OCR Text |
Show DISCRIMINATION SEEN IN RAILROAD RATES What has been described as one of the most important decisions ever reached by the Interstate Commerce Commission is its order reclassifying railroad freight rate3 so that all communities and sections sec-tions of the United States will receive re-ceive equally fair treatment. Several weeks ago the Supreme Court handed down a decision leveling lev-eling rates for southern states. Now, the Interstate Commerce Commission's order extends the leveling process of freight rates to all parts of the country. Governor Ellis Arnall of Georgia is entitled to most of the credit for instignat-ing instignat-ing court action, and the victory he obtained In the Supreme Court undoubtedly influenced the Interstate Inter-state Commerce Commission to finish the job. Railroads have always had little ways of their own, and back in the old days they maintained a system called "rebates" for the benefit of big customers throughout the Nation; Na-tion; the result being that a manufacturer man-ufacturer who operated on a large scale could get his products from one part of the country to another so much cheaper on account of the rebates then the small manufacturers, manu-facturers, that the later were unable un-able to compete. Unless the little folks controlled local markets they were driven out of business. That discrimination became a national issue. The Interstate Commerce Commission has followed the lead of thesouthern states and slapped the lid down on the roalroads despite de-spite the Association of American railroads. |