 42 prosecutions
have been concluded, in 16 of which the
defendants pleaded guilty; In 13, Juries
rendered a verdict of guilty; In three,
Juries rendered a verdict of not guilty;
six cases were nolprossed; two were
dismissed on motion of defendant
Taking up a discussion of the west
bound transcontinental rate the report
ays:
"Probablv the most Imnnrtnnl Am.
clsion rendered fcy the commerce court
up to the present time is that dealing
wiiii me lourm section orders of the
commission In reference to westbound
transcontinental rates.
"The water rate, In cents per 100
pounds, by all routes has always been
somewhat lower than the rail transcon
tinental rate from New York to San
Francisco. The commission has found,
and of this there can be no question,
that this water transportation has lim
ited the rate which could be obtained
by the carriers between New York an.l
Pacific coaat terminals.
One Instance Cited.
"Suppose, for example, that a manu
facturing plant located at Chicago pro
duced the same article manufactured by
a similar plant In .New York city. In
order that this article may reach San
Franclaco from Chicago by water it
must first b transported to New York,
where it Is taken by the steamship.
The cost of carriage by this route Is
therefore greater from Chicago than
from New York, and if the force of wa
ter competition were to be alone con
sidered the rate from Chicago to San
Francisco ought to be higher than the
rate from New York by the amount of
the inte-lor rail rate from Chicago to
New York.
"The Chicago manufacturer, howev
er, insists that his rate by rail to Ban
Francisco should be lower than the
rate by rail from New York, for the
reason that the traffic when taken up
at New York moves through Chlca'go
and Is hauled 1000 miles further, at a
correspondingly additional... expense It
Is for the Interest of the rail line which
begins at Chicago to apply a lower rate
from Chicago than is applied from New
York, since if the traffic originates
at Chicago that line obtains the entire
freight money, while If the traffb orig
inates at New York. It must divide
the transportation charges with its con
nection east of Chicago, which brings
the traffic from the Atlantic seaboard.
Many Bates Applied.
"As a result of these contending
forces It has finally come to pass that
the same rates are applied to all ter
ritory north of the Potomac and Ohio
rivers as far west as the Missouri river,
and sometimes as far west as Colorado
common points. That Is, if the rate
upon a given article from New York
to San Francisco Is SI per 100 pounds
the rate from Omaha, approximately
1500 miles west of New York, and som
times from Denver, 2000 miles west of
New York, is also SI. This, it should
be carefuUy noted, is not to meet wh
ter competition fronj New York, but t
rather, in recognition of the market
competition which exists in territory
upon and east of the Missouri river.
This same market competition has nev
er been recognized upon the Taclflo
coast.
"Kates from all the vast blanket em
braced in transcontinental westbound
commodity tariffs are constructed for
the most part to Interior points by ad
ding the full local rate from the Pa
cific coast terminal to the interior point.
By looking at the map this will be
more readily understood. Take a Jl
commodity rate which applies from New
lork and also from Omaha to ban rranr
clsco. The rate on this commodity from
San Francisco to Reno may be, and fre
quently is, 60 cents per 100 pounds.
The rates, then, would be:
From Omaha to Reno. 31.60 per 100 lbs.
From umalia to Ban F ran
cisco, through Keno. 31.00 per 100 lbs.
"The distance from Reno to San
Francisco Is 244 miles and the haul is
over one of the most difficult mountain
ranges upon this continent
Spokane Rate Considered.
The commission has considered, at
great length, rates from St. Paul to
Spokane as compared with those to Se
attle. Spokane Is the largest of these
Inland cities and has been able to ex
tort. In a way, certain concessions as to
ts rates from the railroads which serve
It, but the rate Is still much higher to
to Seattle. Many ex
amples of actual shipments were pre
sented to the commission, of which the
following may be selected as a fair Il
lustration: "Upon a carload of books originating
at Chicago, the Northern Pacific re
ceived for its haul from St. Paul to
Spokane, a distance of 1600 miles,
3855.66. Had the same car gone to Se
attle, Involving an additional haul of
one-fourth In distance over the most ex
pensive part of the entire route, the re
ceipts of the Northern Pacific would
have been 3500.36.
"This Intermountain country, pointing
to the prosperity of Its railways and
to its own development, urges that the
time. has come when the same treatment
should be accorded to it which has been
accorded to the middle west, and that
even though higher rates are maintained
from the extreme Atlantic seaboard to
this region than to San Francisco there
Is certainly no excuse for a higher rate
from factories 1000 miles distant from
the Atlantic seaboard.
Water Bate Fluctuates.
MVb water rntA In rnt n ennflnnln.
and a permanent rate, but rather fluc
tuates from day to day and from season
to season. The rail rate of the trans
continental line depends upon whether
it is the purpose of that line to take
much or little of the business. A rate
of $1 per 100 pounds will carry but lit
tle of a commodity; 86 cents per 100
pounds will carry some of it; 70 cents
per 100 pounds may drive the ships out
of rhe business. Now, within thoso
limits what rate shall the carrier make?"
Of the Willamette valley rate case
the report says:
"This case concerns an order of the
commission establishing rates for the
transportation of green fir lumber, in
carloads, from the Willamette valley
to San Francisco bay points.
"With but a brief interval the South
ern Pacific had maintained for six years
for this service a rate of 33.10 per ton.
from certain points and 33.36 per tdn
from certain other points. In April,
1907, a rate of $5 per ton was estab
lished from all points. This rate the
commission held to be unreasonable In
so far as it exceeded $3.40 from those
points at which the $3.10 rate had been
maintained and $3.65 from those points
to which the $3.35 rate had been ap
plied. It will be seen that an advance
of about 10 per cent was allowed above
the rates voluntarily established and
for six years fhuintained by the carrier unfortunate one. Thla commlsaion has
Itself. never understood that It was court
Based on Undsrstanaljig-. of equity, with power to anforo by Its
"It appeared upon the hearing that orders the law of equity but It has
the $3.10 rate had been established after suDDOsed that It w ... . 1
Investigation by the Southern Pacifio .Cwhli. mlnJrtiiUT.
company and upon the understanding by t e n the carrier ints tf
..sat company that a lumber business In flr J mieS IL.h ' 5h!PPer ,n
the Willamette valley could not be sue- ao" " "t properly be done,
cessfully conducted upon a higher basis fro,Jlt " JL ."P0? ?rances
of rates It was claimed that In case wnfJti'L " tvhat Evolved in the
of one large operation there was an " " "frtlf " sslon could
agreement to the effect that this rate ?"Ly .Son.iLAr ""vice,
should not be exceeded, but no such lt"r2 "UDiecl tn" '
tafliln at-rlora nra.. f a- . . .
contract was found bv the commission, .Tr.""' . ' ' . " " i manipulate
........ ...... - w . -. - i'An. ma m r o t rr i n . .
cimiug injustice. xne
una oy me cumminsiun. th . ,
It did appear, however, that extensive v,- .,v.!T. r com
aia appear, nowever, mai extensive mi WIim k. nk, . .
ills had been constructed during these J?f hJilbti7lt?2u!???p -t0
..... . . ... ii . v Linilill iiuuBiice. "inn
six years, involving" cne uuimy ui yrvni roto. fMm Mntv... w C I
sums of money and that large tracts are ot based upon th. cos ofTervTce
had been bought upon the assumption and , 00nf,ne h Telng body to
that this rate was regarded by ltu,th -onil
property interests or tills country at
t h a m rotf nf 1 1 a pa i 1 vrtn A a ! K . il.i
tained. It conclusively appeared that the re,tralnt which, in our onininn h.
action of the Southern Pacific in ad-t re.B. bv h ct to mrm.t.
Southern Pacifio as. on the whole, a
fair one, and that it would be main
vanclng that rate to $5 seriously im
paired the value of all this property and
In some Instances amounted to virtual
confiscation.
"These facts were developed in the
testimony and were referred to by the
commission In Its opinion, but the case
was not decided upon this ground alone,
nor. Indeed, was this the principal sub
ject of consideration. We carefully ex
amined the method In which this lum
ber was handled, the cost of Its trans
portation, and the financial condition of
the line between San Francisco ana
Portland. From this examination we
reached Jhe conclusion that the handling
of this Traffic at the old rate was re
munerative and that upon the whole
situation, while the original rate might
be somewhat advanced. It should not
exceed the figures stated above.
Order Held Unlawful.
"Upon proceedings to enjoin the en
forcement of this order the circuit court
refused an injunction, but the supreme
court reversed the court below and held
that the order of the commission was
unlawful.
The carrier attacked the order upon
the ground that It was not an attempt
upon the part of the commission to estab
lish a reasonable rate of transportation,
but was rather In the nature of a de
cree enforcing an equitable estoppel be
tween these parties. Below is given
the language of the supreme court stat
ing the question presented to It and its i
conclusion:
'It Is clear, therefore, as we have said
at the outset, that the result of
the contentions and concessions of the
respective parties Is to reduce the con-
troversy to a single Issue, which is,
What, In substance, was the power
which the commission exerted in making !
the order? I
'Coming to a consideration of that I
subject, we are of the opinion that the
court below erred in not restraining the
enforcement of the order'complalned of,
because we see no escape from the con
clusion that the order was void because
it was made In consequence of the as- j
sumption by the commission that It
possessed the extreme powers which
the railroad companies insist the order 1
plainly manifests.' I
'It Is Impossible to say exactly what
significance should attach to this do
cision. The court did not find that the 1
rate established was too low. It appar- I
ently held that the commission was not '
undertaking to establish a reasonable
rate, but, rather, to enforce the con
tracts and understandings between he
parties under which the old rate Bad
been put In and maintained. Of course.
the commission has no such cower. :
and If it attempted to exercise that,
power Its order was clearly unlawful. I
Effect of Decision. j
If. upon the other hand, this Is to
be Interpreted as a holding that In pass- '
ng upon the Justice of an advance In
rate of transportation, this bodv can
not consider those rates which have '
been voluntarllly established and main-1
tained by carriers, the Investments
which have been made, the development
which has occurred upon the strength of
such rates, and the effect upon busi
ness and financial Interests which the
advance Involves, hen that decision
would be a most Important and a most
gress, by the act to regulate commerce,
miciiuea to impose.
Rent a Piano
Rent a piano, $3, $4 per month; Kim
ball, Chickerlng, Fischer, Kohler, and
many other good makes. Kohler &
Chase, 376 Washington street
I'll Meet You Tonight
At Sixth and Morrison to hear the hu
man touch. What's that? A player
piano that cannot be distinguished from
hand playing. Don't miss it Sherman.
Clay Sc Co., Morrison at Sixth. Open
evenings.
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Buy a Prayer
$20 will place a Piano Player in your
home. Plenty of time given to pay the
balance in small monthly payments.
Prices range from $278 upwards. Koh
ler A Chase, 876 Washington street
Lhnstoas Special
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f T A ITTF AOTTrT W tM "TTT CTflTJIf
THIS IS NO FAKE SALE
Every Article Guaranteed Any Articles
Purchased at Our Store Can Be Re
turned If Not Satisfactory.
WE SAVE YOU 20 PER CENT ON ALL WATCHES PUR
CHASED AT OUR STORE SEE PRICES BELOW
AND COMPARE THEM WITH OUR COMPETITORS'
LADIES' WALTHAM OR ELGIN MOVEMENTS, 10-year guaranteed case. : .. .$8.50
LADIES' WALTHAM OR ELGIN MOVEMENTS, 20-year guaranteed case. ..$11.50
GENTS' WALTHAM OR ELGIN MOVEMENTS, 20-year guaranteed case. . . . .$9.00
BOYS' AMERICAN GUARANTEED MOVEMENT in gold-plated case $4.50
LADIES' AMERICAN GUARANTEED MOVEMENT CHATELAINE .......$8.00
TEN-PIECE STERLING SILVER MANICURE SET $0.00
SILVER TOILET SETS. $7.50 $1.00 ALARM CLOCKS. .,63tf
See Our Special $20 Diamond Ring
STANDARD JEWELRY STORE
E 141l2 Third Street, Near Alder
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The Finest
Since 1836
PEA
ECICED!
Brand new $400
Piano, Damaged
Price
$179
Brand new $375
Piano, Damaged
Price
Piano, Damaged
Price
$165
Brand new $423
Piano, Damaged
Price
$110
Among our shipments of pianos from the factory for Christmas trade,
one carload of brand new pianos was case damaged en route.
The cases of these pianos were slightly
scratched, but the interior mechanism is
as good as when they left the factory. In
fact, the scratches on some of the pianos
can hardly be noticed.
As we are anxious to close out these
slightly damaged pianos, we shall sell them
away below what they cost ub at the factory.
Don't delay, but call at once and see for
yourself.
We can make these pianos al good as new and they will make
mo.it appropriate Christmas presents.
Remember, these pianos are slightly- damaged in case only
Graves Music Go.
. Ill FOURTH STREET
V- vS i f if
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..ii.ii..'ili.,.,y g -'WHWV '4'' .i I
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Stoire
First, Second and Yamhill Sts.
NOW MAKES YOUR SELECTION OF CHRIST
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With the Startling Announcement of
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Morris Chairs, Writing Desks.
Music Cabinets, Tmrkisli Leather Rockers
and Parlor Sets
TODAY, FRIDAY AND SATURDAY
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The famous "Royal" Chairs
"Push Button" kind.
With velour imitation leath
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ions, $15 to $65
Wrilinn Desks
In Oak, Mahogany, Rose
wood and Circassian Wal:
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floor to choose from,
$9 to $60
Mnsic Cabinets
In Oak, Mahoganized
Birch and Genuine Ma
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$8 to $30
Tnrk'hRoekers
Upholstered in best black
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imitation leathers 18
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Every One a Sensible, Practical Christmas Gift
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STORE OPEN TILL 9 O'CLOCK EVERY EVENING THIS WEEK
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FIRST, SECOND AND YAMHILL STREETS
tor
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