The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1905-12-08

8AA1 A& All I'll WAN~ No ANAgT rate
apply on goods imported than
actually obtains on domestic goods
from the American seaboard 70 destf-
nation except in cases where water
connection is the controlling fnfrr-
ence- There should De publicity Of the
Of carriers: no COM
MOI carrier engaged in interstate bus
mess should cen anv books or men,
oranda other than those reported pur-
suant to law Or regulation. and these
books or memoranda should be open
10 the inspection Of the Government.
only in this way can violations or
eVasio7s OF the law be surely detected.
A system of examination Of railroad
should be provided similar tn
that now conducted into the national
hanks by the bank examiners. n few
nrsI-cfass railroad accountants. IL they
mad Droner direction and proper au-
tnority to inspect books and papers.
could accomplish much in preventing
W1ifui violations Of the law. It would
not be necessary for them TO examine
INTO the accounts of anv railroad un-
less for good. reasons they were direct
Ell TO do so bv the Interstate Com
merce commission It Is greatly to be
desired that some way might be found
DIV which an agreement as to transport
tation within a State intended tn oner-
ate as a fraud uDon the Federal inter-
state laws could be brought
nder the jurisdiction of the Federal
authorities. At present it occurs that
large shipments of interstate traffic
ere cohtrolied by concessions on purely
state business. which of course
amounts to an evasion of the law. The
Commission should nave power to en-
force fair treatment by the great trunk
lines of lateral IN branch lines.
urge uDon the Congress the need
OF providing for expeditions action
Dy the interstate Commerce Commits
sion in all these matters. whether in
regulating rates for TRANSPORTATION or
for storing Or for handling property or
commodities in transit. The history
OF n cases litigated under the pres
emf act shows that it's eff
cacy has beer to a great degree de-
stroyed by the eapon of delay. al
most the most formidable weapon in
the hands of those whose purpose it
is to violate the law.
Let me most earnestly say that these
recommendations are not made in any
Spirit of hostility to the railroads. On
eth1cal on grounds of right.
such hostility would be intoIerable:
and on rounds of mere national self
interest We must remember that such
hostility would tell against the welfare
NV iiS L III SoIIiS lew i1CI1 I1tH, Jul
Of a multitude of small investors, q.
multitude of railway employees. wage
and most severely against the
interest of the public as a whole. I
believe that on the whole our railroads
have done we'll and not ill: but the
railroad men who wish to do we'll
should not be exposed to competition
with those who have nc such desire,
and the onlv way to secure this end is
to give to some Government tribunal
the to see that Justice is done by
the unwilling exactly as it is gladly
done by the WILLING. Moreover. if some
Government BODY is given increased
power h effect will be to furnish au-
thoritative answer on behalf of the
railroad whenever irrational clamor
against it is raised. or whenever
charges made against it are disproved.
L ask this LEGISLATION not only in the
interest of the public but in the inter
est of the honest railroad man and the
honest y alike, for it is they
who are chiefly ieoparded by the Drac-
tees of their dishonest competitors
This LEGISLATION should be enacted in
a spirit As remote as possible from
hysteria and rancOr If we of the
American BODY polite are true to the
traditions we have inherited we shall
always scOrn any effort to make US
hate any man because he is rich. lust
as much as we shauld scorn any effort
to make us 1OOk down upon or treat
contemptuously any man because he is
poor. We Judge a man BY his conduct
that is. by his character-and not
by his wealth or intellect. If he makes
his fortune honestly, there is no lust
cause Of quarrel with him. Indeed. We
nave nothing but the kindliest feelings
of admiration for the successful bust
ness man who behaves decently.
whether he has made his success by
building or managing a railroad or by
shipping goods over that railroad. The
Dig railroad men and big shippers are
simply Americans of the ordinary type
who have developed to an ~extraordi-
nary degree certain great business
qualities. They are neither better nor
worse thar their fellov-citizens of
smaller means. They are merely more
able in certain lines and therefore ex-
posed to certain peculiarly strong
temptations. These temptations have
not sprung newly into being: the ex-
c~eDtional1y successful among mankind
have always been exposed to them: but
they have grown amazingly in power
as a result of the extraordinary deveI-
oDment of industrialism along new
lines. and under these new conditions.
which the lawmakers of old could not
foresee and therefore could not provide
dSdlilSt- LneF nave become SO serious
and menacing as to demand entirely
new remedies. It is in the interest of
the best type of railroad mar and the
best type of shipper no less than of the
public that there should be govern
mental supervision and regulation of
these great business operations. for
the same reason that it is in the inter-
est of the corporation which wishes to
treat its EMPLOYEES Alright that there
should be an effective employers liza
bllity act. or an effective system of
factory lave to prevent the abuse Of
women and children. All such 1egis-
lation frees the corporation that wishes
to do we'll from being driven into doing
III. in order to compete with its rival.
which prefers to do i'll. We desire to
set up a moral standard. There can
be no delusion more fatal to the Nation
than the delusion that the standard of
profits. of business prosperity. is suff-
cient in Judging anv business or Doliti-
cal duestion-from rate legislation to
municipal government. Business sue
cess. whether for the individual or for
the Nation &c a oaa9 fbin- ~-fx- - Sa-I