The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, June 7, 1929, Page 12

By RODNEY DUTCHER (NEA Service Writer) Washington, June 7—The inter- state commerce commission presum- ably will have to shoot in the dark with its railroad valuation decisions until it finally hits a scheme of valu- ation which a majority of the United States supreme court can approve. The court's recent decision in the case of the St. Louis & O'Fallon rail- road, while it doubtless has encour- aged railroad and other public utill- ties owners who always yearn for higher rates and greater profits, probably will not in itself affect the utilities rate structures at this time. Nevertheless, the decision has forced the I. C. C. to do a lot of work all over again and has put off the day which will determine whether the railroads must surrender or be permitted to retain millions of dol- lars which is claimed by the govern- ment under the recapture provisions of the Transportation Act which al- low them a profit of six per cent. Some of the recapture money has been paid, but railroads have held out ‘8 lot more. It’s Still Unsettled ‘Those are the immediate results of the O'Fallon decision, in case anyone has been confused. The supreme court has left up in the air the question of how a regu- lating body should value a_ public utility for rate-making purposes. It said the I. C. C. decision in the O’Fal- Jon case was wrong because it didn’t take in the cost of reproduction fac- tor, but failed to say to what extent that factor should be allowed to count. ‘The court has been leaving the is- sue up in the air for 30 years. In 1898, in the famous case of Smyth vs. Ames, it enumerated several fac- tors, including “the present as com- pared with the original cost of con- struction” and said that these were “all matters for consideration, and are to be given such weight as may be just and right in cach case.” That decision; of course, left it up to the court in the event of final ap- peal to determine whether or not each | : THE GUMPS-— THEN AND NOW | GZ UST THINK HOW LONG (T TOOK ‘ “To DAY VA Gf vi oho SETTLERS 1 THE COvERED wacons ae ee NSH THE TRE /, MAKE Mt ad . You GOT Yo BE CAREFUL Y) HAT WE DO IN ONE MOUR DYING WITH THEIR BOOTS ON of these factors had been given proper weight. It gave vate-fixing commissions no yardstick to go by and they had to make up their cwn. In the O'Fallon decision the court devoted itself principally to rebuking the I. C. C. for not taking the repro- duction cost factor into account. Jus- tice Stone, in his dissenting opinion, suggested in effect that the I. C. C., by wording its decision differently, could have avoided this objection, but it appears to have been the idea of the commission that the problem ought to be an admirable aim, but the court now virtually leaves the I. C. C. back in 1898 with Smyth vs. Ames. Justice Brandies, in his dissenting opinion, says that the majority of the court held that the rate base should be the actual value and his concep- tion of its idea has not been contra- dicted. Members of the I. C. C. point out, however, that actual value fluc- tuates from year to year and that it is always a terrific job to determine it. The court's majority opinion went out of its way, incidentally, to admit, that no doubt the actual value of some railroads would have to be placed “far below the cost of repro- duction.” A Tough Problem As long as the supreme court con- tinues to lay down no general rule as to the relative weight which rate- making bodies should give to various valuation factors, it is likely to be up against such a problem as would be presented if a state commission in one state gave reproduction cost 60 per cent weight in determining a utility valuation and another in an- other state gave a smiliar utility's reproduction cost only five per cent weight—and both cases were carried to the supreme court. Such an oc- currence would make it much more difficult for the court to maintain its present position. But the court has changed its at- titude before. Away back in the seventies, in the case of Munn vs. Illinois, one of the Granger cases, it held that it wasn’t up to the courts to determine the fairness of utility rates, but to the legislatures. AT ‘THESE RAILROAD CROSSINGS— Nou NEVER CAN FIGURE WNAT ‘THESE CRAZY ENGINEERS ‘'T WOULD TAKE THEM A WEEK = INSTEAD OF Sore Sige i You = NDIANS At bot u OL BET THERE WERE PLENTY WHO DIE THEIR BOOT PoLice Dos MY eye! Mars ME LONE WOLF .- TLL GINE LIM SAY! YOURE CERTAINLY } A NICE DOG= IM GOING KO KEEP Yov--You CAN COME WITH ME TD HELP FIND Ay UNCLE HARRY'S RANCH!! ° emall, very young and very pretty in the little brown-and-orange costume which Faith had bought for her, Crys- | tal mounted the narrow, dirty stairs | patient eyes. BUT PoP t HATE TO ASK HER TO NONSENSE, YOU USED TO DO IT HILDA, CAN YOU DO WASHING AND ARONING YAH sure! AYE USED T'BANE MARRIED AND HAVE HOME NXAH- GOOT MORNING ARS. GUNN HICDA'S BUILT FO OF MY OWN Conscious that she looked very |shade, was apportioning the morning's IR - X [ek (era crcie: of sen, about, Nit HEAVY DUTY 3 ‘ desk. Crystal crept closer, fascinated, but careful not to get in range of the busy city editor's narrowed im- that led to the editorial department of The Press. It was ten minutes to; picture of the Kid. We can stand a eight. Harry Blaine, now city editor of the paper, had warned Her to re- Por: not later than eight. Her career as a writer was about to begin, she told herself. as she climbed the stairs, but with every step her confidence diminished. Beyond that door, with its rusty knob, its soiled grey paint and its fading sign, lay a fearful and wonderful world, inhabited by strange creatures gigantic with the “power of the press.” As she hesitated, quaking, a man came charging up the stairs two steps at a time. ‘Looking for someone?” he asked brusquely, as he laid an impatient hand upon the door which had seemed like a terrifying and magic portal to her. “For—for the city editor. I'm to work on the paper,” she stammered. “Blaine? I'll tow you. Come along. Hope you'll like it here. Dog's life. . . . First newspaper job? Bet you edited your college paper, didn't you? Crystal gasped. “My name is Crystal Hathaway. Don't mind me, please, Mr. Harned. I'll wait here till Ha—Mr. Blaine is ready for me.” It was obvious that Harned was late and feeling rather guilty about it, for he excused himself with a mut- tered word and plunged across the room to where Harry Blaine, in shirt slegves and wearing a green eyc- -And take Pringle along to get a column if the mother'll talk... . Barney, duck into that City Fathers’ powwow at eleven and ask the mayor what the hell he’s going to do about that sewer graft. Don't let him stall you. ... Here's a clip out of The Star on that Deming dame, Pete. Get a follow. See her if you have to dis- guise yourself as the gas man. Shorty, | see the district attorney and find out when he’s going to make a pinch on that Brice murder, and if not why not. ... Grant—where the devil is Grant? GRANT! .... Anybody seen Colin Grant this morning?” Could that be nice, easy-going Harry Blaine who was shouting in that loud, furious voice? Crystal trembled, shrank against a table piled high with newspapers of every size and bulk, most of them still in their address wrappers. She felt guilty and apologetic for the non-ap- pearance of the reporter as if she were responsible. “Guess he’s blown, Harry. ‘Bout time,” one of the reporters chuckled. Before she was ready to face this stranger who had been her friend the circle had broken, melted. Only Harned lingered a minute. “Lady waiting to see you, chief. This is Mr. Blaine, Miss Hathaway.” She was actually being introduced to Harry Blaine! But perhaps it was just as well. She felt she had never met this man before. GEE, THAT WAS NICE 0’ THAT BUT ( GOT || GUY, ALOERT — GUT THIS THING” QIN'T GONN® BE. AS HANDY AS { THOUGHT IT WOULD — NEXT: A hard-boiled warning. (Copyright, 1929, NEA Service, Inc.) IN NEW YORK i New York, June 7.—Collectors of art treasures lives in considerable more Lae os aspiring young artists of 8 E A burglar, after all, has his handi- caps and is an individual, whereas the would-be artist travels in small armies and has the burglar’s instinct in. Manhattan, I am told, ermore, these youngsters, with the as- surance and front of a book agent, seek to storm the gates of private galleries and collections. Some actu- ally succeed in getting into the mil- ’s home to sketch some treas- wed painting. ** * for this reason more than I am informed, that the | @| seek to keep their names out of the newspapers. Sir Joseph Duveen, for instance, who is the world’s most famous buyer of paintings and who is a bidder at every important art action, has never been heard to make a verbal bid. He has a signal system which is understood only by the auctioneer. Few in the auction room are even aware that he has made a bid. Sit- ting fairly close to the auctioneer he merely moves his lips slightly. These movements are caught by the person in charge, who replies with a sort of Thus a transaction is closed BEV “NOU ARE XWE MAYOR 1 AM y GLAD TO KNOW, YOu! WE UP HOPE YET~ IM HERE TO HELP — nod. je the slightest publicity attend- ing. A etmeD = THA Wao AN, om — AT AUX RATE LN YO TOCHER A . ee * WARD 5.000) SVEN VATA: RE Ors 10 TO The other day it was discovered for the first time that a certain Mr. Harry Winthrop is none other than is rt i i coonamie 10 food lg’ ot i Hy s Be “ i g z E 5 &