Word: railroads
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Dates: during 1890-1899
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Some years ago, Congress, influenced by the public indignation, passed an Act providing for a committee to do away with these abuses, which were clearly pointed out. This committee, with the authority of the government behind it, said with unqualified and absolute prohibition, "Thou shalt not." But in railroad matters "prohibition does not prohibit." The provisions of the Act and of its later amendments were all ingeniously evaded by shippers...
...wanted by them, is shown by the fact that they acknowledge that the legislation thus far has brought about an increase in earnings, an increase in traffic and a general improvement. Mr. Depew and Mr. Ingalls, both prominent railway presidents, express the sentiments of most men of authority in railroad business in acknowledging that the public and the railway need legislation that shall obtain complete control over these vast corporations, these vast concentrations of capital...
...WARREN ARGUMENT.To understand the origin of railroad abuses, one must appreciate the full extent of competition. Investors cannot withdraw their money, they must make the road a success. Hence competition has become a life and death struggle, and the roads have resorted to underhand means. But the railroads themselves, for their own salvation, introduced a system of pooling which, by giving each road an assurance of just so much traffic, removed the necessity for reductions, and the evils consequent upon these reductions...
This system, however, was prohibited by the Inter-state Commerce Act. The framers of this act showed no conception of the relation of railroad practices. They forbade reductions and then proceeded to forbid also the pooling system, which was the only thing that had shown itself capable of putting a stop to those reductions. They left the cause, and forbade the effect. The truce between railroads was broken, and they were forced again into secret war. The law that declared that all firms shall be treated alike really intensified the inequality. Since reductions are illegal, they must be secret...
...CUMMING'S ARGUMENT.H S. Cummings, the last speaker from Yale, began by emphasizing the fact that granting a system of pools to be the true solution of the railroad problem, such a system necessitates further limitation by national legislation. Therefore in declaring the system to be the true solution Harvard had given the debate to Yale. In the hope for speedy economic relief from railroad injury through the Interstate Commerce Commission, the people have been disappointed. The railroads have refused to abide by the decisions of the commission in cases of complaints brought before them for settlement; the complainant...