We must not imagine, to begin with, that we are entirely blameless. We are in some respects only realizing the wages of past sins. We have done many of "those things which we ought not to have done," and we have left undone many of "those things we ought to have done." Most of the evils date back many years and many of them might have been prevented had the government done its duty and enforced the law. Yet even in most recent years we can find some mistakes with which to concern ourselves. It is not strange that many men who have suffered loss through delays in their traffic, or in their personal transportation, or who saw themselves deprived of profitable business because they could not secure cars, should have become exasperated and, not having time to properly analyze the difficulty, thought that the railroads were lacking in foresight and management.
But let us go back a few years. It is a great mistake to hold the railroads responsible for such practices as rebating in those days, when it would have been impossible to throw a stone in a commercial community without hitting somebody who was taking rebates and wanting more. Many men are today running for office on anti-railroad platforms who if you were to say "Rebates" would duck their heads very much as David Harum said his Newport friends would do if he called out "Low bridge!" That rebates were wrong nobody questions, but to pillory a man today for accepting rebates at that time is a farce.
Many persons believe that the so-called discriminations, resulting in the secret arrangements, were largely influenced by the desire upon the part of railroad officials to favor one man against another, but no thoughtful man who has at all studied the problem believes this. Rebates and other forms of discrimination,—whatever may have been the result in specific instances,—had their origin mainly in the competition between carriers for the traffic. Incidentally, in transacting railroad business through secret arrangements, as became the custom in that period, there were many cases of discrimination in favor of the strong and against the weak.
There was a strong feeling upon the part of many men, both in and out of railway service, that the larger shipper, under the ordinary rules of business, was entitled to a lower rate, and they could not conceive the real principle which should govern the making of railroad rates,—which, however, has come clearly to be realized since that time. The railroad systems, generally, were not more anxious to pay rebates than they were to pay higher prices for their supplies, and simply pursued the course of their competitors because, otherwise, they saw nothing but loss and probable bankruptcy staring them in the face. The railroads were forbidden by law to meet and make formal agreements for the maintenance of rates, and by another law were required to compete. We all thought that the old plan was competition.
Had the Government, through its Interstate Commerce Commission, vigorously undertaken to enforce the law—passing if necessary, long before it did, the Elkins Act—I think we should have seen a correction of these abuses long before the reform came; but, as a matter of fact, neither the Government authorities nor many of those managing the railroads had yet reached a clear conception of the significance of the abuses which existed and of the proper legal method of uprooting those evils.
GETTING AWAY FROM OLD ABUSES.
Upon the resumption of business activity, in 1898 and 1899, and, later, following the passage of the Elkins Act, the opportunity was presented,—and in general accepted by the railroads,—to get away from the old methods. While since then there have been some cases of violation of the law, in the matter of secret arrangements, yet I think that, at least within the last four or five years, it is safe to say that they have been of small importance, and perhaps, in many of the cases—while a technical violation of the law—were actually not discriminations. I say this advisedly, so far as the eastern situation is concerned, because I know that the Pennsylvania Railroad Company has not paid a rebate for years, and it is fair to believe that as that company held its traffic,—in fact, largely increased it,—without the necessity for such arrangements, its competitors must have to a large extent pursued the same policy.
But not alone in reference to freight rates was there more or less complicity in evil between the people and the railroads, but let me ask you to consider, for a moment, the question of free transportation, or passes,—whether political or business. It is only within the last year or two that the public conscience has been awakened on this subject. It is true, the railroads have been abused for several years by those who did not enjoy such favors, but is the railroad more responsible for the conditions that existed than the Government of the people, either in the National Congress or in the State legislatures, and how could it be expected that the legislators in one State could feel that they were doing very wrong in accepting passes, when the legislators of another State enjoyed them by law of the State? How could members of Congress be criticised for accepting such privileges, or the railroads for extending them, when the Presidents of the United States and member of their cabinets, and other important officers of the Government not only accepted them, but practically exacted them, and, further, expected that private cars and private trains should be furnished without charge? Upon one occasion within the past two years I called upon the Interstate Commerce Commission to ask its assistance in eliminating the pass abuse, and was very frankly told that it could make no move, nor take any interest in the subject, in view of the fact that important public officials including Senators and the members of Congress felt that it was not improper for them to accept them. Out of this situation grew a large part of the pass abuse, because, following the national government and the legislatures, the large men of business felt that they could properly accept similar privileges.
Therefore, I repeat, that while there were great abuses—especially during the period referred to—embittering a large portion of people, yet the railroads were no more responsible than the people themselves; and yet, without doubt it was during this period that the foundation was laid for the feeling of the present day.
RAILWAYS WELCOME JUST REGULATION.