erning long and short hauls. Among others, the law of Florida contains the following clause bearing upon the same point :

The railroad commission "shall have full power by rules and regulations to fix the rates of freight and passenger transportation to be allowed for longer and shorter distances on the same or different railroads, and to fix what shall be the limits. of longer and shorter distances."

Alabama expresses the same conditions in almost identical language. Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas likewise authorized their commissions to suspend the long and short haul provision. In Mississippi the law specifies that "the commission shall regulate and fix the rates to be charged on short hauls in excess of what may be charged on long hauls."

Other states having long and short haul provisions are Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Iowa, Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.

Discriminations. Discriminations have from the first presented the most serious aspects of railway regulation, and we are therefore not surprised to find statutory provisions prohibiting discriminations in sixteen state constitutions and in the laws of three-fourths of all the states. common form of expressing this prohibition is the following:

A

"If any railroad corporation shall wilfully

charge, collect, or receive from any person or persons, for the transportation of any freight upon its railroad, a higher or greater rate, toll, or compensation than it shall at the same time charge, collect, or receive from any other person or persons for the transportation of a like quantity of freight of the same class, being transported from the same point, in the same direction, over equal distance of the same road, or if it shall charge, collect, or receive from any person or persons, for the use and transportation of any railroad car or cars upon its railroad, a higher or greater sum than it shall at the same time charge, collect, or receive from any other person or persons for the use or transportation of a car or cars of the same class, for a like purpose from the same point in the same direction, and an equal distance, all such discriminating rates, charges, or collections, whether made directly or by means of any rebate, or other shift or evasion, shall be considered and taken as prima facie evidence of discrimination, which is hereby prohibited and declared unlawful, and shall be punished. . . ."

The great importance of the legal attempts to wipe out evil practices, known under the names of discrimination, rebates, extortion, abuses, etc., warrants a brief indication of the essence of the statutory provisions found in a number of other

states.

Alabama.

What constitutes extortion decided by jury. Penalty, double the damage inflicted

upon a shipper plus attorney fees. Commission hears complaint.1

California. - Railway commission given power to correct abuses. Railways obliged to transport for each other without delay, to grant right of intersection, etc.2

Florida. A law of 1899 prohibits railway companies from charging more than reasonable rates and from practising unjust discriminations.

Illinois. Extortion and discriminations punished by heavy fines, amply provided for in the law.

Michigan. Discriminations of all kinds forbidden, and rates at non-competing points not to be greater than those at competitive points.

Nebraska.

Board of transportation shall inves

tigate and prevent discriminations.

Ohio. - Railways shall not discriminate between each other, between way and through freights, between trunk and other railways. Roads shall furnish equal facilities and forward freight by lines specified by the shipper. The latter may

enforce by injunction.

South Dakota.- Unjust discriminations and preferences declared unlawful in two separate sections of the law. Discriminations as to goods, cars, railways, persons, etc., expressly prohibited.

Texas. Discriminations prohibited under former laws; but a law of 1899 punishes discriminations

1 Consult constitution, Article XIV, section 21.

2 Consult constitution, Article XI, section 17.

on part of railways against steamship lines in the interchange of traffic. The unusual punishment of not less than two and not more than five years in the penitentiary is inflicted by the law, but this shall not prevent railways from granting reduced rates to charitable and state institutions, to excursionists, fairs, railway officers, etc.

Additional states which have legislated on discriminations are Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont, and Wisconsin. In a few of these states the legal provisions simply assert the power of the commission to correct abuses, and in the hands of an energetic commission or other state officer this is probably sufficient successfully to combat the evils of discriminations.

Rates Publicity and Revision. This subject is closely connected with the powers and duties of railway commissions. Since, however, not all the states have commissions, and laws relating to the fixing, revising, and publishing of rates exist in some of these states, it is necessary to give separate treatment to this question. The intrinsic importance of the subject of rates warrants its being set off by itself for special treatment. Railway rates have long constituted the pivotal point upon which have turned the most complex as well as important railway problems, and it is no exag

charges. The schedules adopted by the commission must be published by the companies, although the commission itself may publish them. The maximum rates prescribed in California are based on the graded mileage system. In Georgia railway companies may control rates on their respective lines, subject to the commission and laws of the state. Rate schedules shall be published by the commission in certain newspapers, and railway companies must post the same. Weighing of freight is done by sworn weighers. Publicity is compulsory under the laws of Illinois, and the general assembly directs the commission by law to make schedules. On the application of the mayor and council or trustees of a township, the commission shall examine rates under the laws of Iowa, and all rates established by the commission shall be considered just and reasonable until proven otherwise. Railway companies shall promptly post and file with the commission schedules of rates. Ten days' notice is required for an advance in rates, although no previous notice must be given for reductions. The Kansas commission law having been declared unconstitutional, the legal status of the question of rates is perhaps uncertain in that state. Formerly maximum rates were prescribed, and no rates could be increased without sixty days' notice. In Louisiana maximum rates are prescribed by the laws of 1890 and 1894. The commission adopts changes and regulates rates and governs the relations between main and branch lines. In Maine