208 rosa: regulation of natural monopolies 



tions by a powerful company against smaller independent com- 

 panies, etc. 



Both the Interstate Commerce Commission and the state com- 

 missions deal with problems arising in connection with the regula- 

 tion of the railroads, and these problems are numerous and of 

 great importance. The first class of problems is connected with 

 the fixing of freight and passenger tariffs, and discriminations in 

 rates as between one locality and another or between one shipper 

 and another. The second class of problems has to do with the 

 operation of the road, with the safety and the adequacy of the 

 service. This includes the question of the character of the road- 

 bed and rails, the kind and quality of the engines and cars, the 

 brakes and signalling apparatus, the kind of headlights and the 

 " candlepower and distribution of the light from the same ; the heat- 

 ing, lighting, and ventilation of cars; the investigation of accidents, 

 the weighing of freight and the testing of the scales, includ- 

 ing the scales on which empty and loaded cars are weighed. 

 These and many other questions may come before both state and 

 federal commissions, but not all of them have been fully considered 

 as yet bj^ either. Similar duties pertain also to other utilities 

 that are essentially monopolies, as telegraph companies, express 

 comjianies, sleeping car companies, water supply companies, 

 local express, transfer, and cab companies. Insofar as these utili- 

 ties carry on an interstate business, they .are also dealt with by 

 the federal interstate commerce commission. 



Co-operation necessary in regulation. It appears from the above 

 formidable, altho incomplete, list of duties devolving upon a state 

 public utility commission that to fully measure up to its respon- 

 sibilities would require a considerable staff of engineers, account- 

 ants, and scientific assistants, besides its- traveling inspectors 

 and administrative officers. To decide many of the questions 

 arising requires more technical knowledge than the experts either 

 of the commission or the utility companies possess. Indeed, 

 many of the questions can only be answered by extended re- 

 searches carried out by scientists, engineers or statisticians, work- 

 ing with the best of facilities. The interests at stake are in the 

 aggregate so great that such researches ought to be made, and yet 



