The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-12-25
THE GARFIELD PLAN
SAID TO BE BACKED UP BY THE
 PRESIDENT.
President Insists that Big Trusts Must Come Within the Regulation of the Law-Not Tn For
 "Smashing."

| of national franchise for corporations engaged in interstate commerce has aroused an immense amount of inter l est in Congress. More than that, the | personal representatives of the big cor porations, as well as the railroads, have absolutely been startled by the bold ness of the conception and the direct | ness with which the commissioner of corporations has urged his views. A furry in Wall Street today has been assumed by these representatives of | the corporations to have been caused almost wholly if not entirely by the l commissioners recommendations. It is not believed that there Is anything at all to this view, because in point of fact President Roosevelt in his message sent to Congress more than two weeks ago distinctly commended the sugges- tion for a national incorporation which Is what Commissioner Garfield recommends under another name. l Appeals to Thoughtful Men. | There Is. of course, not the slightest prospect of any law of such a radical character being passed at the present | session of Congress. The more the suggestion is studied, however. the more 1t appeals to thoughtful men. be- cause 1t is directly in line with the ef- forts now being made to control the railroads. If the Federal Government is to issue licenses for all corporations doing an interstate business. 1t goes without saying that it would assume | the same control of the transportation companies. It has already done that in effect. and the proposition to increse the powers of the Interstate Commerce Commission really Is one which pro- poses to extend the function of the Fed | eral Government to a point where 1t l Wt mower for ! the railroads.
 There Is talk today to the effect that l in some way the suggestion of Commits sioner Garfield for national licenses and l the repeated request of the Interstate Commerce Commission for more power | to regulate the railroads may be com bined so as to kill two birds with one | stone. The suggestion of Federal reg | ulation of trusts has aroused a good deal of feeling among their representa- tives here. but 1t Is no more than was apparent when it was at first proposed to regulate the railroads.
 | Is Roosevelt's Own Idea. l If the suggestion of Federal licenses for the corporations had been made by the Commissioner of Corporations on his own responsibility 1t might not have attracted so much notice. It Is well known, however, that MT. Garfield has
 
 President Roosevelt. The two men are seeking pretty much the same thing and two weeks before Garfield's report the Presidents message to Congress lcontained a paragraph practically ident- ical with the proposition sent into Con- gross yesterday, and which has created such an uproar.
 This knowledge that President Roosevelt personally Is behind the Com -B- luAl turbed the trust representatives be- cause they believe they see in 1t a de- termination on the part of the admin istration to widen the scope of Federal locntrol of interstate commerce, not only so far as 1t realtes to transporta- tion. but also in assuming responsibil ity for the production and manufacture of all articles made in one State and intended to be used in another or in a foreign country
 Corporation Statesman Alarmed. | Not many statesmen were at the Icapitol today, because the official Christmas holiday has begun. and yet there were several who have close af- fliations with the big corporations. They were alike in declaring that the report of the Bureau of Corporations would unsettle prices. and they all be- lieved that the Wall Street furry was caused by the Garfield report, although nothing of the kind occurred when the President sent in his original recom- mendation.
 So much attention has been attracted to the Presidents specific recommenda- tions regarding the railroads that the public has lost sight of the fact that he was equally insistent upon the the ory of Federal control of all corpora tions doing an interstate business. Yet by far the best argument made for na- tional incorporation or franchise was submitted by the President himself when he said
 Tt Is an absurdity to expect to elim- mate abuses in great corporations by State action. It Is difficult to be pa tient with an argument that such mat ters should be left to the States, be- cause more than one State pursues a policy of creating easy terms for cor porations which are never operated within that State at all. but in other Sta tes. whose laws they ignore. The National Government alone can deal adequately with those great corpora ltions."
 | President Roosevelt Is not starting g out on any campaign to soak" rail reads or big corporations. He IS not committed to any one idea. and does not Insist that Congress shall adopt his views without dotting an "i' or cross ing a "t.'
 RoOsevelt's Attitude is Clear.
 Quite the contrary Is true. Only a day or two ago he called othe White House several members of Congress and Mir. Bacon, representing the ship pers. and one or two others. They were told in so many words that the President was not committed to any particular method of securing redress that he had championed no one man s bill; that there was no distinct admin istration measure. and that there would be none. All he wanted the members of the conference were told was that there should be some distinct action to- ward the reform of our entire inter- state commerce system. He urged that railroads and shippers should get to- gether as far as possible and should meet from the beginning in spirit of compromise, so that Congress could take the matter up from a neutral point of view. guarding alike not only the interests of the shippers but the real interests of the railroads themselves.
 Railway Managers to Help.
 Following out this plan of campaign the President had already secured promises of assistance from some oi the greatest railroad managers in the United States. He does not believe 1T antagonizing the railroads. He has a