Publicity of Rates. 
93 
rates, at least six weeks before the same shall take effect. 
Neither can any reduction take effect until it has been published 
by consent of the proper authorities. These are legal require¬ 
ments, and any violation of them may be punished in the ordi¬ 
nary courts of law. During the last ten or fifteen years there 
has been a tendency to shift points of dispute more and more 
from the administrative department over into the regular chan¬ 
nels of the civil courts. Paragraph 35, of the law of 1838, 
names the minister (then the Minister of Trades and Industry) 
as that authority which shall decide disputes between under¬ 
takers and transporters, arising out of rate-questions. The 
motive which led to this provision was that this official was 
best fitted to give right decisions. But with the growth of 
the railroad system and the later development of courts of justice 
the opinion gained ground that the administrative department 
should be released from the judicial duties imposed upon it by 
§ 35 of the law of 1838. Legislation of 1876 and 1883 aimed in 
that direction, and the law of April 1, 1890, transferred all 
claims arising out of rate-questions to the ordinary courts of 
law for redress. Thus, questions regarding the application of 
rate-schedules, computation of distances, fees, etc., all come 
before the courts, while the minister and his subordinates take 
care that existing laws are properly enforced. 
Madison, Wis. 
