this discretionary power. Experience with the administration of the act will indicate to the commission how far it will be practicable and wise to go in requiring reports of carriers by water in the foreign trade. In my judgment, it will be found practicable, eventually, to make nearly the same requirements of carriers in the foreign trade as are made of carriers in the coastwise trade, and it is wise to give the commission discretionary power in prescribing rules to be followed by carriers employed in international trade.

It is equally wise, as is provided by section fourteen of the bill, to apply section twenty of the interstate commerce act of 1887, as amended to date, to "common carriers by water in interstate commerce, as far as the same may be applicable to said carriers." This will enable the Interstate Commerce Commission to require comprehensive annual reports, to prescribe a uniform system of accounts, and to employ agents who shall have authority to examine all accounts and records kept by the carriers by water in interstate commerce.

Sections fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen and nineteen provide appropriate penalties for violation of the act, and prescribe the procedure for enforcement of the law. While of great importance, these sections do not require discussion in this paper, which has to do with the economic provisions of the proposed law. Section twenty authorizes the commission "to employ such experts and other assistants as may be necessary, and to appoint special agents or examiners who shall have powers to administer oaths, examine witnesses and take testimony." Section twenty-two merely provides that the act shall take effect upon its passage.

The enforcement of the act is placed, by section twenty-one, with the Interstate Commerce Commission, which is to be enlarged from seven to eleven members, not more than six of whom shall be adherents of the same political party. This provision of the bill is sure to meet with at last two general criticisms, that the Interstate Commerce Commission is now overburdened and unable to keep abreast of its work, and that it will be predisposed to apply to carriers by water the same kind and degree of regulation that it has applied to railroads, and thus subject the business of transportation by water to rules that will be too detailed and too rigid. Those who urge these criticisms will argue for the establishment of a new, autonomous commission charged solely with the duty of regulating carriers by water.

It is true that the Interstate Commerce Commission is at present over-worked, but the addition of four new members ought to enable the commission not only to perform its new duties satisfactorily, but also to expedite its work of regulating railroads. The combined task of regulating the rail and water carriers can doubtless be performed by eleven men more easily than seven men can handle the present work of the Interstate Commerce Commission.

The fear that the Interstate Commerce Commission will go further and faster than would a separate commission with the regulation of carriers by water is probably not well founded. The long experience which the Interstate Commerce Commission has bad in the regulation of railroads, and to some extent in supervising carriers by water, may, indeed, make it more cautious than an entirely new administrative body would be. The Interstate Commerce Commission would certainly approach the task of regulating carriers by water more intelligently than would a new commission, and it would probably make fewer mistakes.

A strong argument against the establishment of a separate commission for the regulation of carriers by water is that if there were two commissions, there might be conflict of jurisdiction, lack of uniformity in regulation and in decisions that would both lessen the effectiveness of regulation and be of disadvantage to shippers and carriers. It will be better to increase the membership of the Interstate Commerce Commission, to provide it generously with facilities for doing its enlarged work, and to entrust it with the task of regulating carriers by water as well as by land.

EXTENT OF REGULATION OF OCEAN AND INLAND WATER TRANSPORTATION BY THE FEDERAL

GOVERNMENT

BY GROVER G. HUEBNER, PH.D.,

Assistant Professor of Transportation and Commerce, University of Pennsylvania.

In the past the federal regulation of transportation agencies has been concerned much more largely with railroads than with other common carriers. Gradually, however, as it became evident that the need for such regulation is not peculiar to railroads, the scope of the interstate commerce law was extended so as to include express, sleeping car and private car companies, fast freight lines, industrial railroads, refrigeration and ventilation services, terminal facilities, elevators, transfer and delivery services, and all transportation agencies operated in connection with the interstate shipment of freight or passengers by rail. The interstate business of pipe lines, electric street railways, and telephone, telegraph and cable lines were likewise placed within the scope of the interstate commerce act, and, as will be hereafter described, water transportation agencies were under certain conditions subjected to the provisions of the statute. So limited, however, is the control of the Interstate Commerce Commission over water carriers that the enactment of additional legislation applicable to their charges and public services is now being seriously considered.

The relations between carriers by water and between such carriers and railways has also become a matter of public interest. The Sherman act of 1890 and the anti-trust provisions of the tariff act of 1894 are generally applicable to all combinations, conferences or agreements which unreasonably restrain interstate or foreign trade, and the Panama Canal act of 1912 regulates certain phases of such relations, but the need of federal legislation particularly applicable to steamship combinations, conferences or agreements is a topic of serious consideration.

Existing federal regulation of ocean and inland water transportation may conveniently be classified into (1) navigation laws

concerning the public safety, registry and enrollment, treatment of crews and a multitude of matters not directly connected with transportation charges and services; (2) statutes regulating the charges and public services of water transportation agencies; and (3) statutes regulating or prohibiting combinations, conferences or agreements.

GENERAL NAVIGATION LAWS

Since it is with the type of regulation included in (2) and (3) above that this volume is especially concerned, it is not the purpose of this paper to present a detailed analysis of the many navigation laws which Congress has from time to time enacted. Brief mention of the principal groups of statutes will, however, serve to emphasize the line of demarcation which Congress has in the past drawn between water and rail transportation. Both rail and water carriers have been the subject of much legislation, but for the most part, although not entirely, in separate statutes and with different objects in view. The principal federal laws regulating the railroads are those concerning their charges and public services, while the principal laws concerning water transportation are the various general navigation statutes. The public safety has been regulated in the case of both rail and water transportation, but the conditions of operation have differed so widely that separate statutes were enacted. Mention of some of the many navigation laws which are now in effect will also serve to emphasize that, in matters other than charges and public services, water transportation is regulated by a multitude of federal statutes.

Navigation Statutes.-An important group of navigation laws are those which require American vessels, excepting harbor craft and vessels not propelled by sails or internal motive power of their own, to be registered, enrolled or licensed. Vessels so documented with the United States Commissioner of Navigation are identified by an official name and number permanently carved or marked on the vessel as required by law, and each registered vessel in addition has her draught officially marked on the stem and stern post. These statutes, moreover, specify what vessels may and may not be documented. Since 1817 foreign built vessels have been barred from the American coastwise business, and it is therefore important for vessels equipped with

sails or engines to be properly enrolled or licensed. Until 1912, likewise, foreign built vessels were barred from American registry. On August 24 of that year free shipping was applied in the foreign trade to the extent that foreign vessels not over five years of age and wholly owned by citizens of the United States or by domestic corporations, the president and managing directors of which are American citizens, were permitted to register under the American flag. When so registered, foreign built vessels are subject to all the navigation laws applicable to American vessels engaged in the foreign trade, and to all the privileges of American registry, except that of engaging in coastwise navigation.

Similar to the laws providing for the documenting of vessels, are those requiring the measurement of documented vessels. Every registered, enrolled, or licensed vessel of the United States must be measured in accordance with the official rules enacted by Congress and enforced by the Commissioner of Navigation. Each documented vessel is required to carry a measurement certificate showing her official length, breadth and depth, her gross and net tonnage, and other particulars descriptive of her identity. Foreign vessels entering American ports are, likewise, required to be so measured unless the measurement laws of their home country are accepted by the Secretary of Commerce as being substantially the same as those of the United States. The requirements regarding measurement are particularly important because the tonnage taxes of the United States and other countries as well as numerous private commercial charges are based upon the net register tonnage of vessels. All vessels navigating the Panama Canal, moreover, are required to be measured in accordance with the measurement rules promulgated by the President of United States on November 21, 1913, and all tolls collected at the Panama Canal are based upon their net tonnage so ascertained.

The tonnage tax laws constitute another group of navigation statutes. As amended on August 5, 1909, every vessel, American and foreign, entering from any foreign port in North or Central America, the West Indies, the Bahamas, the Bermudas, or Carribbean coast of South America is required to pay 2 cents per net register ton not exceeding a total of 10 cents per ton annually, and every vessel entering from any other foreign port is required to pay a tonnage tax of 6 cents per net ton not exceeding 30 cents per