The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-08-22
WHICH ARE THRBAD RAILw.AYSF
Those which Violate Law by Giving Pref-
crentlal Treatment 10 High OflcIalsF

VFcWpmA bEphhWtNWu w Nh@m VN'S'"''
To THE EDITOR OF THE SUN--Sir: The
President opened his last annual message
to Congress by asseverating'
We stu continue in period of unboundsd pros
perty, which IL not altogether 1.-The creature OF
law" but. undoubtedly. by unwisa legislation II
would DO easy enough to destroy It.
He then expressed his earnest hope that
Congress create Secretary OF Commerce
with a seat in the Cabinet A Cabinet
being unknown to the Constitution and the
statutes, Congress could not give a seat IN
what was and Is in law non-existent; but
that is now immaterial.
The reasons assigned by the President
for the creation of new Department were
the STEADY tendency toward the employ
ment Of capital in huge corporations, and
the wonderful strides Of this country toward
leadership in the international business
world He informed Congress that the
creation Of such a Department would IN
itself be an advance toward dealing with
and exercising supervision over the Whote
sabject-of the great corporations doing an in
terstate business, and with this end in view,
the Congress should endow the Department
with large powers, which could be increased
as experience might show the need"
Congress concurred. The new Depart
ment was authorized, and Mr.. Cortelyou
was placed by the President at the head
Of the supervising" Of corporations which
were then leading "in the international
business world" Time will more fully
show than it has yet shown whether the
legislation was that which the President
described as "unwise" and destructive Of
prosperity.
Pervading great many sentences OF
vague presentation Of general propositions
cleverly arranged to show why new head
OF new executive Department should be
empowered to regulate corporations were
limitations, rather than distinct assertions
that certain corporations we're then badly
managed Sentences like this were adroitly
used:
Great fortunes have been won by those who have
taken the lead In this phenomenal Industrial devel
opment, and most Of these fortunes have been won
not by doing evil but as an Incident TO action which
has benefited the community as q whole
There was not frank Identification Of
improper conduct condemned, nor men
ton of the guilty corporations or their
but yet there was a distinct
warning OF the danger Of striking blindly
and censuring Unfortunately. The Presi-
dent said:
The evils are real. and some OF them are menac
ing. The Industrial development must
not be checked but side by side with II should so
such progressive regulation al Will diminish the
evils.
There are always evils" but no identifi-
cation OF them.
The President gravely informed Con-
gress that "a fundamental base Of civiliza
ton is the inviolability of property" yet
he went on in another sentence to say that
such inviolability must be assailed because
certain capitalists unnamed were doing evil.
He said:
The capitalist who. alone or in conjunction with
his fellows, performs some great Industrial feat by
which he wins money Is a welldoer, not wrong
dOer provided only he works In proper and egIt
mate lines We wish 10 favor such man when he
does well. We wish to supervise and control his
actions only TO prevent him from doing Ill.
Had the President in his mind the guilty
man or men?
A modification of the tariff would not,
declared the President stop the mysterious
badness. This was his tariff logic:
Many OF the largest corporations many OF those
which should certainly be Included In any proper
scheme of regulation. would not be affected in the
slightest degree by change In the tariN. save as
such change lntericred with the general prosperity
Of the country The only relation OF the tariff
to big corporations as a whole Is that the tarlT
makes manufactures profitable. and the tarh
remedy proposed would be In effect simply TO make
Improbable.
It was to he expected that, under such
vague and sweeping COMBINATIONS uttered
to Congress by the President there would ha
men engaged in such management of their
own capital invested in corporations as
to the "unbounded" prosperity
who would say, at least to themselves, that
Z Congress saw fit to empower the Presi-
lent and his new Secretary of Commerce
% manage private capital the owners had
better quietly withdraw for a time, so far
rs possible. and await what will come to
pass.
Meanwhile, is 1t the good or bad railways
hat violate the written law by giving pref
,rential treatment to high officials? Per-
laps the Interstate Commerce Commission
will mention the subject to the next Con-
yress. A REMOTE OBSERVER.
BosToN, Aug 20.