of agreement, it has been effected by means of lease and purchase.
The second purpose of the act was to prevent discriminations and unjust rates. In the accomplishment of this result the commission has been hampered by a variety of circumstances. As the evidence in all cases must be obtained from the persons directly concerned in the alleged wrong-doing, there has been great difficulty in forcing them to testify. The promise of immunity from criminal prosecution on account of such testimony, as given in the original act, was not deemed by the courts sufficiently complete, and a satisfactory formulation was not obtained until 1893, when an amendatory act was passed. More important in its results for the effectiveness of the commission's work have been its relations to the courts. On appeal from a decision of the commission, the courts have subjected the whole matter in controversy to review. The action of the commission is final neither as to the law nor the facts. The introduction of new testimony discredits the work of the commission, which becomes a mere preliminary investigation.
Again, the commission has no power to prescribe rates. It may declare a rate to be unjust, and may enjoin the railroads to change it, but it cannot prescribe what change shall be made. If the new rate made by the roads is unsatisfactory, the same wearisome process of complaint and hearing must be gone through with before the commission can declare it to be unjust and again order it to be changed.
The commission has pleaded with Congress for years for an amendment of the act. It has asked that pooling, under regulations to be prescribed by the commission, shall be permitted. It has asked further for legislation which shall make the finding of facts conclusive, which shall make the appeal to the courts on the law only, giving the latter power to order a new hearing of facts by the commission, but none to undertake such hearing on its own account. It has asked further that it be given power to establish rates in controverted cases. Various measures looking to these ends have been introduced into Congress, but none have been enacted into law. See Railways.
The best discussion of the powers of the Interstate Commerce Commission is found in the Reports of the Commission, especially that of 1895. Consult, also, Meyer, “The Interstate Commerce Commission,” in Political Science Quarterly, September, 1902.
INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION. See Interstate Commerce Act.
INTERVAL (Lat. intervallum, interval, from inter, between + vallum, wall). In music, the difference of pitch between any two sounds, or the distance on the stave from one note to another, in opposition to unison, which is two sounds exactly of the same pitch. From the nature of our system of musical notation, which is on five lines and the four intervening spaces, and from the notes of the scale being named by the first seven letters of the alphabet, with repetitions in every octave, it follows that there can only be six different intervals in the natural diatonic scale until the octave of the unison be attained. To reckon from C upward, we find the following intervals: C to D is a second; C to E is a third; C to F is a fourth; C to G, a fifth; C to A, a sixth; C to B, a seventh; and from C to C is the octave, or the beginning of a similar series. Intervals above the octave are therefore merely a repetition of those an octave lower. A flat or a sharp placed before either of the notes of an interval does not alter the name of the interval, although it affects its quality; for example, from C to G♯ is still a fifth, notwithstanding that the G is raised a semitone by the sharp. Intervals are classified as perfect, major and minor. Perfect intervals are those which admit of no change whatever without destroying their consonance; these are the unison, fourth, fifth, and the octave. Intervals which admit of being raised or lowered a semitone are distinguished by the term major or minor, according as the distance between the notes of the interval is large or small. Such intervals are the third and sixth; for example, from C to E is a major third, the consonance being in the proportion of 5 to 4; when the E is lowered a semitone by a flat, the interval is still consonant, but in the proportion of 6 to 5, and is called a minor third. The same description applies to the interval of the sixth from C to A, and from C to A♭. The second and seventh are also distinguished as major and minor. If the upper tone of a major, or perfect, interval be raised, or the lower tone lowered a semitone, the interval becomes augmented; thus: c-e♯ or c♭-e. By lowering the upper or raising the lower tone of a minor, or perfect, interval by a semitone, a diminished interval results, thus: c-b♭♭ or c♯-b♭. Intervals are further distinguished as consonant and dissonant. Consonant intervals are those which can enter into the formation of a major or minor triad. They are the perfect unison, fourth, fifth, and octave and major and minor thirds and sixths. Thus, c, e, g, c' (1, 3, 5, 8) and c, f, a, c' (1, 4, 6, 8) ere the tonic triads of C and F major, respectively; whereas, with the third and sixth (e, a) flattened, they are the tonic triads of C and F minor, respectively. Dissonant intervals are the major and minor seventh and all augmented and diminished intervals. Whenever they enter into a chord, that chord is a dissonance and requires resolution into consonance. The distinction between consonant and dissonant intervals is made according to the ratio of the number of vibrations between any interval and the fundamental tone.
| (a) CONSONANT INTERVALS | |
| Unison | 1:1 |
| Fourth | 3:4 |
| Fifth | 2:3 |
| Octave | 1:2 |
| Major third | 4:5 |
| Minor third | 5:6 |
| Major sixth | 3:5 |
| Minor sixth | 5:8 |
| (b) DISSONANT INTERVALS | |
| Major second | 8:9 |
| Minor second | 15:16 |
| Augm. second | 64:75 |
| Major seventh | 8:15 |
| Minor seventh | 5:9 |
| Dimin. seventh | 75:128 |
| Augm. third | 512:675 |
| Dimin. fourth | 25:32 |
| Augm. fourth | 18:25 |
| Dimin. fifth | 25:36 |
| Augm. fifth | 16:25 |
Consonant intervals satisfy the ear because of their simple ratios; dissonances give a feeling of unrest and desire for resolution because of their complex ratios. The mathematical relations of intervals are determined as follows: given the normal a', which is produced by a string vibrating 870 times per second (see Diapason), the octave above is produced by shortening the string by half its length.
