Page:The truth about the railroads (IA truthaboutrailro00elli).pdf/54

Rh if he wants the best railways and progressive development of them, must see to it that his law-makers and his boards of one kind and another are the right kind of men, and that they look at this question, not in a narrow, partisan way, but in a broad, far-sighted manner.

On January 16, 1905, Senator Elkins introduced into the United States Senate a resolution asking the Interstate Commerce Commission for a statement showing the work done by that body with respect to formal and informal complaints, hearings, decisions of the courts, exorbitant rates and rebates during the preceding eighteen years, or since the creation of the Commission. On May 1, 1905, the Commission furnished figures showing that the total number of complaints which reached the Commission was 9099 and the total number disposed of through the friendly offices of the Commission, 9054, or more than 99 per cent of the total. The cases appealed by the Commission to the courts were only 45&thinsp;—&thinsp;about one half of 1 per cent of the total number of cases. Of the 45 cases appealed to the courts Rh