816 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



high relatively to those from points competing for the business of 

 supplying the same markets, as practically to destroy the busi- 

 ness of Eau Claire. Only a few of the roads serving these com- 

 peting points reached Eau Claire, and accordingly the only prac- 

 tical mode of adjustment, from the standpoint of the law, was to 

 order a reduction from that point. This the commission did, but 

 added : 



" Undoubtedly those roads " (referring to those not serving 

 Eau Claire, and consequently not included in the order) " have it 

 in their power to continue the present disparity, but we do not 

 anticipate, and certainly can not assume, that they will resort to 

 such inconsiderate and arbitrary action in order to nullify the 

 lawful order of this commission." 



The compliance of the defendant railway with the order of the 

 commission was, however, almost immediately nullified by the 

 action upon the part of the other railways which that body had 

 most properly refused to anticipate, and the rates of all lines were 

 ultimately restored to practically the figures in effect previous to 

 the complaint. 



The conditions described are fairly typical of those existing all 

 over the United States. The Interstate Commerce Law has miti- 

 gated but slightly, if at all, the evil of unjust discrimination be- 

 tween individuals, has in but few and relatively insignificant 

 instances moderated unjust discriminations between articles or 

 classes of traffic, and has almost wholly failed to remedy the far 

 more serious inequities in rate-making which operate to the dis- 

 advantage of towns, cities, or districts. 



If it were true that the single step necessary to prevent or 

 alleviate considerably the evils described is to re- enforce the law 

 by adopting the amendments suggested by the commission, or 

 otherwise to perfect the remedies already provided, adequate and 

 early relief might reasonably be hoped for. That the commis- 

 sion does not take this complacent and superficial view is evident 

 from the following extract from its Ninth Annual Report : 



" Those who have given most reflection to the subject of gov- 

 ernment regulation are aware that the laws now in force are 

 more or less tentative and experimental, and such persons antici- 

 pate that the evolution of railway control by public agencies will 

 sooner or later result in a more comprehensive and direct exer- 

 cise of the power possessed by Congress to regulate our internal 

 commerce." 



In fact, while the commission is, to adopt its own phrase, ask- 

 ing Congress merely " to make the act mean what it was supposed 

 to mean at the time of its passage," it must be itself aware that it 

 then contained the cause of endless discriminations. Says Com- 

 missioner Knapp : 



