The Bourbon news., 1904-12-09

ance among capitalists and wage workers
alike: feeling OF respect on the part OF
each man for the rights Of others; feel
ing of broad community of interest not
merely of capitalists among themselves,
and of wage workers among themselves,
but OF capitalists and wage workers in their
relations to each other, and of both in their
relations to their fellows who with them
make up the body polite. There are many
captains of industry, many labor leaders,
who realize this.
Bureau Of Corporations.
The bureau Of corporations has made
careful preliminary investigation Of many
important corporations 1t will make a
special report on the beef industry.
The policy Of the bureau is to accomplish
the purposes Of its creation by cooperation
not antagonism; by making constructive
legislation, not destructive prosecution,
the immediate object OF its inquiries; by
conservative investigation of law and fact,
and by refusal to issue incomplete and
hence necessarily inaccurate reports. It's
policy being thus one of open inquiry into,
and not attack upon, business, the bureau
has been able to gain not only the conf
dence but, better still, the cooperation OF
men engaged in legitimate business
The bureau offers to the congress the
means of getting at the cost of production
OF our various great staples of commerce.
OF necessity the careful investigation of
special corporations will afford the COM
missioner knowledge of certain business
facts, the publication of which might be an
improper infringement of private rights.
The method of making public the results
of these Investigations affords, under the
law, means for the protection of private
rights. The congress viii have all facts
except such as would give to another cor
poration information which would injure
the legitimate business Of a competitor and
DESTROY the inrnnfiUQ for individual
riority and thrift.
The bureau has also made exhaustive
examinations into the legal condition un-
der which corporate business is carried
on In the various states; into all judicial
decisions on the subject; and into the
various systems of corporate taxation in
use. l. call special attention to the report
of the chief Of the bureau; and / earn
estly ask that the congress carefully con-
slider the report and recommendations of
the commissioner on this subject.
The business of insurance vitally affects
the great mass of the people of the
United States and is national and not
local in it's application. 1t involves a
multitude of transactions among the peo-
pie of the different states and between
American companies and foreign govern
ments. / urge that this congress care
fully consider whether the power of the
bureau of corporations cannot constitu-
transactions in insurance
Rebates.
Above all else, we must strive to keep
the highways Of commerce open to all on
equal terms; and to do this it is neces-
sary to put complete stop to all re-
bates. Whether the shipper or. the rail-
road is to blame makes no difference;
the rebate must be stopped, the abuses
of the private car and private terminal
track and side-track systems must be
stopped, and the legislation of the Fifty
eighth congress which declares it to be
unlawful for any person or corporation
to offer, grant, give, solicit, accept or
receive any rebate, concession or discrim-
ination in respect of the transportation
of any property in interstate or foreign
commerce whereby such property shall
by any device whatever be transported at
a less rate than that named in the tariffs
published by the carrier must be en-
forced For some time after the enact
ment of the act to regulate commerce Ii
remained mooted question whether that
act conferred upon the interstate COM
merce commission the power, after 1t had
found challenged rate to be unreason-
able 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
possess the bare power to denounce
particular rate as unreasonable. While I
am of the opinion that at present 1t
would be undesirable, if it were not i'm
practicable, finally to clothe the commits
sion with general authority to fix rail-
road rates, l do believe that, as a fair
security to shippers, the commission
should be vested with the power, where
| a given rate has been challenged and
after full hearing found to be unreason-
I l.I1
view, what shall be a reasonable rate to
| take its place; the ruling of the COM
mission to take effect Immediately, and
| to obtain unless and until it is reversed
| 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 supervision is the only alterna-
I tive to an increase 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 need
| ed as regards the regulation of corpora
| tions is this act to confer on the inter
state commerce commission the power to
revise rates and regulations, the revised
rate to at once go into effect, and to stay
in effect unless and until the court of re-
! view reverses il.
Department Of Agriculture.
The department OF agriculture has grown
into an educational institution with fac
ulty of 1000 specialists making research
| into all the sciences of production. The
| congress appropriates, directly and indi-
rectly, $6,000,000 annually to carry on this
| work. 1t reaches every state and territory
in the union and the islands of the sea late
| ly come under our flag. Cooperation is had
with the state experiment stations, and
with many other institutions and individ-
uals, The world is carefully searched for
new varieties of grains, fruits, grasses,
vegetables, trees and shrubs, suitable to
| various localities in our country; and
marked benefit to our producers has re-
| suited.
The activities Of our age in lines of re-
search have reached the tillers of the soil
and inspired them with ambition to know
more of the principles that govern the
! forces of nature with which they have to
| deal Nearly half of the people of this
country devote their energies to growing
things from the soil. Until a recent date
| little has been done to prepare these mil
lions for their life work. In most lines Of
human activity college trained men arc
| the leaders The farmer had no oppor-
tunity for special training until the con-
| gress made provision for it 40 years ago.
| During these years progress has been made
and teachers have been prepared. Over
| CT md n in af of o,,r cfo RI,