point and the shorter distance point it is no violation of the long and
short haul law for the railroad company to recognize those conditions;
but the rate to the longer distance point must be no lower than is
necessary to meet the competition, and the rate to the shorter distance
point must be reasonable. And the railroad company is not the final
arbiter of whether these conditions are similar or dissimilar. The
Commission can determine it in the first place. Its finding has prima
facie force, and then it may go to the courts to say whether the con-
ditions are similar or not.
Mr. Burr, of Florida, cited the case of less charges on freight to
Jacksonville, say from the Ohio River, than to Tallahassee. It is
obvious that the conditions of Tallahassee and Jacksonville are dissim-
ilar, Jacksonville is on the Atlantic Ocean and has water transporta-
tion, and Tallahassee has not. Therefore JacTisonville always has had
a substantial advantage, and always will have, in competitive condi-
tions over Tallahassee, which is an interior point. If the rate charged
to Tallahassee from the Ohio Kiver is unreasonably high, there is
ample provision for correcting that condition under the law to-day;
and if the railroads voluntarily give a lower rate to Jacksonville than
the conditions justify, that can be stopped under the law to-day.
Mr. TowNSEND. Who is going to determine under the law to-day
what the conditions justify?

• Mr. HiNES. The Commission can. They did it in the Social Circle
case, and the Supreme Court affirmed its findings. That is one of its
prime duties — to determine those things and enforce their findings.
