Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1905-12-02
President Roosevelt's Speech at
Raleigh, North Carolina.

elgn, N. u, presumably gives tne re-
vised opinion of the president on the
subject of government control of rail-
road rates, says a writer in the Journ- !
alist. 1t also furnishes a premonition
of what we are to expect when con-
gress assemblies. The president says
in substance tnat he wants an admins
trative body appointed by congress who
shall supervise and regulate all matters
pertaining to railroad rates. If ship
per thinks he is being unfairly treated
by the railroad (and every shipper who
has ever shipped pound of freight
over a railroad has always thought that
he was unfairly treated by the railroad)
he merely states his grievance to this
commission, and they are supposed i'm
mediately to see the justice of his claim
and forthwith to direct the railroad to
lower the roate for this particular
shipper and correct the evil complained
of. Every man in the United States
who ships anything over any of the rail-
roads of the country would be lined up
awaiting their turn to consult this COM
mission. 1t would be the busiest adj
ministrative body in the United States.
1t would be impossible for them to keep
up their work. They would get so far
behind that grievances which arose
year previous would be twelve months
late in coming before them for decision.
The president has Ethiopian idea that
some sort of celestial body of men pos
sessed of supern atural powers can be
somewhere or somehow appointed by
congress, and these men can regulate
and correct the supposed evils of a
system which various legislators for the
past fifty years have been vainly trying
to regulate and correct. What we need
more than this commission suggested
by the president, is lot9of good laws
relating to business, and then we need
to devise some method of finding men
who will carry out these laws. The
whole idea of this commission which
the president wishes to have appointed
is perfectly absurd. admit that some
of the evils exist which President
Roosevelt speaks of. There are in
Vulnerable cases of apparent injustice
where a railroad seems to have ship
per III it's power and where they not
only charge him extortionate-r but
appear to hamper him in the proper
conduct of his business. There are
cases of Discrimination where one ship
per seems to be given better rates than
another. This is some times done where
one shipper handles great deal more
freight than another, and therefore
thinks he is entitled to a little more
favorable rates than the small shipper.
l think all OF these questions are proper
questions to be discussed by congress.
In an industry which is so large as the
railroad industry all business men in all
the cities of the United States are
affected, and therefore it seems to me
that questions of this kind could very
properly be discussed by congress and
! laws could be passed, and 1 consider
) that this would be highly proper and
, beneficial. There should be no discrim-
nation on the part Of railroads favor
ing one shipper more than another, but
law regulating railroad business
should never be passed without hearing
: what the railroad has to say as well as
: the shipper There. are often sound
: business reasons for what a railroad
does, whicn shipper cannot see. and
congress N passing any such laws would
: need to consider that the railroad is not
to be looked upon as ar octopus but as
one Of the greatests forces in our mod
: ern civilization. Railroads have de-
, yeloped the country, have opened uT
our great fields of grain and have made
: it possible for the mineral wealth o.
: the country to be mined snd brought t.
7 market. Towns and cities have grown
: up through the agency of railroads anC
! we must also remember that hundreds
of millions Of dollars Of the peoples
n money are Invested in the securities O.
< these railroads, and any Legislation
i which is adverse to the interests o
4 these railroads will affect adversel.
r hundreds of thousands of our popula
j ton.
: / REPEAT what said, namely, be
Il lieve that congress should take up am
e consider these questions and shoul
8 pass certain laws and furthermor
i should see that these laws are carrie
> out. But, wien it comes to the aI