City of Eau Claire v. Wisconsin-Minnesota Light & Power Co.

The net result of the majority opinion seems to be that in an attempt to drive the good ship Railroad Commission away from roaring Scylla it is now headed, with all sails set, straight for roaring Charybdis.

Possibly much of the difficulty that is here presented is due to a lack of proper co-ordination between the statutory regulation of public utilities and that of water powers. In 1905 and 1907 was inaugurated the era of strict control and regulation of public-service corporations. From that time on no steany railroad could lay a mile of new track, either main, branch, or extension, without…