There are at least two valid objections that can be urged against the adoption of such a system. Responsible companies could not be induced to lease a line for a valid consideration unless their rates were definitely fixed for a series of years. Such a course might, however, in time result in great hardship to the commerce of the country, as the great and unavoidable difference in the rates of the various railroad lines of the country would give to the commercial interests of some sections decided advantages over those of others. Besides this it would be very difficult to compel the different companies to keep the lines leased by them in repair. Controversies would constantly arise between the officers charged with the supervision of the roads and the operating companies, which could be ultimately determined only by the courts, causing to the Government loss, or at least delay in the adjustments.
5. National control.
Mr. A. B. Stickney, in his work, "The Railway Problem," holds that in the interest of uniformity it is desirable to transfer the entire control of railroads to the National Government. He assigns two reasons for the proposed change; one being that Congress would consider the subject of railroad control with more intelligence and greater deliberation; the other, that "the problem of regulating railway tolls and of managing railways is essentially and practically indivisible by the State lines or otherwise," and that the authority of Congress to deal with interstate traffic carries with it the right to regulate the traffic which is now assumed to be controlled by the several States.
It must be admitted that it is a difficult matter to draw the line of demarcation between National and State control, and that Congressional regulation of railways would remedy many evils which now affect our transportation system; yet there is reason to believe that the proposed change would in the end be productive of more evil than good. It is an essentially American maxim that the home government only should be trusted with the administration of home affairs. The people of each State know best their local needs, and it is safe to say that for a generation or two no serious effort will be made to amend the Federal Constitution in this respect or to secure from the courts an interpretation of the interstate commerce clause greatly differing from that which now obtains.
It is thus seen that nearly all the methods of railroad management which we have discussed are, at the present time at least, more or less impracticable on account of the radical changes which they would necessitate. It is not likely that for many years to come the American people could be induced to try any extensive experiments in state ownership of railroads; nor is it any more likely that the present generation will undertake the difficult task of separating the ownership of railroads from their operation.
A nation is, like the individual, inclined to follow beaten tracks. It finds it, as a rule, easier to improve these tracks than to abandon them and mark out a new course. Any proposition made for the improvement of our system of railroad transportation is in the same proportion likely to receive the approval of the masses in which it makes use of existing conditions. It will, therefore, be my aim, in making suggestions as to a more efficient control of this modern highway, to retain whatever good features the present system possesses, and to only propose such changes as may seem essential to restore to the railroad the character of a highway.
As has been indicated above, any system of railway regulation, to be applicable to our circumstances, must recognize the dual sovereignty of Nation and State. The great majority of our railroad corporations were originally created by the State, and are only responsible to the State as long as they do not engage in interstate commerce. Even foreign corporations must submit to all police regulations of the State in which they may do business, and as long as the American Constitution remains intact the individual States will, and should, assert their right to regulate local traffic and to exercise police supervision over all railroads crossing their boundaries.
All power should be kept as closely to the people as is consistent with efficiency in the public service. It may even be questioned whether entire transfer to the Federal Government of the supervisory powers now exercised by the States in railroad affairs would tend to correct existing railroad evils more speedily or more effectually than they can be corrected through the agency of local rule. The conditions, and therefore the wants, of the different States differ so greatly that general legislation must always fail when it attempts to regulate matters of merely local concern.
The means employed by the State for the regulation of the roads under its jurisdiction should be such as are least likely to lead to a conflict with Federal authority, and experience has shown that the authority of the General Government and that of an individual State over a railroad company, which is incorporated under the laws of the latter, but is engaged in interstate commerce, may be so harmonized as to avoid conflicts between the two sovereignties without any great sacrifice of power on the part of either. Judge Cooley said recently in reference to regulation by National and State commissions:
"There is no good reason in the nature of things why the conformity should not be complete and perfect. It is remarkable that up to this time there has been so little—I will not say of conflict, but even of diversity of action between the National and State commissions. Indeed, I recall no instance at this time when anything done by the one has seemed to me to afford just ground for complaint by the other. This may justly be attributed to the fact that there has been no purpose on the part of either to do any act that could afford ground for just complaint on the part of managers of the business regulated and no desire to do anything else than to apply rules of right and equality for the protection of the general public. The aim of all regulation ought to be justice, and when it is apparent that this is the purpose of the several commissions, the railroad managers of the country may more reasonably be expected to coöperate with them much more generally than they do now. If these managers were to come generally and heartily into more full and complete recognition of the rules of right and justice that the law undertakes to lay down for the performance of their duties in their management of the great interests they represent, there cannot be the least doubt that the general result would be, not only that their service to the public would be more useful than it is now, but that the revenues derived from their business would be materially increased through the cutting off of many of the drains upon them, which now, while affecting injuriously the returns they can make to their stockholders, at the same time have the effect of prejudicing the mind of the general public against railroad management to an extent quite beyond what is generally understood by those who suffer from it. The prejudice is inevitable, and not at all unreasonable when it is seen, as it very often is, that these drains result from an unjust discrimination against the public or some portion thereof, that they are of a character that ought to need no law and no criminal or other penalties to put them under the ban of condemnation in every office of railroad management.