| Show srilECOMUOI OF ItAILIIU tl > KAILS Recently the Supreme Court of the United States rendered n decision which sets aside n law of the state of Nebraska prescribing maximum railroad rail-road freight rates and has excited a good deal of comment by western news papers The tribunal named has Ie poatedl held that state legislatures had power 10 fix maximum rates profiled pro-filed the same were reasonable but the statute referred to Is I set aside on the ground that the highest rates It permitted to be charged were too lowThe The Interesting feature of the decision de-cision Is I the method by which the court reached this conclusion and It Is I this feature that provokes discussion and threatens to neutralize state legislation legis-lation on tho subject partlculaily In the West The court laid down itie principle that a state In reducing rates must concern Itself with local I trnlllc only The road must be permitted to make a fair profit upon business beginning begin-ning and ending In the state without regard to tho profit made upon tho whole volume of business done within the state The contention ot counsel for the state had been that the reasonableness reason-ableness of the rates established by the Nebraska statute Is I not to be determined deter-mined by the Inquiry whether such rates would leave a reasonable lIt profit from the local business affected thereby but that the courts should take Into consideration among other things the whole business of the corn allytho Is all Its business passenger passen-ger and freight Interstate and domestic domes-tic To this the court replied U we do not misapprehend caun sel 1 their argument leads to the conclusion conclu-sion that the state of Nebraska could legally require local freight business to be conducted even at all actual loss If tho company earned on Us Interstate business enough to give It just compensation com-pensation In respect of Its entire line and all Its busmen Interstate and domestic do-mestic We cannot concur In this view In our judgment It must beheld be-held that the reasonableness or unreasonableness un-reasonableness of rates prescribed by a state for the transportation ot persons per-sons and property wholly within Ila limits rrrost be determined without reference ref-erence 10 the interstate business don by the cariTer oil tho profits derived from It The state cannot Justify un reasonably low rates for domestic transportation considered alone upon the ground that the carrier Is I earning large profits on Us Interstate business over hlh so far no rates are ron corned the state has no control No ran the carrier Justify unreasonably high rates on domestic businesso upon the ground hat It 1 will be able only In that waj to meet lasses on Its Interstate Inter-state business So far as rates of transPortation trans-Portation are concerned domestic bust ness should not be made to bear Ih lasses on Interstate laudnems nor the latter I the losses on domestic business It Is I only rates for the transportation of persons and property between point within the state that the state can prescribe And when It undertakes to prescribe rates not to be exceeded by the carrier must do so with reference exclusively to what la just and reasonable reason-able as between the carrier and the public In respect of domestic business The argument that a railroad line Is Inn I-nn entirely j that Its Incom oei Into anti Its expense are provf Or out ot a common fund and that vplta1 I Izatlon Is I on Its entire line v n and wltlxt the state can have no appllca lion where the state Is I without author Ity over rates on the entire line and can only deal with local rates and milk uh rOlrUlalion am are necessary to give I just compensation on local bust items The practical bearing of this sajs the Chicago News Is that In moat western states local business considered consid-ered alone does not pay large profits A road that may be making excessive profits upon III entire business within a Plato may yet be able to show that n reduction of rates for tradle beginning begin-ning and ending In the state considered consid-ered by Itself Is I unreasonable This cK slon Is highly advantageous to rail raids and will no doubt be used as nn argument In tur of r I1nllrollrund legislation by Congress |
