Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1898-05-19

Tor private contracts ana REBATES Is en-
tirely out of proportion to the offense. The
Imprisonment clause was put in as an
amendment to the interstate commerce
law, and I believe the commission and
everyone who has watched its workings
will agree with me that It has been fail
ure: more than failure. that it has caused
perhaps more Generalization than any
thing else. The public has not believed in
it; it has been impossible to secure convic-
ton; it has prevented the railway Of
| fetal who desired to be honest from COM
| planning Of his competitor whom he thought
| was Dishonest In fact, it has been what
every law is that is not supported by pub
/ lie sentiment-a failure. What, in fact, is
! the manner Of conducting business to-day?
! The railway official who desires to be hon.
est and law-abiding sees traffic leave his
line and finds the freight that he was car
rying hauled to the warehouse of his rival,
the earnings of his line decreasing and
complaints from the management Of loss of
earnings, and in the distance he sees loom
ing up the loss of his position. At the same
time, the shipper who desires to obey the
law sees some rival selling mercha Gdise to
his customers at prices he cannot meet,
and he knows very well that he is securing
concessions from some railway to enable
him to do this. The railway agent and the
shipper who wish to obey the law sit down
together and look 1t over. What re ief Is
there for them? They can complain or
their rivals, possibly convict them under
the Interstate commerce law and send
them to the pententiary, but such action
would bring down upon them the con-
domination of the pubic. and would rim
their business; for, I stated before, the
public does not believe in this severe Yea
ture of the law, and will not support any
one who enforces it. The result is, these
! men In despair are driven to do just what
their opponents are doing-they become
lawbreakers themselves. / have drawn no
fancy picture: it is what is occurring every
day around you. Boards of trade, COM
mercial bodies and conventions have re-
peatediy reported it, and all have come
to the same conclusion; and yet, for some
inexplcable reason, congress has failed to
act.
There are two changes that should be
made in this present legislation which
would aid in creating a better condition Of
affairs than exists to-day. First, the tenth
section, or imprisonment clause, should be
stricken out, and a new law should be en-
acted imposing a fine Of, say, $1,000 upon
the offending corporation; make each and
every contract or bill of Iading a separate
ofrense. Leave out the shipper altogether;
you want his testimony. If he cheats by
undertaking or false invoices, he should be
punished, but his attempt to secure lower
rate than his rival should not be indicta bic,
you then prevent getting testimony
which you need. With this amendment put
into law every railway official will be in
terested in prosecuting his rival for any
violation Of the law
''Is it wise is it broad craftsmanship, to
leave a business as large that of the
raiiways-one in which oue-fifth, al least,
of our population is engaged, one which
affects the comfort and happiness of nine
tenths of the peoples it wise to leave it
outside of the law? 1t is said that the most
expensive occupation to the community is
that of the burglar, he has to spend so
much time and destroy so much to get so
little. Is it worth while to force the great
railway interests of the country into the
same position?
CAL of us who have any interest in our
country. who desire it's prosperity, are in
tereSted in the solution OF this great ques-
ton. 1t is not time for the demagogue to
howl about corporations. 1t is not time
to talk about the wrongdOinGs of railway
managers. There are always some, in any
business, who viii not do right, and there
always will be, but the great mass of rail-
, way managers to-day, l assure you, are
as honestly seeking a solution of this ques-
ton as are you or any member of the leg
iSbatiVe body. 1 believe voice the belief or
a very large majority of them that the two
| provisions l have mentioned are necessary
and will lead to the settlement of this queS-
ton. If this body will join and heartily in
dorse this course and work for it, its ac-
complfshment can be attained We have
unwittingly in this country applied to rail-
way laws that it was never intended should
| be applied to transportation companies of
| this nature. We have gone back and taken
decisions that were wise hundred years
ago, when civilization was in its infancy
and when the masses needed certain pro-
H.
same principles to the great transportation
| interests of modern times. The courts, I'M
| fortunately, have followed in that line
Every business man, every statesman,
knows that it is a mistake, that We have
here an immense interest such as the world
has never seen, and the principles which
should govern it must be worked out in
harmony with the age and the needs of this
country. There should be no friction be-
| tween the interstate commerce commission
and the railways; there should be none be-
tween the state commissions and the rail-
ways. There has been too much of a feel
ing with these bodies that the railways
were against them. In the contest with
railways, in the courts, the commissioners
have drifted away somewhat from the
ground they ought to stand on that is,
they should be the friends of the railways
instead of their enemies, and should aid
in securing the proper legislation, and the
railways, in turn, should give their support
to make such legislation effective. 1 be-
lieve 1t can be done in no better way than
by the true method l have pointed out
First, the change of the criminal section;
second, authority to contract and divide
business. Either one of them would be of
great advantage, but we ought to have
both. There also should be such legisla-
tion will give more force to the recon-
mendations and orders of the interstate
commerce commissioners. Instead of try
ing to break down the commission the rail-
way officials should try to build 1t up.
should make the commission its aid and use
1t as a bulwark of strength in congress and
in the states to beat back the tide of pop
ulism that is rising continually against
them.
UNLESS some change such as have indi-
Gated is made, the small shippers of the
country will be extinguished and few men
of large capital will control the entire mer-
chandise business. They have such facil-
tiles through commissions, agencies, own
ership of private cars, for evading the law,
that no modern shipper can for a moment
compete with them. Is it wise for any
country to aid in such a destruction? Is
1t not suicidal to all our material interests?
competition will at last get so low that they
will be seized by large capitalists and COM
bined into one monstrous company. AL
ready, since the interstate commerce law,
there have been more consultations Of
rival and competing lines than in the %
years previous. This is not for the interest
of the public You must remember that
iron rules. There must be some oppor-
tunity for the development of traffic There
must be some freedom given the managers
in the proper way to Increase the business
of their lines. You hear objections to
agreements to divide the business of the
country. The answer to them is that no
pool can be made large enough to control
different markets. The grain and the
meats and the large articles of commerce
have a hundred ways of reaching the mar
kets, and the competition OF these will pre-
vent any large advance. 1t is also ad-
mitted that the commissioners ought to
control all rates made under pool.
You also viii hear from different sides
conclusions drawn from what has been
done by the railways in England. Yet these
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