IES; WASHINGTON CONFERENCE. INTERSTATE COMMERCE

since 1o1o acts of the united states congress and decisions of the supreme court have extended the scope of federal control over inter- state commerce. the regulation of railways was made more complete, the federal authority being widened to cover railway rates on traffic within the states when such rates affect inter- state commerce. the anti-trust act 1890 was broadened and strengthened by the decisions of the supreme court in the oil and tobacco cases in 1911 and by the clayton act 1913. in the adjustment of labour disputes between employers and employees engaged in interstate commerce the government assumed a constantly larger rdle. railway regulation —the interstate commerce commission was given authority by the hepburn act 1906 to establish rea- sonable maximum rates on interstate traflic, but could act on complaint only. the mann-elkins act toro authorised the commission to establish reasonable rates after hearings initiated by itself. this act also made the interstate commerce act apply to telegraph and telephone companies, and gave the com- mission authority to suspend proposed increases in rates. while such proposed increases were to become effective in 30 days, the commission might suspend the increase for 120 days, and, if necessary, for an additional period not exceeding six months. the mann-elkins act provided also that no carrier might charge more for a shorter intermediate haul than for a longer haul until he had applied to the commission and permission had been granted because of special circumstances. the supreme court subsequently decided that a shipper who, in violation of this provision, has been charged the higher rate for the shorter haul is entitled to the full amount of his resulting damages, but not the difference between the rate paid and the lower rate pub- lished for the jonger haul (davis v. portland seed co., 1923, 264 u.s. 403). the panama act 1912 made it unlawful for any railway com- pany or common carrier subject to the interstate commerce act to secure control of any common carrier by water operating through the panama canal or elsewhere, provided the carrier by water and the railway company did or might compete with each other. any questions of fact as to competition were to be decided by the commission. if the commission should be of opinion that the public interests would be served and competition would not be prevented or reduced by the continuance of a control exercised by a railway company over a competing carrier by water, the commission might extend the period of control. in enforcing this provision, the commission compelled the trunk-line railways operating passenger and freight lines on the great lakes to dis- pose of them, but railways were permitted to continue the opera- tion of steamships coastwise between new england ports. the use of the panama canal by vessels owned by a competing rail- wav was absolutely prohibited. any rail carrier that had entered into through arrangements with a carrier by water operating from a united states port to a foreign country was required to enter into like arrangements with any or all other lines of steam- ships operating from the same port, a provision designed to en- sure to shippers from interior points the benefits of competition by through routes to foreign destinations. the most important legislation affecting carriers enacted after the passage of the original interstate commerce law in 1887 was the transportation act 1920, by which the railways, after 26 months of government opcration, were returned to their owners. this act provided for a more comprehensive regulation of carriers by the commission and established new principles in the regulation of rates, revenues and capital expenditure of the carriers. the commission, already the final authority as to rates, was further empowered and directed to adjust rates with a view to enabling carriers, as a whole, to earn as nearly as may be 53° interstate commerce on the aggregate value of their property devoted to the public service. the commission might also authorise the carriers to earn one-half of 1°4 per annum additional, the amount thus earned to be devoted to improvements without capitalising the amount so invested. individual carriers whose net operating revenues exceeded 6° were to devote one half of the excess to building up a company reserve fund until the amount reached 5%, the other half of the excess being turned over to the government anc placed in a fund from which advances might be made to the carriers. at the end of two years after the passage of the act the commission was to determine the reasonable rate of return on the aggregate value of the railwavs, and the commission fixed the rate at 52°, per annum. the act also authorised the com- mission to regulate railway securities, and amended the laws against combinations so as to permit railway companies to consolidate with the commission’s approval. intrastate rates —the power of the federal govt. over in- trastate rates was extended by important decisions of the supreme court and by the transportation act 1920. in the minnesota rate case (simpson v. shepard (1914), 230 u.s. 352), the supreme court upheld the action of the state of minnesota establishing railway rates within the state, although the facts showed that these intra- state rules affected the rates on interstate traffic and the revenues of the carriers engaged both in interstate and intrastate traffic. in 1914 the supreme court was also called on to consider the validity of the order of the interstate commerce commission in what is known as the shreveport case. the business interests of shreveport, la., had complained to the commission that rates within the state of texas, which had been fixed by the state commission of texas, were so much lower than the interstate rates that it was not possible for the merchants of shreveport to do business in northwestern texas. the commission decided that the wide difference between the inter- state and intrastate rates constituted an unreasonable discrimina- tion, and the carriers were ordered to correct this. on appeal, the supreme court upheld the order of the commission (jzouston, east and wrest texas co. v. united states, 234 u.s, 342). the principle established by this decision was embodicd in the transportation act 1920, which provided that when the interstate commerce commission finds that any intrastate rate constitutes an unjust discrimination against interstate or foreign commerce, the commission may prescribe the maximum or minimum intrastate rate thereafter to be charged. another important decision of the supreme court, rendered in 1922, affirmed an order of the interstate commerce commission on this point in connection with what is known as the wisconsin passenger fares. the order of the commis- sion required a horizontal increase of intrastate passenger fares and excess-baggage charges to correspond with fares and charges fixed for like interstate service in the same state. the wisconsin railroad commission sought to have the commission's order overruled, but the petition was denied (wisconsin r. r. comm.v. c. band q. r. r. co., 257 u.s. 563). amendments to the anti-trust act of 1890.—prior to torr the supreme court by a series of decisions (see 14.711) had defined the scope of the anti-trust law of 1890, but the net effect of the interpretations had been to limit its effectiveness. however, in the oil and tobacco cases decided in ro11 (221 u.s. 1 and 193) the supreme court adopted a “ rule of reason ”’ formulated by chicf justice white, which gave greater flexibility to the act and promised to make the law more effective. the court held, in effect, that the purpose of the law was to prevent undue restraint of every kind, and that it did not deny to individuals the right to enter into contracts when the right was not improper- ly exercised. this interpretation of the anti-trust law was un- satisfactory to the extreme opponents of industrial combinations, and in response the clayton act was passed in 1914, prohibiting, under specified provision, discriminations in prices. labour unions and organisations of farmers were exempted from the provisions of this law. interlocking directorates of banks were prohibited, and it was made unlawful for a corporation, engaged in interstate commerce, to acquire control by stock ownership of another corporation engaged in interstate commerce when such acquisition would lessen competition. carriers engaged in interstate commerce were »rohibited, after two years from the passage of the act, from dealing in securities or supplies anil from making construction contracts amounting to more than $50,000 with a corporation, firm or partnership having on its board of directors or as one of its officers a person who was at the same time a director or officer of the common carrier. this invention provision was suspended until after the conclusion of the world war, but was in force in 1921. an important decision of the supreme court subsequent to 1911 was its finding, in united states vy. u.s. stecl corporation, march 1 1920, that the largest of all industrial combinations was not a violator of the anti-trust act (2st u.s. 417). it reached the conclusion that the public interest would not be served by requiring the dissolution of the steel corporation, but that, on the contrary, its dissolution might result in a material disturbance to american foreign trade. adjustment of labour disputes—yvhe erdman act 1898 was amended by the newlands act 1913, which provided for a board of from five to nine men, and also created a board of mediation and conciliation composed of a commissioncr and two other offi- cials designated by the government. by 1916, however, the rail- way employees had become dissatisfied with the results of arbitration, and demanded the establishment of an eight-hour day and a general increase in wages. the carriers resisted, and the resulting deadlock was broken by the passage of the adam- son act 1916, establishing the standard eight-hour day in the railway service and providing for a commission to decide upon wages. the supreme court held the law to be constitutional (243 u.s. 232). the transportation act 1920 substituted new machinery for the adjustment of disputes as to wages and work- ing conditions in the place of the provisions of the adamson act. by the transportation act it became the duty of employers and employees to endeavour to settle their diflerences by negotiation. if negotiation failed, disputes as to working conditions might be referred to boards of adjustment composed of an cqual number of representatives of both sides. these boards might be cither local, district or national. provision was also made for the ap- pointment by the president of a railroad labour board of nine men; three representing the public, three the employees and three the companies. such a board was constituted in 1920. in 1926 congress enacted the railway labor act which sub- stituted new machinery in place of that created in the trans- portation act of 1920. it makes it the duty of the carriers and their employees to exert every reasonable effort to make and maintain agreements. all disputes are first to be considered in conferences between the parties directly concerned; and adjust- ment boards either on individual lines, or regional, or national are provided to adjust disputes arising under such agreements and to interpret and apply them. disputes that cannot be so adjusted may be referred to a board of mediation by either party, or the proposed board may intervene on its own initia- tive, and if an amicable adjustment cannot be attained in this manner, an effort is to be made to induce both parties to agree to voluntary arbitration. should such effort be unsuccessful and an interruption of commerce be threatened, the president is then authorised, in his discretion, to create a board to investi- gate and report to him within the next succeeding thirty days, and a proviso is included to the effect, that, in the event that aul steps leading up to the appointment of this emergency board fail to bring about a settlement, transportation may not he interrupted for a period of 60 days. it is understood that this act had the approval of large groups of railway executives, anil employees, and is the result of a series of joint conferences. u'nited states coal commission.—in 1922 an act was passed declaring that a national emergency existed in the production, transportation and distribution of coal and other fuel. it gave supplementary powers to the interstate commerce commission to issue, in transportation of coal or other fuel, orders for priorities in car service, embargoes and other suitable measures, and to take any other necessary steps for the priority in trans- portation, and for the equitable distribution, of coal or other fuel and prevent their purchase or sale at prices unreasonably high. in 1923 an amending act established the u.s. coal commission of not more than seven members for the purpose of securing information in connection with questions relative to interstate commerce in coal and all questions and problems arising out of and connected with the coal industry. the commission’s report contained a full account of economic conditions in the coal- mining industry. (e. r. j.) 907 invention.—nothing is more significant of the activities of human ingenuity than the tale of the inventions which reach the national patent offices for record and official approval. the stimulus of social conditions and economic necessity are marked most significantly here. why some inventions succeed is often obvious. many inventions fail to achieve commercial success though valuable and useful in themselves, sometimes because existing processes adequately satisfy the need, sometimes be- cause they are too advanced and the need for them has not vet arrived. indeed, analysis of the causes of failure is full of inter- est. the phenomena of cultural lag deserve serious study. previous knowledge-—all inventions, in a sense, are condi- tioned by existing knowledge, nearly all depend directly or in- directly on previous conditions. the motor-car, the aeroplane, wireless telegraphy, the steam turbine, could not have reached their present stage of development without a long series of prior inventions. the science of the metallurgist, the chemist, the physicist, has made it possible to produce materials which com- bine strength with lightness, which possess properties in the required degree—magnetic, electric, chemical—so that even the simplest product represents the sum of a series of minor inven- tions and contributions to knowledge. the range of problems presented to the inventor is well shown by the progress of invention as applied to the motor-car. the development of the internal-combustion engine entailed im- provements in the magneto, in carburettors, in the ‘ timing gear, in the valves, improvements due to advances in electrical science and metallurgy. with increase of power comes the neces- sity for greater brake power. night travel demands better lighting. popular demand requires mass production. that in turn involves standardisation and that is impossible without prior advances in the manufacture of machine tools (g¢.2.) and measuring instruments (y.v.). ilere pure science is called in to solve the problems which underlie modern economic activity. then there is the need for simplification and strength. the car must be made safe and foolproof. the tendency to elaboration is constantly checked by the need for simplicity. key inventions.—there are, of course, key inventions which open vast ranges of further development. these attract atten- tion and are, in every sense, of the highest importance. never- theless, there may be as much ingenuity and utility in a single device which simplifies some elaborate process or meets some widespread human need. such inventions as these, too, deserve, even if they do not always achieve, success. every patent office throughout the world when its records are stuclied broadly on these lines tells the same tale. thus, in great britain since toro, the trend of invention has varied con- siderably owing to important changes in social conditions. the inventions of the years 1910-4, when social conditions were normal, present a trend very different from that of the war period and different from that of the years 1919-25, which was a period of recuperation and reconstruction. these three periods, however, have one important common feature, viz., that the numbers of inventions relating to locomotion and intercommuni- cation were exceptionally great. inventions of the period ig10o-4 motor-cars, etc.—the first application of self-starters to motur- cars seems to have been made by the adams manufacturing co., of bedford, in :)1f and was followed by many inventions for mecha- nism of this xia. there were also numerous inventions for variable- speed gears, hyhting sets, detachable rims and spring wheels. in motor-cycles, the replacement of belt or chain variable-speed gearing by toothed gearing and the introduction of the kick starter deter- mined the modern form. many forms of lifeguards for use on trams and omnibuses were patented and, after the taxi dispute in 1911, there were many inventions for registering ‘‘ extras’? (see motor vehicles). inventive activity was very marked in connection with internal-combustion engines, especially those of the fixed radial. revolving cylinder and ‘s yalveless ’’ types, and in carburettors (see internal combustion engine). aleronautics,—many of the acroplane inventions related to de- tails of machines which, like the farman biplane and the morane monoplane, were well known. ‘the use of these inventions eliminated, to a large extent, unsuitable flying-machines. directly driven tractor screws and rear elevators became more generally adopted. the 508 importance of aircraft as an auxiliary in warfare was appreciated and, in 1911, inventions for launching aeroplanes from the decks of battleships were patented. the airships “ beta’ and ‘‘ gamma,” built at farnborough, made several successful flights; they were in- fated with hydrogen generated in oerlikon electrolysers, which usually employed a pure solution of potash. about the year rgr2, the seaplane, provided with floats, was brought into use (see aero- plane; airship; seaplane). ravway signalling.—a scries of inventions for automatic signal- ling to prevent trains from being signalled into a section containing a standing train was patented in rgtt, after the accidents at hawes junction and pontypridd. in 1913, there were many inventions for automatically signalling and stopping trains and in 1914 for locking carriage <loors from the guard’s van (see ramway signalling). life saving.—following the disaster to the “ titanic’ (g.2.) in 1912, there were many inventions for life-saving appliances for per- sonal wear, detachable ships’ fittings to serve as rafts, and boat- lowering gear; there were also inventions for enabling a ship to reccive wireless distress signals when the operator was off duty. transmission gear.—the constantinesco system of transmitting power by means of a pulsating column of water was applied to rock drills and other apparatus. water supply.—in the year 1913, the mctropolitan water board brought into use, at their chingford reservoir, a powerful pump of the pulsometer type, the humphreys internal combustion pump (see pumps). telephones.—the first automatic telephone exchange for public use in england was opened at epsom, in 1912. following this, there were many inventions relating to junction and trunk line work- ing for facilitating the gradual introduction of automatic systems (see telephones), fixation of nifrogen.—many inventions for the synthetic produc- tion of ammonia from the nitrogen of the atmosphere were patented, some of the most important being those of the badische anilin und soda fabrik, developing the catalytic haber process. (see nitrogen, fixation of.) medicine —hrlich’s invention of salvarsan, introduced in 1910, for the treatment of venereal and other spirochaetal diseases, has been of great value (see pharmacology). rubber, eic.—in 1911-3, there were many inventions relating tothe synthetic production of isoprene and of rubber, the coagulation of rubber latex and the cold process of vulcanisation by using sul- phuretted hydrogen and sulphurous acid gas in succession (peachey’s process). the usc of accelerators, e.g., piperidine, was also introduced in vulcanising (see rubrer). in 1913, there were series of inventions for converting heavy oils into motor spirit and for obtaining light oils from coal by carbonising at a low temperature. stainless steel, a chromium-steel alloy, was brought into use toward the end of the period. electric lamps.—in connection with filaments for incandescent electric lamps, many inventions related to the production of osmium, tantalum, niobium, molybdenum, and tungsten and to apparatus for swaging and wiredrawing these metals. one of the most important inventions of the period was the half-watt lamp, british patent specification, no. 10918 of 1913 (see flectric lighting). the thermionic valve for use in wireless was another very impor- tant invention. in the textile industry, there were many inventions relating to collecting dust in and ventilating cotton-mills and to mechanical means for shuttle-threading. there were numerous inventions for gyro-compasses (see gyyrosccopes), artificial horizons, gyro-stabi- lisers, and other apparatus depending on the application of the gyro principle. the selection and intermittent exposure of acdvertise- ments and the projection of cinema pictures in natural colours were important subjects of invention. there were also many inventions for slider or “ lightning " fastenings for corscts, boots and pouches. inventions of the war period the numbers of inventions connected with industries, other than those of importance in warfare, fell off considerably. in- ventions connected with military and naval operations were brought into use in rapid succession; periscopes (q.v.), mills bombs (q.v.), the lewis gun, the paravane (g.v.) for protecting ships from mines and torpedoes, camouflage (g.v.) systems, depth charges and other means for use against submarines, pomeroy and other explosive and incendiary bullets for use against zep- pelins, the tanks (qg.v.), body armour, and combination knives, forks and spoons are only a few examples. aircraft.—the inventions connected with aircraft were of out- standing importance and their use resulted in the production of many highly efficient machines. the fokker monoplane had an all-metal! fuselage and a tractor screw through which a maxim gun was arranged to fre by means of a synchronising gear. the d.il.2, a british single-seater biplane with pusher screw and a wide range of fire was used successfully until it was superseded by machines invention with a tractor screw through which a vickers machine-gun was arranged to fire by means of congtantinesco's hydraulic synchro- nising gear. the twin-engined gotha was a long-distance german bombing-machine and was provided with a sighting-telescope capa- ble of being used with scientific accuracy. thermionic valves, etc.—thermionic valves (vacuum tubes) for use in telephony and wireless receivers (see vacuum tubes; wirelfss), the recovery of benzene, toluene and other hydrocarbons in gas and coke manufacture, and the synthetic production of ammonia received a great deal of attention. michell bearings.—the segmental pivoted thrust blocks known as michell bearings were usedt on a large scale, especially in submarines (a.v.). these bearings were first made in 1905 and, in 1913, were fitted in the cross-channel steamer “ paris.” michell bearings take up a comparatively small space and are easily lubricated. there was a large number of inventions for toys and games cf a warlike kind and for the manufacture of dolls’ heads and eyes which, before the war, had been imported in large quantities. inventions of the period 1919-25 the trend of invention reverted to a large extent towards improvements of commercial importance. it resembles the trend of invention for the period 1910-4, but presents the adcli- tional feature that rapid and extensive developments have been made possible by utilising inventions brought into use under war conditions. this is exemplified in aeronautics by the long- distance flights to many countries during the past few years; in long-distance wireless telephony and broadcasting (q.r.) made possible by the use, during the war, of efficient thermionic valves in telephony from aeroplanes; and, in the chemical industry, in the recent successes in the commercial production of ammonia from the nitrogen of the atmosphere, following the improvements made during the war (see nitrogen, fixation of). the autogyro.—a remarkable form of aeroplane, the autogyro, patented by sefior de la cierva, of madrid (british patent specifica- tion, no. 196594), is capable of descending vertically or nearly so with safety. it differs fundamentally from the helicopter in that its windmill is not driven by power but, as its name indicates, turns freely upon its shaft (see aeroplane), internal combustion engines.—the use of the diesel and other oil motors in place of steam-engines has made great progress. a recent invention by the vulcan co., of stettin, introduces a hydraulic trans- nussion gear between the motor and the ship’s propellor to minimise the effects of vibration (see ‘transmission gear). zurbines, etc.— during the last few years, there have been inventions for the application of turbine engines for driving locomotives and many inventions have had for their object the increasing of the ethciency of steam engines by using steam at very high pressures. in the blonquist steam generator, producing steam at about 800 ib. per sq. in. the generator elements are horizontal steel tubes rotating rapidly so that the water in cach tube forms an annulus. a boiler at weymouth, mass., operates at a pressure of 1200 lb. per sq. in. (see boiler; steam engine; turbine). amfotor-car problems.—an inertia gear, invented by constanti- nesco, is designed to adjust automatically the power developed by the motor of a vehicle in accordance with the varying resistance on inclined roads or on roads having surfaces of varying quality. for the supply of petrol to motor-cars and other vehicles on the road, there have been brought into use many forms of petrol pumps and other delivery apparatus; these have been mostly of american origin (see moror vehiclhs),. shipburldiag.—in the construction of ships, a combination of the longitudinal and the transverse systems of framing has been brought into use and there is a tendency toward the use of the longitudinal for the bottom of the ship and the upper deck and the transverse for the sidles (see shipbuilding). gyroscopes—there has been great attention devoted to the application of the gyroscope in the arts, cspecially in connection with automuatic-steering apparatus, ship stabilisers, gun-control apparatus and aerial photography (see gyroscopes). vacuum tubes and thermionie walve-—for the efficient working of thermionic valves, the use of high vaci#a is important and there have been inventions for obtaining these vacua by eliminating from the bulb or other vessel not only the air but also residual mercury vapour. these vacua have also been of great importance in n-ray tubes for shortening the time of exposure (see vacuum tures). thermionic valves have also been used in gramopkones to replace the ordinary amplifying means; large diaphragms have also been used recently in gramophones for amplifying purposes. activated carbon.—a form of carbon with an exceptionally high degree of porosity has been invented. it is called “ activated car- bon " and its gas-occluding, catalytic and filtering properties are very powerful; it is of great value in sugar refining. flotation precesses.—oil and other flotation processes have been applied for the recovery of clean coal from coal residues and also for separating molybdenite and various metals from their ores. iowa ore deposits.—the location of ore deposits by means of electric and magnetic apparatus has also received a great deal of attention, stainless steel.—there have been many inventions for improving the manufacture of the chrome-steel alloy used in making stainless steel (see rustless steel) for cutlery and other articles; a very recently proposed use of stainicss steel is for making the metal fittings of road vehicles. alcohol.—for obtaining methylic and higher alcohols (see alco- ol) from carbonic oxide and hydrogen, the badische anilin und soda fabrik has brought into use processes similar to their high- pressure processes for the synthetic production ot ammonia. the same company is also experimenting with processes for con- verting coal into oil (see fuel problems). artificial silk. —many inventions for improving the manufacture of artificial silk (¢.¥.) have been patented. ‘the dyeing (¢.2.) of acetate silk, the artificial silk usually called celanese, by the use of ionamines and by adding a protective colloid, which may be obtained by grind- ing an insoluble dye with sodium sulphoricinoleate, to the dye baths has received attention during the nist few years. rubber procsesses,—~vhere have been many inventions for the use of accelerators capable of powerful actioa in the vulcanising process (see rubber), e.g., allehydes, amincs and p-nitroso dimethylaniiine. the treatment of rubber latex which his been delivered in large quantities by the rubber producing comp nies, has received a great deal of atteatioa. a receat irvention (tlopkinson’s british specifi- cation no. 157978) is for spraying the latex so as to atomize it; the water in the sprayed latex is evaporated and crude rubber remains. artificill foods. —\manvy inventions relate to the production of artificial foods containing large percentages of vitamins (¢.2.) selected to favour healthy development or to counteract tendencies towards rickets, beri-beri and other diseases. many of the vitamins intro- ducel are of the fat-soluble a (cod-liver o}) type or of the water- soluble b (yeast) type. one of the most active subjects of invention has been the manu- facture of artificial limbs, the efficiency and vatue of which have been considerable. destructinle receptacles, intended for use once only and oro.fuced in vast numbers at a low cost have been patented in many forms. these receptacles, for use in serving jellies, ices, etc. are made of cardboard or other cheap matertil. photagraphy. —photographic surveying from aircraft, employed largely during the war, has been utilise! for topographic surveying. the metho.] has been found by archacologists to be useful in discover- ing and investigating traces of ancient eacampments and other settlements, for the views obtained show details not visible at close quarters {see archaeology: air survey). prof. sir j. b. hender- son's gyrosconically contrelied camera has been designed chicily for use 01 aeroplanes. ct, eb.)