The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1904-12-06

discrimination in respect of the trans
| portation Of any property in Interstate
| or foreign commerce whereby such
property shall by any device whatever
| be transported at less rate than that
named in the tariffs published by the
| carrier must be enforced. For some
/ time after the enactment of the act to
regulate commerce it remained a moot
| ed question whether that act conferred
| upon the Interstate commerce commits
| sion the power after it had found q
| challenged rats to be unreasonable to
| declare what thereafter should prima
facie be the reasonable maximum rate
for the transportation in dispute. The
supreme court finally resolved that
question in the negative, so that as the
law now stands the commission simply
possesses the bare power to denounce a
particular rate as unreasonable. While
I am Of the opinion that at present 1T
would be undesirable if it were not inn
practicable finally to clothe the COM
mission with general authority to fix
railroad rates, I do believe that as q
fair security to shippers the commits
sion should be vested with the power
where given rate has been challenged
and after full hearing found to be UNI
reasonable to decide, subject to judi
cial review, what shall be reasonable
rate to take it's place, the ruling of the
commission to take effect Immediately
and to obtain unless and until it is re-
versed by the court Of review. The
government must in increasing degree
supervise and regulate the workings Of
the railways engaged In interstate
commerce, and such increased supervi-
sion is the only alternative to an In
crease Of the present evils on the one
hand or a still more radical policy on
the other. In my Judgment the most
important legislative act now needed
as regards the regulation Of corpora
lions is this act to confer on the inter-
state commerce commission the power
to revise rates and regulations, the re-
Vised rate to at once go into effect and
to stay In effect unless and until the
court Of review reverses it.
Steamship companies engaged in in
terstate commerce and protected in our
coastwise trade should be held to a
strict observance Of the interstate COM
merce act
City of Washington.
In pursuing the set plan to make the
city Of Washington an example to 9TH
er American municipalities several
points should be kept in mind by the
legislators. In the first place, the peo-
pie Of this country should clearly I'M
derstand that no amount Of Industrial
prosperity and, above all, no leadership
In interna tional Industrial competition
can in any way atone for the sapping
Of the vitality Of those who are usually
spoken of as the working classes. The
farmers, the mechanics, the skilled and
unskilled laborers, the small shopkeep-
ers, make up the bulk Of the popula-
ton Of any country, and upon their
well being, generation after generation,
the well being Of the country and the
race depends. Rapid development in
wealth and industrial leadership is a
good thing, but only if it goes hand in
hand with Improvement and not de-
terioration, physical and moral The
overcroWding Of cities and the draining
Of country districts are unhealthy and
even dangerous symptoms in our mod
ern life. We should not permit over
croWding in cities. In certain Euro
pean cities 1t is provided by law that
| hn 1Iotfo oP 1,o11 Il
allowed to exceed a very limited den
sity for given area, so that the in
crease in density must be continually
pushed back into a broad zone around
the center Of the town, this zone having
| great avenues or parks within it. The
death rate statistics show terrible in
crease in mortality, and especially in
infant mortality, in overcrowded tene-
ments. The poorest families in tenement
houses live in one room, and it appears
| that in these one room tenements the
average death rate for a number Of
| given cities at home and abroad is
about twice what it is in a two room
tenement, four times what it is in a
three room tenement and eight times
what it is in tenement consisting of
four rooms or over These figures vary
somewhat for different cities, but they
approximate in each city those given
above; and in all cases the increase Of
mortality, and especially Of infant
mortality, with the decrease in the
number Of rooms used by the family
and with the consequent overcrowding,
is startling. The slum exacts a heavy
total Of death from those who dwell
therein, and this is the case not merely
In the great crowded slums Of high
buildings in New York and Chicago,
but in the alley slums Of Washington.
In Washington people cannot afford to
ignore the harm that this causes No
Christian and civilized community can
afford to show happy go lucky lack
Of concern for the youth Of today, for
If SO the community will have to pay
a terrible penalty Of financial burden
and social degradation in the tomor-
Dor and factory inspection laws. It is
very desirable that married women
should not work in factories. The
prime duty Of the man is to work, to
be the breadwinner The prime duty
Of the woman is to be the mother, the
housewife. All questions Of tariff and
finance sink into utter insignifcance
when compared with the tremendous,
the vital Importance Of trying to shape
conditions so that these two duties of
the man and Of the woman can be
fulfilled under reasonably favorable