The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-04-04

| by q system giving to the Government
 the full knowledge which is the essential
 for satisfactory action. Then, when this
 knowledgc-one of the essential features l of which Is proper publicity-has been gained, what further steps of any kind
 are necessary can be taken with the con- | 1dence born of the possession of power
 to deal with the subject, and of a thor | ough knowledge of what should and can
 be done in the matter. We need addi-
 tional power and We need knowledge.
 able now or obtainable only after a con-
 stitutional amendment-should provide for
 . reasonable supervision. the most prom. tnent feature of which at first should be publicity; that is. the making public both to the Government authorities and | to the people at large, the essential facts in which the public Is concerned. This would give us exact knowledge of many but the subject of fierce controversy. l Moreover, the mere fact of the pubNca- ton would cure some very grave evils, for the light of day Is a deterrent to l other evils with which, for the time be- | ing. we could devise no way to grapple Finally. 1t would disclose others which could be grappled with and cured by fur In my message to Congress for 1901 I said:
 Tn the interest of the whole people the Nation should. without interfering
 
 ter, itself also assJnie power of super vision and regulation over all corpora | tions doing an interstate business"
 r,. The views s,s,. thus s .s expressed have now and yet far-reaching legislation enacted | by Congress at it's last session.
 Department of Commerce. "In it's wisdom Congress enacted the very important law providing a Depart ment of Commerce and Labor, and fur | providing thprein tary of Commerce and Labor for a Com missioner of Corporations, charged with the duty of supervision of and of making intelligent investigation into the or porations engaged in interstate Com merce. His powers to expose ,iiegal or hurtful practices to ob- the purposes of further Intelligent legislation seems adequate and the | publicity justifiable and proper for public purposes is satisfactorily guar end of the session of Congress. Owing to | the lateness of It's passage Congress was not able to provide proper equipment for the new department; and the first few months must necessarily be spent in the work, of organization, and the first inves- ttgatfons must necessarily be of a tenta- tive characted The satisfactory develop ment of such system requires time and great labor. Those who are intrusted with the administration of the new law will assuredly administer it in a spirit or absolute fairness and justice and of en- tire fearlessness with the firm purpose not to hurt any corporation doing a legiti- mate business-on the contrary to help 1t and, on the other hand not to spare any corporation which may be guilty of iIle- gal practices, or the methods of which may make 1t a menace to the public well fare. Some substantial good will be done in the immediate future; and as the de- pertinent gets fairly to work under the larger will be opened along the lines indicated The enactment of this law is one of the most significant contributions which have been made in our time toward the proper solution of the problem of the relations to the people of the great corporations and corporate combinations
 The Rebate Scheme.
 But much though this is. 1t is only a to ascertain and correct improper trust or monopolstie practices. Some eighteen months ago the Industrial Commission sa an f anie ana no%n-partisan % body, reported | ton of trusts and industrial combinations | One of the most important of their con clusions was that discriminations in freight rates and facilities were granted favored shippers by the railroads and | that these discriminations clearly tended toward the control of production and prices in many fields of business by large combinations. That this conclusion was Justifiable was shown by the disclosures in the investigation of railroad methods pursued in the fall and winter of 1901 trunk lines had entered into unlawful agreements as to the transportation of food products from the West to the At lantic seaboard, giving few favored shippers rates much below the tariff charges imposed upon the smaller deal CTS and the general public. These unjust practices had prevailed to such an extent and for so long time that many of the smaller shippers had been driven out of business, until practically one buyer of grain on each railway system had been able by his illegal advantages to secure monopoly on the line with which his secret compact was made; this monopoly enabling him to fix the price to both pro ducer and consumer. Many of the great in combination with each other and with most Of the great railway lines. whereby they enjoyed large secret concessions in rates and thus obtained a practical mo- nopoly of the fresh and cured meat in dustry of the country These fusions. though violative of the statute. had pre- vailed unchecked for so many years that they had become intrenched in and inter. woven with the commercial life of certain large distributing localities; although this was of course at the expense of the vast body of law-abiding merchants, the gen ed localities.
 Galvanization of Sherman Law.
 Under those circumstances it was a serious problem to determine the wise course to follow in NItalizing a law which had in part become obsolete or proved incapable Of enforcement. Of what the Attorney General did In enforcing it I shall speak later. The decisions of the courts upon the law had betrayed weak nesseS and imperfections, some of them so serious as to render abortive efforts to apply any effective remedy for the existing evils.
 It is clear that corporations created for quasi public purposes, clothed for that reason with the ultimate power of the State to take private property against the will of the owner, hold their corporate powers as carriers In trust for the fairly impartial service of all the public Fa- voritism in the use of such powers, un- justly enriching some and unjustly inn poverishing others. discriminating in fa- vor of some places and against others, is palpably violative of plain principles of justice. Such a practice unchecked is hurtful in many ways. Congress, having had its attention drawn to the matter enacted most important anti-rebate law, which greatly strengthens the interstate commerce law. This new law prohibits under adequate penalties the giving and as we'll the demanding or receiving of such preferences, and provides the pre- orous administration of this law, and it will be enforced, will. 1t Is hoped, afford substantial remedy for certain trust evils which have attracted public attention and have created public unrest.
 This law represents a noteworthy and important advance toward just and ef- fective regulation of transportation Moreover, its passage has been supple mented by the enactment of a law to ex-