DEBATE OF FEBRUARY 13, 1889.Question: "Resolved, That the prohibition of pooling in the Interstate Commerce Act has worked badly and should be repealed."

Brief for the Affirmative.G. H. Black and S. R. Albee.

Best general references: Quarterly Journal of Economics, Jan., 1889, pp. 177-187, or Bradstreet's for December 22, 1888.

I. It has injured the railroads. (a) By promoting rate wars.- Quar. Jour. of Economics, p. 182-3. (b) By promoting the building of unnecessary parallel lines.- Ibid. (c) By causing a decline in stocks.- R. R. Review of Jan. 8, 1889, or Bradstreet's of Dec. 1, 1888. It has injured the public. (a) By making rates unstable.- Bradstreet's of Dec. 8, 1888. (b) By causing secret debates.- Bradstreet's of Dec. 22.

II. It should be repealed. (a) Railroad competition is injurious both to railways and to the public.-Hadley R. R. Transportation, chap. IV. (b) Combination of some kind is a necessity and cannot be prevented.-Political Science Quarterly, Sept. 1887, p. 374.

III. Combination, recognized and regulated by law, is preferable to secret evasions of the law.- Ibid, p. 379.

IV. Pooling has worked well in this country and in Europe.- Ibid, 383 et seq.

V. The repeal is favored not only by railroad experts, but also by the business men of the country.- Bradstreet's, Dec. 1.

Brief for the Negative.C. A. Bunker and W. C. Green.

Best general references: J. F. Hudson, Bradstreet's, Dec. 15, 1888, 798-799. Hon. Thomas M. Cooley, Boston Transcript, Jan. 9, 1889. "Rate Wars and Pools," Bradstreet's, December 22, 819.

I. The present unsatisfactory state of railroad affairs is due, not to the interstate Commerce Act, but to the lack of good faith among railroad officials.- C. F. Adams, Boston Globe, Dec. 16; Cooley, as above; Bradstreet's, Dec. 8, opinions of Sterne, Stone, and others; Dec. 15, J. F. Hudson; Dec. 22, "Rate Wars and Pools.

II. Ruinous rate wars have not been as frequent as before the act was passed.- J. F. Hundson, as above; "Rate Wars and Pools," as above.

III. Leading shippers do not favor repeal.- Bradstreet's, Dec. 8, 783.

III. Pooling is an evil. (a) It leads to the maintenance of poorer roads at the expense of the good roads, and to the building of unnecessary roads.- President E. P. Alexander, Scribner's, Jan. 1889, 41; "Rate Wars and Pools," as above; C. F. Adams, as above. (b) It gives a few men arbitrary power over the interests of the country. Hadley, Railroad Transportation, 76.

V. Pooling cannot maintain rates.- Hudson, The Railways and the Republic. 206-208; "Rate Wars and Pools," as above.

VI. English pooling is no precedent for American pooling.- Hadley, Railroad Transportation, 159.

VII. Successful pooling means the destruction of competition.- Hudson, The Railways and the Republic, 200.