THE INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION. Hon. WILLIAM R. MORRISON, Chairman, of Illinois. Hon. WHEELOCK G. VEAZEY, of Vermont. Hon. MARTIN A. KNAPP, of New York. Hon. JAMES W. McDILL, of Iowa. Hon. JUDSON C. CLEMENTS, of Georgia. EDWARDA. MOSELEY, Secretary. 3 REPORT OF THE INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION. WASHINGTON, D. C., December 1, 1893. To the Senate and House of Representatives: The Interstate Commerce Commission respectfully presents this its seventh annual report for the consideration of Congress. Before taking up the various special topics to which the greater part of this report is devoted, it is deemed suitable to submit some general observations bearing upon the scope and operation of the act to regulate commerce, and which may also be of value in disclosing the necessity and testing the utility of amendatory legislation. These observations are suggested by the experience acquired in administering the existing statute and by some reflection upon the intricate problems of railway transportation. The peculiar office of common carriers and the increasing dependence of every occupation upon their facilities, indicate the general requirements and restrictions which are indispensable to adequate legislation. The right of every person to just and equal treatment in all that pertains to public transportation is practically unquestioned. Το secure the actual enjoyment of this right, to insure fairness and impartiality in the conduct and charges of public carriers, is the paramount purpose of all regulative enactments. Whatever plan is adopted for accomplishing this purpose must necessarily include the fixing of a standard of compensation binding alike on those who furnish and those who use the agencies of transportation. The idea of government supervision presumes a definite and uniform rule for ascertaining the terms upon which the carrier's services can be obtained, whenever or wherever those services may be required. Whether established by the carrier in the first instance, as is the usual custom, or prescribed by the superior authority of the state, a rule must exist as the basis and subject matter of useful regulation. In other words, there must be a common and public rate, prima facie just and reasonable, which measures, so long as it continues, the lawful charges of the carrier to every shipper. |