The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1904-12-09

shortly lay before YOU In a special mes
sage the full report of the Investigation
OF the bureau of labor into the Colorado
mining strike, as this Is a strike in which
certain very evil forces, which are more
or less at work everywhere under the
conditions of modern industrialism be-
came startlingly prominent.
Corporations.
Nhen 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
telState commerce. and interstate COM
merce IS peculiarly the field of the gem
eral government 1t is an absurdity to ex-
pect 10 eliminate the abuses in great cor
porations by state action. 1t is difficult to
be patient with an argument that such
matters should be left to the states be-
| cause more than one state pursucs the
policy Of creating on easy terms corpora
| lions which are never operated within
That state at all. but in other states
whose laws they ignore The national
government alone can deal adequately
with these great corporations To try to
deal with them in an Incorporate. de-
structive. or demagogic spirit would, in
all probability, mean that nothing what
ever would be accomplished. and with
absolute certainty, that if anything were
| accomplished il would be of a harmful
nature. The American people need TO
continue to show the very qualities that
| they have shown-that is, moderation
| good sense. the earnest desire to avoid
doing any damage, and yet the quiet de-
| termination to proceed. step by step,
| without halt and without hurry. in elm
| mating or at least in minimizing what
| ever of mischief or Of evil there is to in
| terstate commerce in the conduct of
| great corporations. They are acting in
no spirit of hostility to wealth, either in
| dividual or corporate. They are not
against the rich man any more than
against the poor man. On the contrary.
| they are friendly alike toward rich man
! and toward poor man, provided only that
| each acts in spirit of justice and de-
| cency toward his fellows. Great corpora
| tons are necessary, and only men Of
great and singular mental power can
| manage such corporations successfully,
! and such man must have great rewards,
| But these corporations should be man
| aged with due regard to the interest of
| the public as a whole. Where this can
| be done under the present laws it must
be done. Where these laws cone short
others should be enacted to supplement
| them.
The bureau Of corporations has made
| careful preliminary investigation Of many
! important corporations. 1t will make a
special report on the beef industry.
Bureau Of Corporations.
The policy OF the bureau is to accom-
plish the purposes of its creation by CO.
| operation. not antagonsm; 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 inaccu-
rate reports. It's policy being thus one
of open inquiry into. and not attack up
on, business, the bureau has been able to
gain not only the confidence, 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 produce
ton of our various great staples of COM
merce.
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 nee
esSary 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 re-
| ceive any rebate, concession. or discrim-
nation in respect of the transportation of
! any property in interstate or foreign
| commerce whereby such property shall
bv any device whatever be transported
at a less rate than that named in the
| tariffs published by the carrier must be
| enforced While l am Of the opinion that
at present it would be undesirable, if it
were not impracticabe, finally to clothe
the Interstate Commerce Commission
with general authority to fix railroad
rates, I do not believe that, as fair Sc
curity to shippers. the Commission should
| be vested with the power, where given
rate has been challenged and after full
hearing found to be unreasonable, to de-
eide subject to judicial review, what
shall be a reasonable rate to take its
place: the ruling Of the commission to
take effect Immediately, and to obtain
| unless and until it is reversed by the
court OF review. In my judgment the
most important legislative act now need
| ed as regards the regulation OF corpora
| lions is this act to confer on the Inter-
state Commerce Commission the power
| to revise rates ard 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.
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 be severe chid-labor and
| factory-inspection laws 1t is very desir-
able that married women should not york
| 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 insig-
nifcance when compared with the ire
mendous, 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
| ,.,,,.+opoec IF a race does not have