The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-06-23
SUPERVISION OF THE
 GREAT COMBINATIONS
fcontinued from First Page.)

Continued from First Page.)
 done. What we can have done is to put
 an efficient supervision over the owner i of the combination, so as to see as far
 as possible that they are employed ln the intersets of mad not against the in-
 terests of the general public. do not believe that such supervision can be
 done effectively through the state nor | that it can effectively come through the
 municipality, but ultimately in the great majority of cases to be effective, ! it must be exercised by the national government. I trust that in the end
 means will be found by which the ex-
 ercise of such control over all the great 1 industrial corporations which are really
 engaged in, and doing an interstate busisess, will be lodged in the hands
 of the national government. As the ! first step to that I hope to see the pass
 age of legislation which will give, as an executive, not as judicial function to
 the national government, the supervi-
 sion of the railroads of the United i Stateswhich are engaged in interstate commerce, with the power, when rate
 is complained of, as improper and un- ! just to examine that rate and if they
 think the rate should be changed, to change it to given rate, and to have ! that given rate take practically imme-
 diate effect. Now I am perfectly well
 aware that there are objections to the
 proposed change In my judgment they are infinitely outweighed by the ob- l jections attendant upon not making the change. The fear expressed by excel lent people who no doubt feel it gem
 timely that you could not get a com
 mission who would fix all the rates of
 the railroads of the country, it is to my
 mind much as if you should express
 fear that you could not get supreme
 court justices who would be able to fix
 all the laws. I expect that the com
 mission will be able to pass upon a given rate brought before it, just as the
 supreme court passes upon a given question of law brought before it, and
 one will prove to be as feasible as the
 other has proved feasible. That sys- tenn should be, and in my judgment will be introduced. I believe that 1t will work measurable betterment for the
 public. Listen to what say-a meas
 urable betterment for the public. do i not believe that it will produce the mil- ileniun or anything approaching it;
 and I am quite certain that some of l the most enlightened advocates will be disappointed with the results But I think measurable good will come. It
 can only come if the officers entrusted l with the administration of the law re-
 member that it is exactly as much their l duty to protect the railroad from the l public as to protect the public from the
 railroad-to remember that when we
 say we want justice from the railroad
 we must. if we are honest, add also a pledge to do justice to the railroad. l T am going to illustrate what mean
 by some work now being done in the
 department of justice and in the bureau tof corporations, at the head of which
 stands your fellow -alumnus, James i Garfield. Resolutions have been pass led by very important bodies demand ling the investigation of what is called lthe beef trust and of the Standard Oil
 company. The beef trust had to be in lvestigated partly by the department of ijusice, acing through the district attor- iney of Chicago. The commissioner of corporations was to report upon the fact of the case, and the district attor- iney was to act on the legal evidence he tcouid obtain. If the district attorney
 can collect legal evidence which will
 show that there has been wilful and intentional violation of the law by any man. no matter how high he stands tsocial1y and financially, he will De in fdicted and, if possible, convicted. If he does not secure such legal evidence, mo amount of popular feeling is to be ] allowed to be substituted for the legal leyidence. So in Investigating the beef trust and the Standard Oil company [ have been content to leave it absolutely in the hands of MT. Garfield, because know that he was incapable of being
 swayed by popular demaund, on the
 one hand, as by any sympathy, on the lother; that in conducting his investiga- itions he would do his simple elemen- ltary duty by finding it guilty or not of
 the specific facts alleged, not with re-
 gard to whether he personally did or did not like the corporation, but in ac- Ecordance with the evidence produced before him, and obtained by him, to
 show the corporations acts on the points complained of.
 "The same spirit must be shown in lapplying the laws dealing with all cor-
 porations, if,, as I hopeJ we get the
 scope of those laws sufficiently lodged.'' MONEY BEHIND F CHRISTIAN 1 . SCIENCE. i
 l The recent meeting here of the be-