The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1904-12-09

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sfya feeling q responsibility ana forbsar-
apce among capitalists and wage workers
alike: q feeling Of respect on the part OF
each man for tho rights Of Others; q 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,
Bureau Of Corporations.
The bureau of corporations has made
careful preliminary investigation of many
important corporations. 1t will make
special report on the beef industry.
The policy Of the bureau is to accomplish,
the purposes Of it's 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. Its
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 will have all facts
except such as would give to another cor
porat1on information which would injure
the legitimate business of a connection and
destroy the incentive for individual supe-
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. I 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 vitality anects
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-
ple of the different states and between
American companies and foreign govern
ments. I urge that the congress care
fully consider whether the power of the
tionally be extended to cover interstate
transactions In insurance.
Above all else, we must strive to keep
the highways Of commerce open to all on
equal terms; and to do this 1t Is neces-
sary to put a 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 1t to be
unlawful for any person or corporation
to offer, grant. give, solicit, accept or
receive any rebate, concession or discrim-
nation in respect of the transportation
of any propertytin interstate or foreign
commerce whereby such property shall
by any device whatever be transported at
q less rate than that named in the tarins
published by the carrier must be en-
forced For some time after the enact
ment of the act to regulate commerce 1t
remained mooted question whether that
act conferred upon the interstate COM
merce commission the power, after 1t had
found a challenged rate to be unreason-
able to declare what thereafter should,
pritna 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. II it were not i'm
practicable, finally to clothe the commits
sion with general authority to fix rail-
road rates. do believe that, as fair
security to shippers, the commission
should be vested with the power, where
a given rate has been challenged and
after full hear ring found to be unreason-
able to decide, subject to judicial re-
view, what shall be 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-
tive to en- increase Of the present evils
on the one hand or a still more radical
policy on the other In my judgment the
most import ant 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 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 it.
Department Of Agriculture.
The department Of agriculture has grown
into an educational institution with fac
ulty of 1900 specialists making research
into all the sciences Of production. The
congress appropriates. directly and indi-
rectly, $780, 900 annually to carry on this
work. 1t reaches every state and territory
in the union and the islands Of the sea late
" come under our flag. Cooperation is had
with the state experiment stations, and
with many other Institutions andiindivid-
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. '.x.-.
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 q recent date
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