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Special Interests and the Interstate Commerce Commission*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2013

E. Pendleton Herring
E. Pendleton Herring
Affiliation:
Harvard University
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Extract

A conflict of interests is implicit in most administrative problems, and the successful adjustment of these forces within a predicated legal framework means that the purpose of the governmental agency has been achieved. This consummation is beset with difficulties. The interplay of economic and political influences must be examined in connection with the statutory and formalistic competence of a given governmental bureau if any understanding of the process of administration is to be obtained. Only if the problem is first narrowed to one field, and then focussed upon a single agency, can the component factors be brought to direct and concrete analysis. An effort will be made here to examine the Interstate Commerce Commission in terms of the group pressures that are exerted upon it in its regulatory capacity. The purpose is to discuss the nature of the relations that arise between a regulatory body and the interests touched by its authority and to call attention to the possibilities and problems inherent in such a contact. In short, What political and economic forces make up the environment of the Interstate Commerce Commission, and how does it adapt itself to this environment?

Type
Research Article
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 27 , Issue 5 , October 1933 , pp. 738 - 751
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1933

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References

1 Interstate Commerce Commission, Docket No. 23400, The Coördination of Motor Transport. (Listed in this report are to be found not only the interests represented, but also the lawyers speaking on their behalf. The list is an excellent place to find the array of legal talent employed by transportation groups.

2 Moulton, H. G. and Associates, The American Transportation Problem (Washington, The Brookings Institution, 1933), p. 881Google Scholar.

3 The Dangers of Obedience, p. 90.

4 For a description of the procedure, see Informal Settlement of Railroad Rate Controversies, issued by the transportation and communication department of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States (Washington, 1930).

5 Thirty-fourth Annual Report of the I. C. C. (1920), p. 42Google Scholar.

6 For a detailed account of the functions of the bureau of informal cases, see the Report of the I. C. C. for 1916.

7 See article by William P. Bartel, director of the bureau of service, on the work of his bureau, in U. S. Daily, Mar. 14, 1930.

8 For discussion of the relations of the bureau of service to the car-service division of the A.R.A., see annual reports of the Interstate Commerce Commission from 1920. In its report for 1924, pp. 62–63, the Commission states that the boards were organized: “(1) to form a common meeting ground between shippers, local rail-roads, and the carriers as a whole, as represented by the car-service division, for the better mutual understanding of local and general transportation requirements, and to analyze transportation needs in each territory, and to assist in anticipating car requirements; (2) to study production, markets, distribution, and trade channels of the commodities local to each district with a view to effecting improvements in trade practices when related to transportation, and promoting a more even distribution of commodities where practicable; (3) to promote car and operating efficiency in connection with maximum loading and in the proper handling of cars by shippers and railroads; (4) to secure a proper understanding by the railroads of the transportation needs of shippers, that their regulations may fit shippers' requirements, and to secure understanding by the shippers and their coöperation in carrying out necessary rules governing car handling and car distribution.”

9 Recent Economic Changes in the United States; Report of the Committee on Recent Economic Changes of the President's Conference on Unemployment, Vol. I, pp. 301–302Google Scholar.

10 Railway Age, Vol. 88, No. 25c, pp. 1548d 114 ff. (June 24, 1930)Google Scholar.

11 The constitutionality of this delegation of authority to the American Railway I Association and the I.C.C. was expressly upheld in St. Louis and Iron Mountain Railway Co. v. Taylor, 210 U.S. 281 (1908.)

12 See, for example, Extension of Time to Comply with Safety Appliance Acts, 36 I.C.C. 370 (1915); Safety Appliances, 44 I.C.C. 303 (1917); Safety Appliances, 58 I.C.C. 655 (1920).

13 Railway Age, Vol. 88, no. 24c, pp. 1454 D 115 ff. (June 20, 1930)Google Scholar.

14 Railway Age, Vol. 88, no. 25c, pp. 1548 D 114 ff. (June, 24 1930)Google Scholar.

15 American Railway Association, Bulletin No. 1, Automatic Train Control (Nov., 1930).

16 Similar coöperative work was done by the American Railway Association and the bureau of safety in adopting a uniform application of safety appliances to an improved design of box-cars. The jointly-formulated regulations were reported by the Commission to have “resulted in a uniform and material improvement in the condition of air-brake equipment” (41st Annual Report of the Interstate Commerce Commission (Dec. 1, 1927), p. 33.Google Scholar) In the past, the Association has established standards for various parts of brake equipment, including pressure retaining valves, brake beams, brake shoes, strength requirements and total leverage of foundation brake gear, air hose, hose couplings, hose-coupling packing rings, and gauges for checking couplings and packing rings.

17 This bureau will make inspections and conduct investigations and will confer with manufacturers and shippers with a view to determining what regulations will within reasonable limits afford the highest degree of safety … The Commission will give due weight to the expert opinions thus obtained. Report of these investigations should be made to the Commission, with recommendations.” Regulations for the Transportation of Explosives (revised Oct. 1, 1930), p. 4Google Scholar.

18 Railway Age, Vol. 88, pp. 1548 D 114 ff. (June 24, 1930.)Google Scholar