1T1JLIO DOCUMENTS. 



725 



Second. In the selection of means for the aoooin- 



l-U.-dmu :it of this object, Congress may, In iu diaere- 



tion and under it* responsibility to the people, pre- 



the rules und regulations by which tho iiutru- 



. v> hides, and agencies, employed in trunMport- 



rsons or commodities from one State into or 



-h another State shall be governed, whether 



;->ruaioii bo by land or by water. 

 Third. The power "to regulate- commerce" in- 

 1 the power to aid and janlluit, it t.\ t. 

 icnt ol such meant) as may be appropriate and 

 plainly adapted to that end; and hence Congress 

 in its discretion, improve or create channels of 

 uierce on land or by water. 



Fourth. A remedy for some of tho defects and 

 - which prevail under existing systems of trona- 



n may be provided through direct congreg- 



ation; but, for reasons stated at length in 

 ."it, it is seriously doubted if facilities suffi- 

 ciently c/:i-ij> and ample to meet tho just and reuson- 



juireinenfcs ol commerce can ever be obtained 

 by this method. 



"Filth. Tho attempt to regulate the business of 

 ; orfation by general congressional enactments, 

 e.-ta) dishing rates and fores on 1,300 railways, aggro- 

 gating nearly one-half the railway mileage ot the 

 world, and embracing an almost infinite variety of 

 circumstances and conditions, requires more definite 

 and detailed information than is now in the posses- 

 sion of Congress or of your committee. Believing 

 that any ill-advised measures in this direction would 

 to postpone indefinitely the attainment of tho 

 desired object cheap transportation the committee 

 deem it expedient to confine their recommendations 

 in this regard to such measures only as may be en- 

 acted with entire safety, reserving other mutters of 

 legislation for further inquiry and consideration. 

 Tney therefore recommend for present action the fol- 

 lowing : 



1. That all railway companies, freight lines, and 

 /other common carriers, engaged in transporting pas- 

 Bcngers or freights from one State into or through 

 another, bo required, under proper penalties, to make 

 publication, at every point of shipment from one State 

 to another, of their'rates and fares, embracing all the 

 particulars regarding distance, classifications, rates, 



I special tariffs, drawbacks, etc., and that they be pro- 

 i hibited from increasing such rates above the hinit 

 i' named in the publication without reasonable notice 

 to the public, to be prescribed by law. 



2. That combinations and consolidations with par- 

 I allel or competing lines are evils of such magnitude 

 I as to demand prompt and vigorous measures for their 

 V prevention. 



8. That all railway companies, freight lines, and 



other common carriers, employed in transporting 



grain from one State into or through another, should 



. be required, under proper regulations and penalties 



i to be provided by law, to receipt for quantity and to 



account for tho same at its destination. 



4. That all railway companies and freight organiza- 

 tions receiving freights in one State to be delivered in 

 another, and whoso lines touch at any river or lake 

 port, bo prohibited from charging more to or from 

 such port than for any greater distance on the same 

 line.* 



6. Stock inflations, generally known as " stock- 

 waterings," are wholly indefensible ; but the remedy 

 fur this evil seems to fall peculiarly within the prov- 

 ince of the States which have created tho corporations 

 from which such practices proceed. Tho evil is be- 

 lieved to be of such magnitude as to require prompt 



* This provision, tt Is believed, will prevent the dis- 

 criminations now practised against such ports, and will 

 enable States which are separated from water-lines by 

 intervening States to reach each lines at reasonable cost. 

 Congress has no power to recrnlate commerce wholly 

 within a State, and heuce States bordering upon such 

 water-lines will regulate the rates to ports within their 

 own territory. 



and efficient BUto action for iU prevention, and to 

 jtutify any rneaaurea that may be proper and within 

 the range of national authority. 



6. It in believed by the committee that great good 

 would result from the pannage of State law* prohibit- 

 ing officer* of railway companies from owning or hold- 



:rectly or indirectly, any intercut in any " non- 

 ooptrativt freight line" or car company operated 

 UJ".M the railroad with which they are connected in 

 fcuch official capacity. 



7. For the purpose of procuring and laying before 

 Congress and the country such complete and reliable 

 information concerning the business of transportation 

 and the want* of commerce as will enable Congreu to 



:.! intelligently upon the subject, it is recom- 

 iii. i.'i.-d that a Bureau of Commerce, in one of the 

 .:ive Department* ol th, <;<.\. rnment, be charged 

 with the duty of collecting and reporting to Congress 

 information concerning our internal trade and com- 

 merce, and bo clothed with authority of law, under 

 regulations to be prescribed by the head of such De- 

 partment, to require each and every railway and other 

 transportation company, engaged in interstate trans- 

 portation, to make a report, under oath of the proper 

 officer of such company, at least once each year, which 

 report should embrace, among other fatta, the follow- 

 ing, namely : 1. The rates and fares charged from all 

 points of shipment on its line in one State to all point* 

 of destination in another State, including classifica- 

 tions and distances, and all drawbacks, deductions, 

 and discriminations ; 2. A full and detailed statement 

 ofix-i-i-i] its and expenditures, including the compensa- 

 tion paid to officers, agents, und employe's of the com- 

 pany ; 8. The amount of stock and bonds issued, the 

 price at which they were sold, and the disposition 

 made of the funds received from such sale ; 4. The 

 amount and value of commodities transported during 

 the year, us nearly as the same con be ascertained, 

 together with such other facts as may be required by 

 the head of such Bureau, under the authority of law. 



Sixth. Though the existence of the Federal power 

 to regulate commerce, to the extent maintained in 

 this report, is believed to be essential to the main- 

 tenance or perfect equality among the States as to 

 commercial rights ; to the prevention of unjust and 

 invidious distinctions which local jealousies or inter- 

 ests might be disposed to introduce; to the proper 

 restraints of consolidated corporate power, and to the 

 correction of many of its existing evils, yet your com- 

 mittee are unanimously of the opinion that the prob- 

 lem of cheap transportation is to be solved through 

 competition, as hereinafter stated, rather than by di- 

 rect congressional regulation of existing lines. 



Seventh. Competition, which is to secure and main- 

 tain cheap transportation, must embrace two essential 

 conditions : 1. It must be controlled by a power with 

 which combination will be impossible ; 2. It must 

 operate through cheaper and more ample channels of 

 commerce than are now provided. 



Eighth. Kailway competition, when regulated by 

 its own laws, will not effect the object ; because it 

 exists only to a very limited extent in certain locali- 

 ties; it is always unreliable and inefficient; and it 

 invariably ends in combination. Hence additional 

 railway lines, under the control of private corpora- 

 tions, will afford no substantial relief, because sell- 

 interest will inevitably lead them into combination 

 with existing lines. 



Ninth. The only means of securing and maintain- 

 ing reliable and effective competition between rail- 

 ways is through national or State ownership, or con- 

 trol, of one or more lines, which, being unable to 

 enter into combinations, will serve as regulators of 

 other lines. 



Tenth. One or more double-track freight railways, 

 honestlv and thoroughly constructed, owned or con- 

 trolled "by the Government, and operated at a low 

 rate of speed, would doubtless be able to carry at 

 much less cost than can be done under the present 

 system of operating fast and slow trains on the same 



