r by far
the largest number of complaints that have recently been brought before
the Interstate Commerce Commission charged personal and local
discrimination independent of any question of classification.

It is shown by the reports of the commission that discriminations are
still practiced by various companies, that annual passes are still
illegally issued to bribe or appease men of influence, that discounts
are still given to favor shippers under various pretexts, that some
large railroad centers still enjoy more favorable rates than smaller
towns, and that the long and short haul clause of the Interstate
Commerce Act is still violated by railroad companies. There are besides
these scores of other devices in vogue among railroad managers to
subvert the principles of the common law. No doubt discriminations are
now much less frequent, and are possibly the exception where but a few
years ago they were the rule, but the fact that such abuses still exist
is a strong argument for the retention of the law as well as for the
necessity of continued vigilance on the part of the people and those
especially charged with the execution of the laws. The railroad acts of
Congress and the various States ask nothing of common carriers but just
and equitable treatment for all their patrons. If this is freely
accorded, these laws are no burden to the railroads. If, on the other
hand, there is a tendency on the part of the railroads to resort to
subterfuges and evasions, the wholesome restraint of the statute is
absolutely necessary for the protection of the shipper.

The repeal of the Interstate Commerce Law, or the adoption of such
amendments as are demanded by railroad men, would be interpreted by them
as an abandonment of all its principles and would inaugurate an era of
unprecedented railroad oppression. History ever repeats itself.
Unchecked license will always lead to arrogance and despotism, and any
power which is long permitted to defy the state will in time control it.
It is not likely that the people of the United States can be induced to
demonstrate to the world that democratic government is incapable of
profiting in the dear school of experience.

Our railroad legislation contains no principle that is not found in the
common law. Its maxims are our birthright and will be the birthright of
our children and children's children, and while railroad companies may
be able in the future, as they have been in the past, to violate