United States Senate Committee on Transportation Routes to the Seaboard

The United States Senate Committee on Transportation Routes to the Seaboard, was a Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

committee, initially authorized by Senate resolution as a select committee on December 16, 1872. The select committee, also known as the Windom Select Committee for its first chairman, William Windom

William Windom

This page is about the former United States politician. William Windom was an American politician from Minnesota. He served as U.S. Representative from 1859 to 1869, and as U.S. Senator from 1870 to January 1871, from March 1871 to March 1881, and from November 1881 to 1883...

, submitted their significant report regarding current rail and water transportation on April 24, 1874; it was ordered to be printed the same day. The committee became a standing committee

Standing Committee

In the United States Congress, standing committees are permanent legislative panels established by the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate rules. . Because they have legislative jurisdiction, standing committees consider bills and issues and recommend measures for...

on March 19, 1879, with little documented activity, and continued to exist until 1921.

Select committee

Originally composed of seven members, it was enlarged to nine on March 26, 1873, during the special session of the Senate held after March 4; the Committee underwent further personnel changes the following year and was ultimately composed of William Windom, of Minnesota; John Sherman, of Ohio; Roscoe Conkling

Roscoe Conkling

Roscoe Conkling was a politician from New York who served both as a member of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate. He was the leader of the Stalwart faction of the Republican Party and the last person to refuse a U.S. Supreme Court appointment after he had...

, of New York; J. Rodman West, of Louisiana; Simon B. Conover

Simon B. Conover

Simon Barclay Conover was a Republican Senator from Florida.-Biography:Born in Middlesex County, New Jersey, Conover attended an academy in Trenton, New Jersey. He studied medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and graduated from the medical department of the University of Nashville in 1864...

, of Florida; John H. Mitchell

John H. Mitchell

John Hipple Mitchell, also known as John Mitchell Hipple, John H. Mitchell, or J. H. Mitchell was a controversial American lawyer and politician, who served as a Republican United States Senator from Oregon on three occasions between 1872 and 1905...

, of Oregon; Thomas M. Norwood

Thomas M. Norwood

Thomas Manson Norwood was a United States Senator and Representative and from Georgia. Born in Talbot County, Georgia, he pursued an academic course, and graduated from Emory College in 1850. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1852, commencing practice in Savannah...

, of Georgia; Henry G. Davis

Henry G. Davis

Henry Gassaway Davis was a self-made millionaire and U.S. Senator from West Virginia. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for Vice President of the United States in 1904. His brother was U.S...

, of West Virginia; and John W. Johnston

John W. Johnston

John Warfield Johnston was an American lawyer and politician from Abingdon, Virginia. He served in the Virginia State Senate, and represented Virginia in the United States Senate when the state was readmitted after the American Civil War...

, of Virginia. When enlarged, the Senate adopted a resolution authorizing the Committee to sit at such places as they might designate during the recess and to investigate and report upon the subject of transportation between the inferior and the seaboard; it also authorized the Committee to employ a staff and provided for actual and necessary expenses attending such investigation upon vouchers approved by the chairman.

Investigation and report

The Committee visited various portions of the country and collected a mass of useful information relating to rail and water transportation in the United States at the time. Viewing the movement toward developing the inland waterways of the country, 35 years later in 1908, the Inland Waterways Commission considered the select committee's report the third epoch in this movement, but notes, "although the plans and recommendations of Senator (and Secretary) Windom and his colleagues received less attention than was anticipated, of course by reason of the rapid growth of interest in railways." It goes no to say: "Perhaps the most notable result, albeit rather an indirect than a direct one, appeared in the improvement of the Passes at the mouth of the Mississippi with the development of navigation in that river through the Eads jetty system, which opened an era in river control by engineering devices. The Windom report, too, is of both historic and practical interest, although the appended matter pertaining to special localities and passing conditions is of less value."

The committee's report was submitted to the Senate April 24, 1874, and on the same day was ordered to be printed. The results of its investigations were published in two volumes containing more than 1,400 pages, including an appendix of 232 pages. It contains a report by Henry G. Davis as a committee of one, in regard to the James River and Kanawha Canal; minority reports by Roscoe Conkling for himself, and jointly by members Norwood, Davis, and Johnston. Both Conkling and the three named members appear to have concurred mainly in the Windom Committee report, but did not agree with the report as to certain matters of law which are indicated in the Summary of Conclusions and Recommendations. It appears that members Sherman, Conover, West, and Mitchell concurred with chairman Windom.

Summary conclusions and recommendations

The Committee respectfully submitted the following general summary of the conclusions:

"Firstly. One of the most important problems demanding solution at the hands of the American statesman, is by what means shall cheap and ample facilities be provided for the interchange of commodities between the different sections of our widely extended country."

"Secondly. In the selection of means for the accomplishment of this object, Congress may, in its discretion and under its responsibility to the people, prescribe the rules and regulations by which the instruments, vehicles, and agencies employed in transporting persons or commodities from one State into or through another shall be governed, whether such transportation be by land or by water."

"Thirdly. The power "to regulate commerce" includes the power to aid and facilitate it by the employment of such means as may be appropriate and plainly adapted to that end; and hence Congress may, in its discretion improve, or create, channels of commerce on land, or by water."

"Fourthly. A remedy for some of the defects and abuses which prevail under existing systems of transportation, may be provided by direct congressional regulation, but for reasons, stated at length in this report, it is seriously doubted if facilities, sufficiently cheap and ample to meet the just and reasonable requirements of commerce, can ever be obtained by this method."

"Fifthly. Whatever may be the limit of the power of Congress over interstate commerce, it is believed that the attempt to regulate the business of transportation by general congressional enactments establishing rates and fares on 1,300 railways, aggregating nearly one-half the railway mileage of the world, and embracing an almost infinite variety of circumstances and conditions, requires more definite and detailed information than is now in the possession of Congress or of your Committee. Believing that any ill-advised measures, in this direction, would tend to postpone indefinitely the attainment of the desired object — cheap transportation — the Committee deem it expedient to confine their recommendations, in this regard, to such measures only as may be enacted with entire safety, reserving other matters of legislation for further inquiry and consideration."

Adroitly phrasing their initial conclusions on such contested historical issues as the Commerce Clause

Commerce Clause

The Commerce Clause is an enumerated power listed in the United States Constitution . The clause states that the United States Congress shall have power "To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes." Courts and commentators have tended to...

, the need for internal improvements

Internal improvements

Internal improvements is the term used historically in the United States for public works from the end of the American Revolution through much of the 19th century, mainly for the creation of a transportation infrastructure: roads, turnpikes, canals, harbors and navigation improvements...

and their funding, but with the continuing lack of political consensus, and insufficient data, the committee recommended the following "for present action", then continued with their conclusions

"1. That all railway companies, freight-lines, and other persons, or organizations of common carriers, engaged in transporting passengers or freights from one State into or through another, be required, under proper penalties, to make publication at every point of shipment from one State to another, of their rates and fares, embracing all the particulars regarding distance, classifications, rates, special tariffs, drawbacks, &c., and that they be prohibited from increasing such rates above the limit named in the publication, without reasonable notice to the public, to be prescribed by law."

"2. That combinations and consolidations with parallel or competing lines are evils of such magnitude as to demand prompt and vigorous measures for their prevention."

"3. That all railway companies, freight-lines, and other organizations of common carriers, employed in transporting grain from one State into or through another, should be required, under proper regulations and penalties to be provided by law, to receipt for quantity and to deliver the same at its destination."

"4. That all railway companies and freight organizations, receiving freights in one State to be delivered in another, and whose lines touch at any river or lake port, be prohibited from charging more to or from such port than for any greater distance on the same line." A page footnote states: "This provision, it is believed, will prevent the discriminations now practiced against such ports, and will enable States which are separated from water-lines by intervening States to reach such lines at reasonable cost. Congress has no power to regulate commerce wholly within a State, and hence States bordering upon such water-lines will regulate the rates to ports within their own territory."

"5. Stock-inflations, generally known as "stock-waterings," are wholly indefensible; but the remedy for this evil seems to fall peculiarly within the province of the States who have created the corporations from which such practices proceed. The evil is believed to be of such magnitude as to require prompt and efficient State action for its prevention, and to justify any measures that may be proper and within the range of national authority."

"6. It is believed by the committee that great good would result from the passage of State laws prohibiting officers of railway companies from owning or holding, directly or indirectly, any interest in any "non-cooperative freight-line" or car company, operated upon the railroad with which they are connected in such official capacity."

"7. For the purpose of procuring and laying before Congress and the country such complete and reliable information concerning the business of transportation and the wants of commerce, as will enable Congress to legislate intelligently upon the subject, it is recommended that a Bureau of Commerce, in one of the Executive Departments of the Government, be charged with the duty of collecting and reporting to Congress information concerning our internal trade and commerce; and be clothed with authority of law, under regulations to be prescribed by the head of such Department, to require each and every railway and other transportation company engaged in inter-State transportation to make a report, under oath of the proper officer of such company, at least once each year, which report should embrace, among other facts, the following, namely: 1st. The rates and fares charged from all points of shipment on its line in one State to all points of destination in another State, including classifications and distances, and all drawbacks, deductions, and discriminations; 2d. A full and detailed statement of receipts and expenditures, including the compensation paid to ofTicers, agents, and employes of the company; 3d. The amount of stock and bonds issued, the price at which they were sold, and the disposition made of the funds received from such sale; 4th. The amount and value of commodities transported during the year, as nearly as the same can be ascertained, togetner with such other facts as may be required by the head of such Bureau, under the authority of law."

"Sixth. Though the existence of the Federal power to regulate commerce to the extent maintained in this report is believed to be essential to the maintenance of perfect equality among the States as to commercial rights; to the prevention of unjust and invidious distinctions which local jealousies or interests might be disposed to introduce; to the proper restraints of consolidated corporate power, and to the correction of many of its existing evils, yet your committee are unanimously of the opinion that the problem of cheap transportation is to be solved through competition, as hereinafter stated, rather than by direct congressional regulation of existing lines."

"Seventh. Competition, which is to secure and maintain cheap transportation, must embrace two essential conditions: 1st, it must be controlled by a power with which combination will be impossible; 2d, it must operate through cheaper and more ample channels of commerce than are now provided."

"Eighth. Railway competition, [wdien] regulated by its own laws, will not effect the object; because it exists only to a very limited extent in certain localities; it is always unreliable and inefficient; and it invariably, ends in combination. Hence, additional railway-lines, under the control of private corporations, will afford no substantial relief, because self-interest will inevitably lead them into combination with existing lines."

"Ninth. The only means of securing and maintaining reliable and effective competition between railways is through national or State ownership, or control, of one or more lines, which, being unable to enter into combinations, will serve as regulators of other lines."

"Tenth. One or more double-track freight-railways, honestly and thoroughly constructed, owned or controlled by the Government, and operated at a low rate of speed, would doubtless be able to carry at much less cost than can be done under the present system of operating fast and slow trains on the same road; and, being incapable of entering into combinations, would no doubt serve as a very valuable regulator of all existing railroads within the range of their influence."

"Eleventh. The uniform testimony deduced from practical results in this country, and throughout the commercial world is, that water-routes, when properly located, not only afford the cheapest and best-known means of transport for all heavy, bulky, and cheap commodities, but that they are also the natural competitors, and most effective regulators of railway-transportation."

"Twelfth. The above facts and conclusions, together with the remarkable physical adaptation of our country for cheap and ample water-communications, point unerringly to the improvement of our great natural water-ways, and their connection by canals, or by short freight-railway portages under control of the Government, as the obvious and certain solution of the problem of cheap transportation.

"Thirteenth. After a most careful consideration of the merits of various proposed improvements, taking into account the cost, practicability, and probable advantages of each, the Committee have come to the unanimous conclusion that the following are the most feasible and advantageous channels of commerce to be created or improved by the National Government in case Congress shall act upon this subject, viz:

"1st. The Mississippi River."

"2d. A continuous water-line of adequate capacity from the Mississippi River to the city of New York, via the northern lakes."

"3d. A route adequate to the wants of commerce, through the central tier of States, from the Mississippi River, via the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers, to a point in West Virginia, and thence by canal and slack-water, or by a freight-railway, to tide-water, in Virginia."

"4th. A route from the Mississippi River, via the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers, to a point in Alabama or Tennessee, and thence by canal and slack-water, or by a freight-railway, to the ocean."

In the discussion of these four existing and proposed channels of commerce, we shall, for the sake of brevity, designate them respectively, the "Mississippi route," "Northern route," "Central route," and "Southern route." The report then goes into more detail on each.

Following events

The select committee's analytical report, which recommended a Bureau of Commerce, would have all the basic elements of the Interstate Commerce Commission

Interstate Commerce Commission

The Interstate Commerce Commission was a regulatory body in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads to ensure fair rates, to eliminate rate discrimination, and to regulate other aspects of common carriers, including...

, as created thirteen years later, in January 1887.

Chairmen of the Committee (Select), 1872-1879

{|
| valign=top |
{| class=wikitable
! Name
| Party
! State
! Years
|-
| | William Windom

William Windom

| Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

| Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

| 1872-1876
|-
| | John H. Mitchell

John H. Mitchell

| Republican
| Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

| 1876-1877
|-
| | Angus Cameron

Angus Cameron

Angus Cameron was a Republican and a member of the United States Senate from Wisconsin from 1875 to 1881, when he did not seek reelection, and again from 1881 to 1885, when he was elected to succeed Matthew H. Carpenter, who died in office; he did not seek reelection in 1885...

| Republican
| Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

| 1877-1879
|-
|}

Standing committee

According to historian George H. Haynes, it was said in 1917 that its standing committee had the dubious distinction of never having met in its (then) 38 years. There is no evidence to show that the Committee on Transportation Routes to the Seaboard ever convened before its termination in 1921, and, not surprisingly, few papers were ever referred to it. According to the National Archives, official records of the committee consist of little more than a few printed reports, petitions, and memorials.

Chairmen of the Committee (Standing), 1879-1921

{|
| valign=top |
{| class=wikitable
! Name
| Party
! State
! Years
|-
| | James Beck

James Beck

Stanley James Carroll Beck was a British actor best remembered for his role as Private Joe Walker, the cockney spiv in the popular BBC sitcom Dad's Army. The cast was mainly composed of older actors, but Beck was one of the younger members.-Early life:Beck was born in Islington, North London and...

| Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

| Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

| 1879-1881
|-
| | Benjamin Harrison

Benjamin Harrison

Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the United States . Harrison, a grandson of President William Henry Harrison, was born in North Bend, Ohio, and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana at age 21, eventually becoming a prominent politician there...

| Republican
| Indiana

Indiana

Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

Rhode Island

The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...

| 1883-1887
|-
| | John H. Mitchell

John H. Mitchell

| Republican
| Oregon

Oregon

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

New Hampshire

New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...

South Carolina

South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

| 1893-1895
|-
| | George McBride

George McBride

George Florian "Pinch" McBride is a former shortstop for the Milwaukee Brewers, Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, and the Washington Senators from 1901 to 1920. He started off with the short-lived Milwaukee Brewers , but he only had 12 at-bats in three games...

| Republican
| Oregon

Oregon

| 1895-1897
|-
| | Thomas C. Platt

Thomas C. Platt

Thomas Collier Platt was a two-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives and a three-term U.S. Senator from New York in the years 1881 and 1897-1909 — is best known as the "political boss" of the Republican Party in New York State in the late 19th Century and early 20th Century...

| Republican
| New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

| 1897-1899
|-
| | Joseph V. Quarles

Joseph V. Quarles

Joseph Very Quarles, Jr. was an American politician of the Republican Party who served as a United States federal judge and as a United States Senator from Wisconsin.-Biography:...

| Republican
| Wisconsin

Wisconsin

| 1899-1901
|-
| | William P. Dillingham

William P. Dillingham

William Paul Dillingham was an American Republican politician from the state of Vermont.-Early life:The son of Vermont Governor Paul Dillingham, William P. Dillingham was born on December 12, 1843, in Waterbury, Vermont, where he later attended the public schools...

| Republican
| Vermont

Vermont

Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...

| 1901-1903
|-
| | Robert J. Gamble

Robert J. Gamble

Robert Jackson Gamble was a U.S. Representative and Senator from South Dakota. He was the father of Ralph Abernethy Gamble and brother of John Rankin Gamble....

| Republican
| South Dakota

South Dakota

South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...

| 1903-1909
|-
| | George T. Oliver

George T. Oliver

George Tener Oliver was an American lawyer, publisher, and Republican party politician from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate...

| Republican
| Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

| 1909-1911
|-
| | Ellison D. Smith

Ellison D. Smith

Ellison DuRant "Cotton Ed" Smith was a Democratic Party politician from the U.S. state of South Carolina. He represented South Carolina in the United States Senate from 1909 until 1944....

| Democratic
| South Carolina

South Carolina

| 1911-1913
|-
| | Porter J. McCumber

Porter J. McCumber

Porter James McCumber was a United States Senator from North Dakota. Born in Crete, Illinois, he moved with his parents to Rochester, Minnesota the same year. He attended the common schools and taught school for a few years, and graduated from the law department of the University of Michigan at...

| Republican
| North Dakota

North Dakota

North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....

| 1913-1919
|-
| | Duncan U. Fletcher

Duncan U. Fletcher

Duncan Upshaw Fletcher was an American lawyer and politician of the Democratic Party. Senator Fletcher was the longest serving U.S. Senator in Florida's history.-Early life and career:...

| Democratic
| Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

| 1919-1921
|-
|}

External links

Report of the Select Committee on Transportation-routes to the Seaboard. Government Printing Office. 43rd Congress
43rd United States Congress
The Forty-third United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1873 to March 4, 1875, during the fifth and sixth...

, 1st Session. April 21, 1874

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