CHAPTER XIII. THE TENURE OF RAILROADS UNDER THE LAW-THE INTERSTATE COMMERCE LAW OF THE UNITED LAW. The railways of the United States are incorporated under general or special laws. Permission is first granted to subscribers to the capital stock to form a company. Thus incorporated, the personal responsibility of the owner is limited. Attached to incorporation is the right to sue and be sued; to acquire, by condemnation, land and property situated theron; to charge for services performed; to enforce rules and regulations, and do other things that the business requires. The various States have, from the first, exercised the right to enforce such regulations as seemd to be necessary to the convenience and safety of the people. The conditions under which capital was induced to subscribe to railway enterprises, have been generally respected by the government. Some of the notable exceptions to this rule I have noticed. The inception of railway enterprise is so recent, and its development so great and unexpected, that it is unavoidable the government should not, in every case, have apprehended fully the situation of affairs; that it should not have always under stood the reciprocal relations that exist between the people and the carrier, and the necessity of their being based on natural laws, and, because of this lack of comprehension, should have made mistakes. Such mistakes were not only to be expected, but were excusable. But when blindly adhered to, after having been demonstrated to be so, they become political crimes. The legal incorporation of railroads is only a feature. Legislative action affects them in every direction. The provisions of the law reach, directly or indirectly, every nook and crevice of the service, take cognizance of every act. The government concerns itself, not only with the relation of the carrier to the public and the State, but also to his employes. It takes notice of the fiscal methods of railroads, and in many cases the price they shall charge for their services. It prescribes in certain directions the physical appliances they shall use. It imposes the duty of transporting persons and property, including the mails, and fixes the responsibilities and liabilities attached thereto. Legislation affecting railroads divides itself under natural heads, such as taxation; the safety of the public and the employe; limitations of fran chise; right to construct; property rights; the rates that shall be charged; the supervisory power of the government. This volume refers to the last two.* *In reference to the others, they are so diffuse, vary so greatly in different States and countries, are so intertwined with the law-making power, the decisions of judges, the force Those who require a technical knowledge of legislation affecting railroads, their rights, limitations, and responsibilities, must go to the fountain-head to obtain it; to the statutes, the decisions of the courts, the rulings of the State, common practice, the advice of lawyers, etc. They can not be embodied in any volume or series of volumes, because each day brings with it some withdrawal, addition, or modification of right, privilege, immunity, penalty, duty, or responsibility. In all legislative supervision and practice, this fact in reference to commercial affairs should be borne in mind, namely, that no enterprise can or will be prosecuted successfully that does not remunerate all parties concerned; that does not pay the proprietor, as well as his patron and employe. In the case of railroads, we must not expect of them safe or adequate accommodation, if we deny them due compensation. The owner, like every other manufacturer, expects and is entitled to a return proportionate to the value of his property. His method of remuneration is through the right accorded him to charge for his services. To qualify this right, or seriously limit it, is to cripple him, and through him the State. The interests of the two are co-existent. They can not be of precedents and common practice, that to attempt a description of them in detail would confuse rather than enlighten. I shall, therefore, not attempt it here. They are referred to in other volumes of "The Science of Railways" series devoted to the subjects of financing, organizing, constructing, maintaining, operating and the questions incident thereto. separated. The unthinking and the vicious may believe it possible, but experience will teach them their mistake. In our time a nation is prosperous or otherwise according to the efficiency of its railroads; according to the measure of their adequacy and the cheapness of their service. Competition. with other countries is possible or otherwise, according to the measure of their prosperity and efficiency. A nation advances or retrogrades, grows rich or poor, as it is prosperous or otherwise. Referring to this subject in connection with the United States, the Interstate Commerce Commission, in its fourth report, says: "The railroads have, in fact, been the most important physical agency in national recuperation since the great civil war, and in giving wealth and prosperity to the country as a whole. What they have done has been accomplished because the railroad interest, as a whole, has been prosperous, and whatever would unjustly destroy or restrict their prosperity would be as mischievous to the country at large as it would to their owners.' In Great Britain the rights, privileges and immunities granted to railways, under the Acts of Parliament creating them, have been steadfastly observed. Such changes as she has made in these enactments have, in every case, been mutually agreed upon by all parties in interest in advance. They have been such as commend them to honorable men. Each railroad of Great Britain, it should be remembered, is created by special act of Parliament; the government claims and exercises the right of veto in the location of a road; the right to inspect and accept it, before it shall be opened for business; to see that necessary measures are taken to secure the safety of the public; to enforce proper and equal facilities for all; to prevent discrimination in rates; to reduce rates when the return on the property exceeds the percentage agreed upon; to require rates to be posted at stations; to require all freight offered for transport to be received, unless it be dangerous; to require railroads to allow the use of their tracks to persons who wish to provide their own equipment and motive power; to require at least one train a day to be run each way; to require a uniform rate to be charged to passengers, according to the accommodation furnished, allowing a given amount of baggage free in each case; to require the adoption of a standard gauge; to carry soldiers, police, public baggage, and government stores at fixed rates; to run such mail trains as the postmaster general shall require; the right to inspect the property and equipment whenever thought proper; to make regulations for handling the traffic at junctions in a safe manner; and, finally, to limit the return on the capital invested to the amount agreed upon. In every case, such changes as have been made in the organic law of railroads have been mutually agreed upon by the government and the corporation. They have been *Railroads in the United Kingdom are liable, as in America, under both common and special law, for injuries to persons and property. |