Two or more corporations whose roads connect shall not charge or receive for the transportation of freight to any station on the road of either of them a greater sum than is at the time charged or received for the transportation of the like class and quantity of freight from the same original point of departure to a station at a greater distance on the road of either in the same direction. [Ibid, section 3903.]

§ 1239. Virginia.

It shall be unlawful for any transportation company doing business in this State to take, charge, or receive any greater compensation in the aggregate for the transportation of passengers of the same class or property along the same line in the same direction for a shorter than for a longer distance, the shorter being included within the longer distance. But this section, shall not be construed as authorizing any such company to charge and receive as great compensation for a shorter as for a longer distance: provided, however, that upon application to the State Corporation Commission any such company may, in special cases, after investigation by the said Commission, be authorized to charge less for longer than for shorter distances for the transportation of passengers or property, and the said Commission may, from time to time, subject to the provisions of the Constitution, prescribe the extent to which such designated company may be relieved from the operation of this section. [Pollard's Code, section 1294c, as amended (1904).]

§ 1240. West Virginia.

All railroad corporations whose lines of road shall extend into or through this State and which extensions are incorporated by the laws of this State or any other State, or the United States, shall take and transport passengers and freight when offered: provided, that such railroad corporation shall not be permitted to charge for the transportation of freight and pas

sengers, or either, a less sum from one terminus of their road to the other, than from an intermediate station to either terminus thereof, nor a greater sum for the transportation of freight and passengers, or either, from any intermediate station to either terminus of the road, or from either terminus to an intermediate station, or from one intermediate station to another, than from any intermediate station to either terminus or from either terminus to any intermediate station, or from one intermediate station to another, where the distance is less. [Code (1899), chap. 54, p. 602, Laws of 1872-3, chap. 227.]

1241. Wisconsin.

Whenever passengers or property are transported over two or more connecting lines of railroad between points in this State, and the railroad companies have made joint rates for the transportation of the same, such rates and all charges in connection therewith shall be just and reasonable, and every unjust and unreasonable charge is prohibited and declared to be unlawful; provided, that a less charge by each of said railroads for its proportion of such join rates than is made locally between the same points on their respective lines shall not for that reason be construed as a violation of the provisions of this Act, nor render such railroads liable to any of the penalties hereof. [Laws of 1905, chap. 362, section 5.]

1242. Conclusion.

It must be obvious from an examination of these extracts from the statutes of twenty-nine States that public opinion. has gone further than the common law in dealing with discrimination. The general clauses against showing undue or unreasonable preference or priority to any locality, or localities are significant, although the phraseology is so cautious in most of them that any justifiable differences may be made, and one State specifically saves group rates, it will be remembered. The specific provisions against charging more for a short haul than

for the long haul within which it is included constítute the most characteristic feature in these statutes respecting local discrimination, and the fact that there is a deep-rooted prejudice against this practice in rate making must be faced. In some States it will have been noticed the legislatures have provided that competition at the more distant point shall not justify making a lower rate for a longer haul. Altogether, some law against local discrimination is certain to be a permanent limitation upon the making of railroad rates.

1

In this chapter are collected some extracts from the statutes of various States, showing the powers of the State commissions. in dealing with railroad rates. Most States have a railroad commission, or commissioner. In some States these officers have little or no power to pass upon the rates established by the railroads; but in the majority of States which have railroad commissioners, these officers have power of one sort or another to review the rates fixed by the carrier. The extent of the powers granted to these commissions differs widely. In some States they have no more power than to determine upon complaint made to them whether the rates charged by the railroad are unreasonable; in other States they have the power to fix the rates which the railroad shall be allowed to charge in substitution for the rate of which complaint is now made. Most exacting of all are certain States which give to their commissions power to establish complete schedules of rates for all transportation by rail within the State or which enact by

primary legislation such complete schedules of rates, giving the commission power to revise them. Statutes of this last sort are too elaborate for inclusion here; all that is attempted is to give some general idea of the power of the State commissions in passing upon railroad rates.

$1252. Alabama.

It is the duty of the railroad commissioners to consider and carefully revise all tariffs of charges for transportation made by any person or corporation owning or operating a railroad in this State; and if, in their judgment, any such charge is more than just compensation for the service for which it is proposed to be made, or amounts to unjust discrimination against any person, locality or corporation, they shall notify the party making the same of the changes necessary to reduce the rate to just compensation, or to avoid unjust discrimination, and when such charges are made, or when none are deemed proper and expedient, they shall append to the tariff of charges a certificate of their approval; and they shall exercise a watchful and careful supervision over all tariffs and their operation, and revise the same, from time to time, as justice to the public and the railroads may require, and increase or reduce any of the rates, as experience and business operations may show to be just, but in revising the tariff, the commissioners shall take into consideration the nature of the service to be performed, the entire business of the railroad, and its earnings from passengers and other traffic, and so revise the same as to allow a fair and just return on the value of the railroads, its appurtenances and equipments. [Laws of 1903, No. 94, section 10.]

$1253. California.

Said commissioners shall have the power and it shall be their duty to establish rates or charges for the transportation of passengers and freight by railroads or other transportation companies, and publish the same from time to time with such