Rocky Ford enterprise., 1904-12-09
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE
READ TO CONGRESS
Document Deals Voluminously with
Questions of State---Tariff Left for
Future Connaunication---Po Position of
the Government Toward Organized
Labor---Dealins with Illegal Combi-
nations.

shortly lay before You In n special mes
| sage the full report Of the investigation
| OF the bureau OF labor into the Colorado
| mining strike. as this is n strike In which
certain very evil forces. which ar. more
! or less at work everywhere under the
| conditions OF modern industriaiism. be-
| came stnrtlinsiy prominent.
Corporations.
When We come To deal with great cor
porations the need for the government TO
act directly Is far greater than in the
case OF labor. because great corporations
can become such only by engaging In In
| terstate commerce. and Interstate com
merce Is peculiarly the field OF the gem
.ral government. II Il an absurdity to eS-
pcct To eliminate the abuses In great cor
poiations by state ACTION. II IL difficult TO
be patient with an argument that hueh
matters should be left TO the states. be-
cause more than one state pufsues thu
policy OF creating on easy terms corpora
tions which nrc never operated Nithin
that state at all. but In other states
whose laws they ignore. The national
government alone can deal adequately
| with these great corporations. To uy To
deal with them In an intempeTatc, de-
htruetive. or dsmasogic spirit would. In
| all probability. mean that nothing what
ever would b. accomplished. and. with
absolute certainty. thnt " anything wer"
accomplished IL would be OF harmful
u
| continue to show the very qualities that
they have shown-thnt II. moderation.
good sense. tn. earnest desire to avoid
doing any damage. and yet the quiet de-
termination TO proceed. step by step
without halt ana without hurry. In cam
/ mating or at least In minimizing what
ever OF mischief or OF evil there Is to In
t-fsta;c commerce Ia the conduct OF
great corporations. They are acting In
no spirit OF hostility to wealth. either In
i al. tN.zNs NN.s
against the rich man any mor- than
against tho roor man. on the contrary.
/ they arc friendly alike toward rich man
and toward poor man. provided only that
/ each acts In a spirit OF Justice nni de-
ceney toward his fellows. Great corpora.
/ ton. nro necessary. and only men OF
/ great and singular mental power can
] manage such corporations successfully.
f. md such man must have great rewards.
| hut these corporations should br man.
nTcd with due regard to the interest OF
/ tho public q whole. Where this can
| be done under tho present laws u must
/ b- done. Where these laws come short
others should 10 enacted to supplement
them.
| careful preliminary investigation Of many
important corporations. II Will make n
special report on tho beef Industry.
bureau Of Corporations.
The policy a. the bureau u TO accom-
i piish the purposes Of Its creation by co.
/ operation. no; antaronIsm: BY making
| constructive legislation. not destructive
prosecution. the immediate object Of Its
/ Inquiries: By conH-ryatiy- investigation
| Of law and fact. and BY refusal To issue
incomplete and hence NECESSARILY inaccu-
] -t- reports. Its policy bcinE thus ono
.f open inquiry into. and not attack ur-
on. business. the bureau has been able TO
/ gain not only the confidence. but. better
| stiii. tho cooperation OF men engaged In
legitimate business.
Tho bureau offers TO tho Congress the
means of getting at tho cost Of pfcduc-
tion OF our various great staples OF CON.
/ tn-rcc.
Above all else. We must strive TO keep
/ the highways Of commerce open to all
i on equal terms: and To do this IL II nee
sssary to put complete stop TO all rc-
bates. Whether tho shipper or the rail-
road Ia to blame makes no difference: the
rebate must bo stopped. the abuses o:
/ tho private car and private terminal
track and sidc-unck systems must be
| stopped. and tho legislation Of tho Fifty
eighth Congress which declares u to be
unia wfui for any person or corporation to
/ offer. grant. give. solicit. accept. or re-
| cciyc any rebate. concession. or discrim.
ination In respect of tho transportation OF
| any property In Interstate or foreign
| commerce whereby such property shall
I
at n less rate than that named In the
| tariffs published by the carrier must he
| enforced While I am of the opinion that
| at present II would be undesirable. " II
were not impfaciicabic. finally TO clothe
| the Interstate Commerce Commission
with general authority to TX railroad
| rates, do not believe that. a fair Sc
| curi,y to shippers. the Commission should
| bc vested with the power. where given
| rate has been challenged and after full
I H..
| eide. subject TO judicial review. what
| shall he n reasonable rate to take Its
| place: tho ruling OF the commission TO
take effect Immediately. and TO obtain
| unless and until IL is reversed by the
court OF review. In my judgment the
mos, important legislative act now need
| ed as regards the regulation Of corpora
| ttons is this act 10 confer on tho Inter-
| state Commerce Commission the power
to revise rates and regulations. the re-
viscd rate to at once go Into effect. and
to stay In effect unless and until the
court of review revcrses II.
Much space Is here devoted to a
consideration of the problem OF the
! proper housing of the poor In our
great cities. and the importance OF a
proper solution of the question shown.
On this subject the message says:
There should he ssvcrc chiid-iabor and
factory inspection laws. II IL very dcsir-
able that married women should not .-otk
In factories. The prime duty Of the man
IL to work. to be the brcadwinner: the
prime duty Of the woman IL TO be the
mother. the housewife. All questions Of
tariff and finance sink into utter insig-
nificancc when compared with the trc-
mendous, tho vital Importance of trying
to shape conditions so that these two
duties of the man and of the woman can
he fulfilled under reasonably favorable
circumstances. II race does not have
plenty of children. or u the children dc
not grow up, or II when they grow ur
they arc unhealthy in body and stunted
or vicious in mind. then that race is de-
cadent and no hcaping UP of wealth. nc
splendor of momentary material prosper
ity. can avail in any degree as offsets.
Agriculture.
The Department of Agriculture has