Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1904-12-06

challenged rate to be unreasonable to
declare what thereafter. should prima
facie be the reasonable maximum rate
for the transported lion In dispute The
supreme court finally resolved. that
question In the negative, so thatsas the
law, now stands the commission simply
possesses the bare power to denounce q
particular rate as unreasonable. While
I am of the opinion that at present 1t
would be undesirable IL it were not inl-
practicable3 finally to clothe the COM
mission with general authority to tx
railroad, rates, / do believe that asa
fair security to shippers the commits
sion should be vested with, the power
where a given rate has been challenged
and after full hearing found to be un-
reasonable to decide, subject to judi
cial review, what shall be a 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. d 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 alterna. live to an in
crease Of the present evils on the one
hand or 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-
vfsed rate to at once go into effect and
to stay in effect unless and until the
court of review reverses it. s g..
Steamship companies engaged in In
terstate commerce and protected in our
coastwise trade should be held to q
strict observance of the interstate CON-
merce act. N
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 PEG.
pie Of this country should clearly un-
derstand that no amount of Industrial
prosperity and. above all, no leadership
In international 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. q
good thing, but only If 1t 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 it is provided by law that
the population Of towns shall not be
allowed to exceed a very limited dem
atty for a given area 50 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 1t. The
death rate statistics show a 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 number of
given cities at home and abroad is
about twice what it is in two room
tenement, four times what it is in q
three room tenement and eight times
what 1t 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 overcr0wding,
y startling. The slum exacts 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 70
ignore the harm that this causes. No
Christian and civilized community can
AFFORD to show q happy go lucky lack
Of concern for the youth of today, for
II 90 the community will have to pay
. terrible penalty Of financial burden
and social degradation In the tomor-
row. There should be severe child Ia.
Dor and factory inspection laws. It Il
very desirable that married women
should not work in factories. The
prims duty of the man ID to work, to
b the breadwinner. The prime duty
OF the woman is to be the mother, the
housewife. All questions Of tariH and
finance sink into utter insignifcance
when compared with the tremendous,