Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-01-14

OF freight and to give the same advanta ges
to the small business as to tie large bust
ness You may say that such discri nina
ton is already prohibited by law That is
| so, but there are dozen different ways
OF getting around the law, and the result is
| that both the roads and the country suffer.
Some of the greatest corporations of the
United States which now pay the legal
rates for their freight were built up by the
determinations which they forced the rail-
roads to give them in the past"
There is not much use in discussing
whether the government should have the
right to regulate the railroads. the Sec
| rotary continued. THE people think so,
and certain amount of federal control is
bound to be exercised. 1 think, however.
that as this is SO. the government should
protect the railroads. 1t should prevent the
building of parallel lines where they are
built as matchmaking schemes merely to
force some other company to buy them.
We should have laws to regulate labor on
all public utilities. A man so employed
should not have the right to leave work at
WILL nor the railroad company to discharge
him at will. 1 think all men employed on
our railroad street lines should by
law be compelled to give thirty days notice
before quitting work, and that the COM
panies, on the other hand, should give them
| thirty days notice before discharging them.
This should be done for the protection of
the public. element too little considered
in such matters"
Labor and Capital.
you have had a great deal to do with
labor, Mr.. Secretary. Do you not look upon
the present conflicts of capital and labor
as dangerous to our peace and prosperity"
81 think the laws of supply and demand
will do much to regulate such matters and
that they should, as far as possible be left
to such laws. | am sure the President will
do a great deal to better labor conditions.
He wants a fair show and square deal
f1,.l non nd will do oil hh 20
cure it. AS for me, | am in sympathy with
the laboring man, but my sympathy is not
confined to him who belongs TO the union
l think the non-union man has as much
right to work as the union man, and while
the class to which the former belongs. or,
in fact, any class of men, has the right to
organize do not think they have the right
to deprive those who are not so organized
of profitable employment. am, in other
words, opposed to the closed shop. l be-
lieve in labor organizations, and it seems
to me that one of our troubles just now
Is the lack of organization on the part of
the non-union men. If they should organize
themselves into OLE body they could do
much to protect their rights. AS to capital
and labor, neither can prosper unless he
works with the other. The two are twin
brothers, closely joined as were the
Siamese twins-brothers. each of which is
absolutely necessary to the other. If one
is injured the other suffers and each, to be
successful, must have the help of the
other.
LAS to great combinations of capital,
continued the Secretary, Il think they are
a good thing if properly managed. There is,
however, one factor in the labor question
seldom considered by either capitalist or
laborer. l mean the public; the consumer.
whose money supports. both capitalist and
Iaborer 1t certainly has a right to pro-
lection
The Mighty West.
Secretary Morton is a child of the west.
He was born in Detroit, but his babyhood
vas spent in Nebraska, and he grew to
Young manhood there He knows the west
as well as. any man in the country. He
has travelled all over it almost every year
during the past decade, and as the mana
ger of the traffic of great railroad, he has
had to investigate its crops, its factories
ard its products. He is enthusiast as to
the possibilities of the west. l asked him
this afternoon whether our western states
were not reaching their maximum of pro-
duct and population. He replied
1.-The west is at its beginning! People
talk of the richness of the Valley of the
Nile 1t is nothing compared to the Valley
of the Mississippi. That Is the greatest
and richest valley on earth 1t extends
from the AIleghenies to the Rockies, and
it's resources are billions. The corn crop
raised there brings in almost billion dol
lars a year. A large part of our cotton
comes from there, and it is beehive OF