6. The commission may of its own motion, without waiting for a complaint, investigate and pass upon any infraction of the law by a railroad.

7. If a railroad lowers its rates in competition with carriers over waterways, it may not afterwards raise them.

8. The commission has power to suspend any proposed increase of rates for one hundred and twenty days, and to investigate the reasonableness and justice of the increase. The time of suspension may be extended further to six months. The burden of proof of the reasonableness of the proposed increase is put on the railroads.

9. The commission has power to establish through routes, such through routes to embrace steam lines and electric lines, when such combination can be made.

10. Shippers may determine the routes over which their shipments are to pass.

II. Railroads are forbidden under penalties to disclose the business of one shipper to another.

12. The President has power to appoint a commission to investigate the issuance of railroad stocks and bonds and the extent of the authority of Congress to regulate the same.

13. A Court of Commerce to be composed of five judges was established to enforce the orders of the Interstate Commerce Commission and to try appeals from its orders. Cases brought before the court are to be in charge of the Attorney-General of the United States, but the shippers and others interested in the cases may be represented before the court.

14. The "commodities" clause of the Hepburn law is allowed to remain as it formerly stood.

As will be seen, the Interstate Commerce Commission has been given much more power by the Mann-Elkins law of 1910 than it had before. The law is not as comprehensive as the Administration intended, but its many new provisions are expected to prove a sufficient remedy against the evils possible under private railroad management.

II. GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP OF RAILROADS

The inadequacy of government regulation of railroads, as manifested hitherto in both state and federal legislative measures, has led to the conclusion in the minds of many, that the only solution of the difficulty lies in government ownership of all the railroad systems. The Post-Office system is in the hands of the government, and is administered with practically general satisfaction. The fact of a deficit annually occurring in the Postal department in years past has been habitually quoted, but the possibility of curtailing expenses in the department has been shown in recent years, and further improvements in administration have shown that the system may become self-supporting.

As the government owns and controls the mail system of the country, so, also, in the opinion of some, should it have the ownership and the control of the railroads.

Arguments for Government Ownership. The reasons advanced in support of this opinion may be summarized as follows:

1. To the state belongs the duty of providing not only for the public peace and the integrity of the laws of the country, but also for whatever may conduce to the common civil prosperity of the citizens. Now, transportation under conditions of freedom from excessive charges, discriminations, favoritism, and all the evils of the present system is surely conducive to such prosperity. Hence the desirability of government ownership.

2. The railroads should be considered public concerns rather than private concerns. They serve a public utility and need rather than a private. They have been largely subsidized by the government and are engaged in commerce that pertains to the vital welfare of the whole country. Hence the railroads should be owned and controlled by the government.

3. This fact is all the more emphasized in time of war, when the railroads become an essential means of offense and defense for the country.

4.

The railroads under government ownership would cease to

be private concerns, and the difficulty of bringing about accord between their present dual characters as at once private and public concerns would be obviated.

5. The power of railroad managers for working evil and for showing favoritism to persons and localities would cease.

6. Uniform classification could be established over the whole country.

7. Discriminations and rebates would come to an end.

8. The immense revenues accruing from railway service, that now swell the fortunes of directors and stockholders, would revert to the public treasury and help to diminish the general burden of taxation.

9. Considerable sums of money would be saved through the abolition of an army of high-salaried officials, advertising methods, soliciting agents, and lobbyists.

These are some of the reasons that lead many to advocate government ownership of railroads.

Railroads in Foreign Countries. The action of foreign governments in this matter has also had an influence in encouraging the idea. Nearly all foreign countries own their railway systems, many both own and manage them, and it is thought that what obtains satisfactorily in other lands might well be adopted in

our own.

A brief review of the status of railroads in foreign countries will be of interest, and may the better enable us to form our opinion on the subject of government ownership and government management. The various combinations are as follows:

1. Government ownership and government manage

ment

2. Government ownership and private management 3. Private ownership and government management. 4. Mixed government and private ownership and

management

Belgium.

Italy until recently.
Part of Austria.

France.

France. The railway system of France is composed of six large divisions. There is one state line. The government contributed part of the capital to build the roads. After a

certain number of years (ninety-nine) the entire railway property reverts to the state. The government exercises strict con

trol and supervision. In the construction of the roads, there was little waste of capital. Competition was suppressed. Freight rates are not excessive, and passenger rates are very low. The government guarantees the interest and the dividends on railroad bonds.

Belgium. - Government ownership is here best illustrated. Railway construction was begun in 1833 by the state. Private lines were also built. Competition set in, and proved to be uneconomic and wasteful. In 1870, the government began to buy up the private lines. Now the government owns and operates practically the entire railroad system of the country.

Italy. Before 1868, there existed disconnected lines in each province. Competition and its evil results were rampant. After 1868, the lines were united. There were four great systems Upper Italy, Rome, East Coast, Sicily and the South. There was little competition, and combinations were easily made.

After 1868, the government began to buy up the railroads. In 1875, the railroads in great part were owned and operated by the government. Government control proved unsuccessful. In 1885, the government, still owning the roads, gave up the operation to private companies. The service proved unsatisfactory and, since 1905, efforts have been made leading to state operation of the railways.

Germany. State lines were built, 1848-1850, in Prussia. Private lines were also built. Competition was keen, the service poor, and the rates high.

In 1861, Bismarck came into power, and militarism ruled the country. In 1871 and thereafter, the railroads underwent a unifying process. In 1878, 3000 miles of railroad were owned and operated by the state; 2000 were owned by private companies and operated by the state; 6000 were owned and operated by private corporations. In 1881, 7000 were owned and operated by the government; 3000 by private companies. In 1885,

13,000 were owned and operated by the government in Prussia alone, 1000 by private companies. In 1900, there were 30,597 miles of railroad in the German Empire, and 93 per cent were owned and operated by the state.

A Code of Railway Regulations was issued by the government in 1886. Since 1875, there has been no competition. Pooling is allowed between railroads, canals, and waterways, in order to eliminate wasteful competition and unjust discriminations.

Austria-Hungary. In 1906, 68 per cent of the total miles of railroad in Austria were operated by the state, and over 39 per cent were owned and operated by the state. In 1908 only 17 per cent of the total miles of railroad in Hungary were under private management. The state owned and operated 44 per cent, and operated the 39 per cent that remained under private ownership. In both countries all railroads, whether private or government-owned, are subject to the direct supervision and control of the ministry.

Russia. The government owns and operates two thirds of the railroads in European Russia. The private lines are subsidized and are thus controlled by the state.

Norway. Since 1901 the railroads are owned and operated by the state.

Sweden. In 1901 there were 7217 miles of railroad, 2392 miles of which were owned and operated by the state. Competition is prohibited.

Spain and Portugal. There are private lines helped by the

state.

Switzerland. In 1897 a law was passed authorizing the purchase of all the railroads of the country. In 1909 the government owned and operated 65 per cent of the railroad mileage. India has four classes of railroads:

1. State-owned lines operated by companies.
2. State-owned lines operated by the state.
3. Lines constructed by guaranteed companies.
4. Lines constructed by assisted companies.