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Show Wilsons Tsew Railroad Pohej The presidents d scusslon of the trans portation problem in his address to con gress n ight In ess troub esome times command an almost exclusive pub 1c at tentlon The pretldent treats the subject ln gen eral terms but n asking for a commls s od to ascer aln by careful nquirv whether our laws as at preeent franvd and admlnlatered are as serMceabe as the might be in the solut on of he prob lem he Is sett ng forth on a policy fit that which gave to the country the bank Ing and currency law The railroad problem is greatly comp 1 cated by a dual eovere gnty but so was the backing prob em before It was dea t with sclent flcal y Lntil 1887 the ral roads were exclusive ly, under state control Since the enact ment of the original Interstate commerce law state governments and the nationa government have each Imposed their own authority and as these comp Icated codes of regulation have been built up each regardless of the other the confusion has been cumulative in spite of the general ba ance of publ c benefit It ought to be poeslb e for a competent commission to prepare a new railroad act whicb wou d leave to the states con tro o er ntrastate transportation which would give the federal authority all Jiecessa r power over Interstate tra fflc and which would keep the ral roads from being ground to death between two mill stones It is merelv a quest on of substituting scientific and practica legls ation for hap hazard legls ation New York World |