Upon the question of publicity of the railroad business the commission held that, as the books of the defendant carriers, as to rates charged, facilities furnished and general movements of freight, are in the nature of semi-public records, the officers and agents of defendant carriers ought to give promptly to a complainant any statement of facts called for, if such statement may probably have importance on the hearing.
Judge Brewer's opinion as to what constitutes a reasonable rate was evidently not shared by Judge Cooley and his colleagues, for in the case of the New Orleans Cotton Exchange vs. the Cincinnati, New Orleans and Pacific Railway Company the commission decided that the fact that a road earns but little more than operating expenses cannot be made to justify grossly excessive rates, and that "wherever there are more roads than the business at fair rates will remunerate, they must rely upon future earnings for the return of investments and profits." In another case the commission hold that "in fixing reasonable rates the requirements of operating expenses, bonded debt, fixed charges and dividend on capital stock from the total traffic are all to be considered, but the claim that any particular rate is to be measured by these as a fixed standard, below which the rate may not lawfully be reduced, is one rightly subject to some qualifications, one of which is that the obligations must be actual and in good faith."
The rules governing the proper construction of classification sheets which the commission has laid down are founded upon common sense and justice. They say:
"A classification sheet is put before the public for general information; it is supposed to be expressed in plain terms so that the ordinary business man can understand it and, in connection with the rate sheets, determine for himself what he can be lawfully charged for transportation. The persons who prepare the classification have no more authority to construe it than anybody else, and they must leave it to speak for itself."
In defining what is legitimate traffic the commission made the following decision:
"The transportation of traffic under circumstances and conditions that force a low rate for its carriage or an abandonment of the business, but which affords some revenue above the cost of its movement, and works no material injustice to other patrons of a carrier, is to be deemed legitimate competition. When, however, its carriage is at a loss and imposes a burden on like traffic at other points and on other traffic, it is to be deemed destructive and illegitimate competition."
It has been shown in a former chapter that the weaker oil refiners have been discriminated against by the railroads, which permitted the Standard Oil Company to use their own tank cars in the shipment of oil and charge its competitors excessive rates for like shipments in barrels. Complaint being made of this discrimination, the commission held that it is properly the business of a carrier by railroad to supply rolling stock for the freight he offers or proposes to carry, and that "if the diversities and peculiarities of traffic are such that this is not always practical, and the consignor is allowed to supply it for himself, the carrier must not allow its own deficiencies in this particular to be made the means of putting at unreasonable disadvantage those who may use in the same traffic all the facilities which it supplies."
A most important ruling of the commission is that relating to the pass abuse. Complaint was made that the Boston and Maine Railroad Company issued in the States of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts free passes to certain classes of persons, among them "gentlemen long eminent in the public service, higher officials of the States, prominent officials of the United States, members of the legislative railroad committees of the above named States, and persons whose good will was claimed to be important to the defendant." The commission decided that such a discrimination is unwarranted, that a carrier is bound to charge equally to all persons, regardless of their relative individual standing in the community, and that the words "under substantially similar circumstances and conditions" relate to the nature and character of the service rendered by the carrier, and not to the official, social or business position of the passenger.
It is a notorious fact that the practice of issuing free passes to public officials and other influential persons has been more or less indulged in by nearly every railroad in the country up to the present time. It is to be hoped that this ruling of the commission will be enforced in such a manner as to put an end to this intolerable abuse.
The Interstate Commerce Commission has been equally efficient in its administrative capacity. From the very first it called attention to the great advantage of having one classification of freight throughout the country, and it has since labored diligently to unify the various classifications in use. As the commission in this undertaking is only armed with the armor of moral suasion, it is a difficult task; but there is little doubt that the accomplishment of this great reform is only a question of a few years. Iniquities in classifications and rates are constantly pointed out by the commission and corrected by the companies. Moreover, the annual reports of the commission, not to mention its very excellent statistical data, diffuse much useful information and dispel many delusions. Thus the fourth annual report of the commission says: