ley and his colleagues, for in the case
of the New Orleans Cotton Exchange vs. the Cincinnati, New Orleans and
Pacific Railway Company the commission decided that the fact that a
road earns but little more than operating expenses cannot be made to
justify grossly excessive rates, and that "wherever there are more roads
than the business at fair rates will remunerate, they must rely upon
future earnings for the return of investments and profits." In another
case the commission hold that "in fixing reasonable rates the
requirements of operating expenses, bonded debt, fixed charges and
dividend on capital stock from the total traffic are all to be
considered, but the claim that any particular rate is to be measured by
these as a fixed standard, below which the rate may not lawfully be
reduced, is one rightly subject to some qualifications, one of which is
that the obligations must be actual and in good faith."

The rules governing the proper construction of classification sheets
which the commission has laid down are founded upon common sense and
justice. They say:

"A classification sheet is put before the public for general
information; it is supposed to be expressed in plain terms
so that the ordinary business man can understand it and, in
connection with the rate sheets, determine for himself what
he can be lawfully charged for transportation. The persons
who prepare the classification have no more authority to
construe it than anybody else, and they must leave it to
speak for itself."

In defining what is legitimate traffic the commission made the following
decision:

"The transportation of traffic under circumstances and
conditions that force a low rate for its carriage or an
abandonment of the business, but which affords some revenue
above the cost of its movement, and works no material
injustice to other patrons of a carrier, is to be deemed
legitimate competition. When, however, its carriage is at a
loss and imposes a burden on like traffic at other points
and on other traffic, it is to be deemed destructive and
illegitimate competition."

It has been shown in a former chapter that the weaker oil refiners have
been discriminated against by the railroads, which permitted the
Standard Oil Company to use their own tank cars in the shipment of oil
and charge its competitors excessive rates for like shipments in