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32 IN T E R S T A T E COM M ERCE C O M M ISS IO N REPORTS. I ? further were done, very material improvement would be made. There are, however, many railroads which w ill not be disposed to bring their scale equipment up to a proper state o f efficiency. I t is not to be expected that all the railroads o f this country w ill be equipped w ith theoretically ideal scaling devices. T o require this would be unreasonable, but such devices are among the most im por­tant o f the appliances o f a railroad, fo r they virtually determine the charge which the shipper is to pay and the railroad to receive. Th e cost o f installing a track scale is not extravagant, only a few thousand dollars to a single scale; the maintenance o f the scale when installed is not costly, nor does its operation in volve the employment o f high ly paid expert labor. In view o f the importance o f the subject and the comparative ease o f proper attainment, it is not unreasonable to require, by mandate o f the government i f necessary, that the ra il­roads o f this country provide reasonably accurate track Scales and maintain and operate those scales w ith reasonable efficiency and accuracy. H o w is this end to be secured ? Th e first thing is to secure the proper installation o f a proper scale, and, when once installed, the maintenance o f that scale in proper w orking condition. Th is w ill be done in many cases by railroads o f their own accord, fo r it is as important to them as to the shipping public that the scales by means o f which their freigh t charges are determined should be accurate. But it is not possible to rely entirely upon voluntary action. In some form governmental authority must be able to require what is not voluntarily done. Th ere are few , i f any, municipalities in our whole country where the government does not in some form test and supervise the scales used fo r commercial operation. I t is just as essential, in some respects more essential, that this should be done as to railroad track scales, since the w eighing is almost never in the presence o f or under the direction o f the shipper affected by it, and an error o f weight is often unnoticed, and i f noticed most difficult to substantiate or correct. Assuming that in some form the government must exercise au­thority over the installing and the testing o f track scales, should this be done by the state or by the nation ? I t is evident that this duty is eminently local in its character. So fa r as the states see fit to under­take this work it can perhaps better be done in that w ay than through the exercise o f federal authority, and the different states should be encouraged to assume and exercise an actual jurisdiction in this particular. A t the present time some few states do this. Th e R ailroad Com­mission o f Minnesota is directed by statute to w eigh the hay, straw, and grain which is sold in that state, and, incidentally, is given authority over the installation, maintenance, and operation o f rail- 28 I 0. c. road track scales. Th at commission, in the exercise o f this jurisdic­tion, has done most excellent service. The same is true o f the states o f Oregon and Washington, and to some extent o f other states. Numerous states have invested their commissions with this power, and undoubtedly it w ill be exercised to a much greater extent in the future than it has been in the past. I t is not probable, however, that this w ill be done by all states, and it w ill therefore be necessary fo r the federal government to exercise its authority in many cases. In our opinion some federal tribunal, perhaps this Commission, should be given authority in the fo llow in g respects: ( a) T o fix the points at which track scales shall be installed; (i ) to prescribe the standard o f such scales and their installation; ( c) to test or supervise the testing o f such scales; ( d) to supervise the operation. I t is not suggested that the federal authority should actually test all the track scales o f this country, much less provide the necessary apparatus fo r that purpose. Th e statute should require carriers themselves to install proper scales and properly maintain and test them, and should invest the federal tribunal with authority to make necessary rules and regulations to the securing o f this end. The government should determine the kind o f apparatus with which these scales are to be tested, the manner o f the testing, the frequency w ith which the test shall be made. I t should require a report of such tests and should have authority to make and supervise tests when it saw fit. Th e expenditure o f a comparatively small amount o f money would secure the installation and maintenance o f adequate scaling facilities upon the railroads o f the U nited States, and it is doubtful i f a given amount o f money could be more profitably ex­pended in any other w ay in the regulation o f these public agencies. A ft e r the proper installation and maintenance o f track scales comes their proper operation, since error may and does frequently result from this source. I t has been already observed that there are tw o sources o f such error, o f which the first is the im proper placing o f the cars fo r weighing. Here, as in the installation o f the scale, most railroads may be relied upon to see to it that cars are properly placed, but i f the fu ll benefit o f an accurate scale is to be had the government must be able to prescribe the manner in which that scale shall be operated. T o this end it must have authority to lay down general rules fo r the placing o f cars when weighed; that is, to determine whether they shall be weighed in motion or at rest and whether they shall be coupled at one or both ends or entirely discon­nected from other cars. Th e opinion has been expressed that upon a scale properly constructed and under proper conditions o f operation 28 n c. c. ^ I N RE W E IG H IN G OF F R E IG H T B Y CARRIER. 33