New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-06-22

Con and ope, alton Of corporations engaged in
interstate col lnerce, and on the 18th Of Febru-
1Iy, 1915, an act charging the powers Of the
interstate @ muerce Commission and of the
courts, 20 dea with secret rebates in transporta-
uoh charges which the chief means by
pettors
The Attorn y General has gone on in the same
practical wa, not 10 talk about the trusts but
20 proceed tsainst the trusts by law for their
regulation In separate suits fourteen of the
great raiIroa ds of the country have been re-
strained by injunction from giving Illegal re-
Dates TO the favored shippers. who by means of
lheIn were living out the smaller shippers and
HoHopoLz4nE the grain and meat business Of the
Eou-ll'y- ! ne beef trust was put under in
Junction The officers Of the railroads engaged
IN the cotton carrying pool, affecting all that
sea- Hludst Y OF the South, We're indicted and
nave abando ned their combination. The North
eIh securities Company, which undertook by
combining il. one ownership the capital stocks OF
the Northerl Pacific and Great Northern Rail-
roads TO enI traffic competition in the North
west. has ben DESTROYED nv a vigorous nrosa
cuuon expedited ana brought TO a speedy and
eIIectlve col clusiOn in the Supreme Court under
the act OF February II. 1903. The Attorney
General says
Here. then. are four phases Of the attack on the
combinations in restraint of trade and commerce
ne railroad injunction suits. the cotton pool cases
me beef trust cases, and the Northern Securities
case. The iirst relates to the monopoly produced
ny sIeI am preferential rates for railroad trans
poFtatlon the second TO railroad traffic pooling; the
thlrd to a combination Of independent corporations
10 5l% ana maintain extortiOnate prices for meats
mr. lou! N 70 corporation organized to merge
Ines Inc TS IS Inc control of parallel and competing
their rates OF transportation.
TRUSTS DRIVEN WITHIN LEGAL BOUNDS.
The right OF the Interstate Commerce Com
mission 10 compel the production of books and
papers mas been established by the judgment
or the supreme Court in a suit against the coal
carrying roads. Other suits have been brought
ana other indictments have been found and other
trusts have been driven back within legal
bouhCS NO investment in lawful business has
been jeOpaTdized. no fair and honest enterprise
mas been injured. but ii is certain that wherever
the constitutional power of the national govern
l--eLl reaches trusts are being practically regu-
Iated ana curbed within lawful bounds they
never have been before. and the men of small
capital are finding in the efficiency and skill OF
the national Department of Justice protection
they never had before against the crushing eff
feet of unlawful combinations.
We have at last reached point where the
public wealth Of farm land which has seemed so
ineNhaustible. IS nearly gone and the problem
Of utilizing the remainder for the building Of
new homes has become of vital Importance
The present administration has dealt with
this problem vigorously and effectively. Great
areas had been unlawfuIly fenced in by of
large means and the home builder had been
excluded. Many of these unlawful aggressors
have been compelled 10 relinquish their booty,
and more than 100000 acres OF land have been
restored To the public. Extensive frauds in
procuring grants of land. not for homesteads
out for speculation have been investigated and
stopped ma the perpetrators have been in
dicted ana are being actively prosecuted. A
competent commission has been constituted 70
examine into the defective working OF the exist
ing laws and TO suggest practical legislation TO
prevent further abuse. That commission has
reported, and bills adequate 70 accomplish the
purpose have been framed and are before Con-
gress. The further denudation of forest areas
producing alternate floods and dryness in
river valleys. has been checked by the extension
OF forest reserves. which have been brought 10
aggregate more than $1,000 900 acres Of land
The reclamation by irrigation OF the vast arid
regions forming the chief part OF our remaining
public domain, has been provided for by the
national Reclamation law OF June IT, 1903
The execution OF this law. without taxation and
by the application Of the proceeds OF public land
sales alone. through the construction OF storage
reservoirs for water. will make many millions
Of Of fertile lands available for settlement
over S2oOooOOO from these sources has been
already received 70 the credit OF the reclamation
fund. over 33.O0OOOO acres OF public lands IN
fourteen States and Territories have been EN-
braCeG n the sixty~seVen prog SNs which have
been devised and are under exal 50 alton, and on
eight OF these the work Of actual construction
has begun