| Show evv WHAT IT H AT RAILROADS AV S ARE UP AGAINST I 1 IN LACK OF UNIFORM legislation al joh railroad legislation 11 is always a live topic and railroads are an abao lute necessity to tho the rapid industrial development of the west from this standpoint the following paragraphs are worth reading to gain an idea of why the railroad fc arc unable dt this time to adequately serve tho the public why less new railroad rail road Is being built than for aba tb e last 60 50 years why congress finally decided to investigate the whole subject of railroad regulation with a view to improving roving exist ing DC conditions and why it seems seem essary to put an end to dual regula tion ion by the states and federal government and place regulation of uio the railroads exclusively in the hands of the federal government fifteen states by prescribing a ti minimum movement for freight are tars or bv by imposing heavy pe aleles for delays attempt to favor their own trade traffic twenty states regulate hours of railway service the variations run ning from 10 to 16 hours a day twenty eight states specify held light requirements without an ap to uniformity fourteen states have dissimilar safety appl ance acts in 41 states in 1909 ab new laws affecting railroads were ere enacted in 40 states in I 1 new railroad laws 1276 between 1912 and 1915 1015 upward of bills affecting railroads were introduced into congress an anti our several states legislatures of which have become laws twenty states have passed stuffed crew laws twenty one states however refused to enact au suh h a nine attempts in six years have been made to secure fed ted eral approval for such a law but without success legis lature passed a stuffed crew lav law but on a referendum to the voters of the state the law was rejected by a vote of to a stuffed crew bills were vetoed by governor foss of massachusetts governor cruce of oklahoma governors hughus and dix of new byork and governor harmon of ohio in the fiscal year 1914 railroads operating miles reported an expense of for compliance with stuffed crew legislation this amount equals a return of 5 per cent on of capital those companies reported a total expense of in consequence of legislation regulating operation equivalent to decreasing their basis of credit railroad statutes in force in new york to end of 1006 1900 make up an octavo volume of pages and in pennsylvania to end of 1007 1907 more than octavo page pages one state requires cars an at adjacent jacent slate state drobilits Dro hibits th practice this state is traversed bf br carriers passing through the cuspi caspi dor state one state requires screens in the windows of passenger cars and these cars traverse a neighboring state where screens are forbidden nineteen states have legally as seated their right to control bond ud nd sock fock issues of railroads operating within their limits and doubtless this number will inar aso ase in 1913 the arizona corporation commission by withholding approval for ad in tended sale of two year note by the southern Paci pacific left that company no alternative but to isida one year notes the result of this change in plans being a loss of to 1 tha 13 southern pacific the railroad commissions missions s of kansada and texas upon occasion have roade made their approval of certain rail railroad roae security issues contina at upon the expenditure of a fixed proportion of the proceeds within their respective borders recently the new york vork central which has oaly only a total right of way in 1111 nois nol is of 14 miles although it oper ates miles nilles of first track aa a taxed by the state 0 ct illinois as a condition precedent to its approval of an intended financing during a hearing beffie e the senate committee no nn interstate coin com merce in the shepard bill to abolish the doctrine of the shreveport case the question of state discriminations irions was wits emphasized while le lou louada Lo alandt was protesting against this bill hill tele avrams of protest pro teat from st louis and kansas city commercial bodies w arre to received and read st louis louls contended that I 1 the he shepard bill would permit illinois to exclude st louis from the commerce of that state kans kansis is city claimed tint thit th it it would be excluded from the markets ol 01 kansas and oklahoma Oka homa A tennessee congressman appeared and und pr protested 0 that ta the the bill would enable arkansas to exclude from its ita it A markets and while Louis lani was protesting the exclusion of its business men from Louis Lo maMia llna markets while the virginia commission was complaining before the interstate bomm commerce ace commission against north carolina for discriminating rates its chairman judge prentis was bayor hie ing the adoption of the shepard bill before the senite committee ref refined pried to two million nine hundred anil anti nine tyone thou thousand sard seven hundred a and nd seventysix seventy siv six reports of all kinds wera filed flied with fe Jeral state and aud other authorities during the year end ed june CO 00 1915 the preparation of these reports cost the carriers many nall ion ton dollars |
