COMMUNICATION FROM THE RAILROAD AND WAREHOUSE COMMISSIONERS, Concerning the operation of the Railroad Law of 1873. 1 COMMUNICATION. OFFICE OF THE RAILROAD AND WAREHOUSE COMMISSIONERS, To the Speaker of the House of Representatives : SIR: In compliance with a resolution adopted by the House of Representatives on the 10th inst., calling upon the Board of Railroad and Warehouse Commissioners for certain information in relation to the effect and operation of the "railroad law" enacted at the last session of the General Assembly, we submit the following report, to be by you laid before the House of Representatives : REPORT. While it is true that the said law took effect on the 1st day of July last, yet it is also true that by the plain provisions of the law itself, the remedies intended to be thereby afforded to the people as against railroad corporations for extortion and unjust discriminations are not as yet. fully available, inasmuch as it is provided by the law that schedules of reasonable maximum rates for the transportation of freight and passengers should be prepared by this commission, which schedules are to be taken as prima facie evidence of reasonable rates on the 15th day of January, 1874, or if a session of the General Assembly should be held prior to that date, then at the expiration of ten days from the commencement of such session. No session of the General Assembly was held prior to said date, and it therefore follows that said schedules, which have been prepared as required by law, are not as yet operative or available in courts of justice for any purpose whatever. As reviewed by this Board, the provisions of the law requiring the preparation of these schedules and making them evidence in courts of justice, is by far its most valuable feature as regards the practical enforcement of its requirements. No railroad corporation, by its charter or otherwise, may lawfully impose unreasonable rates for the transportation of passengers or freight. By this provision the people are furnished with a standard of rates that in itself is prima facie evidence of what is reasonable. 1 Without this provision in any legal proceeding the reasonableness of any charge for transportation must be shown by calling as witnesses. experts, nearly all of whom are operators of railroads, and therefore almost universally interested in behalf of the corporations. From the foregoing it will be readily perceived that the law although nominally in operation on the 1st day of July last, has in fact been much narrower in its operation and bearing upon the railroad management of the State than is intended by its terms after the 15th inst. Indeed it is but little doubted that a careful examination of the law, and comparison of its provisions with numerous adjudicated cases, will show that without the provision in relation to the schedules and their use as evidence, the principle involved-that is to say, the unlawfulness of extortion, or unjust discriminations on the part of railway corporations-was already well and firmly established. Entertaining these views this Commission respectfully submits that it is not true, as stated in the preamble to the resolution aforesaid, that they "have had six months' experience as to the practical workings of the law." On the contrary, we are of opinion that all of the law which is novel in principle, and that which is by far its most valuable, practical and effectual feature, has hitherto been inoperative, and that the great benefits which we, in common with the friends of the law, believe will inure to the public by an energetic enforcement of its provisions, are now for the first time upon the eve of realization. In our opinion no conclusion as to the subjects embodied in said resolution predicated upon the effects of the law, in its hitherto very restricted condition, can or ought to be accepted as any just criterion of its usefulness or efficiency in regulating and controling the management of railroads within the State as relating to the transportation of passengers and freight, nor have we any data derived from our experience under the law as thus restricted, by which the comparisons contemplated by the first and third queries contained in said resolution can be made. In conclusion, we deem it proper to state that the act of May 2d, 1873, in force July 1st, 1873, for the most part has been disregarded by the railroad corporations throughout the State. On the 1st day of July last, the day fixed by the General Assembly for the law to take effect, the railroad corporations throughout the State, with a few exceptions, advanced their rates from 25 to 30 per cent., and in some instances far more than that. The effect of this action by the railroad officials upon the general trade and commerce of the State was most serious in its results. The people, already excited and indignant in consequence of the high rates that had for a long time been exacted by the managers of the roads, were given to understand that on the same day fixed by the Legislature, by this law, intended for the public relief, to be in force, the rates, instead of being lowered, were, by simultaneous movement on the part of the railroad officials of the State, increased. This action on the part of the railroad corporations was not, of course, required by the schedules which have since been prepared, nor in our opinion was in accordance with the spirit or intent of the law. 1 THE |