reasonable or unjustly discriminatory, or inadequate, as the case may be, and it shall cause a certified copy of each such order to be delivered to an officer or station agent of the railroad affected thereby, which order shall of its own force take effect and become operative twenty days after the service thereof."
The authors of the bill were exceedingly careful to stay within the bounds which hedge about the delegation of legislation. All Wisconsin legislation of this kind is based upon the simple and yet effective device which may be paraphrased as follows:—
- Rates shall be reasonable.
- Our servant, the commission, shall ascertain whether they are or are not. If they are not, they shall be made so.
In other words, the plan carefully allows the legislature to make the law; the commission does nothing but administer the wish of the masters,—the legislature. The commission does not attempt in any way to legislate.
An understanding of certain expedients and devices used in this law will lead to a clearer view of the principles underlying the greater part perhaps of the legislation described in what follows.
Like the railroad commission all commissions are practically appointive. In dealing with complex economic subjects the legislature lays down general principles—determines the general policy and turns over to
