The Cooperstown courier. (Cooperstown, Griggs Co., N.D.) 1902-1913, 1905-12-21
RAILROAD RATES FIRST TopIc
Would Materially Increase the
Powers of Interstate Com
merce Commission.
LIFE INSURANCE QUESTION

atoms for Panama Canal, and
Promises Report of Board of En-
eineers and Recommendations
Iater---Other Matters.
Washington, Dec. 5.-The annual mes
aaRe of President Roosevelt was read IN
hoth houses of congress to-day. 1t is u doc
ument of some $4,000 words. and con-
fains recommendations for much important
legislation. ..
norations and especially railroad corpora
tons Is the first subject treated OF oy tne
nresident and to it he gives the greatest
amount Of attention. After speaking OF the
general prosperity of the country. ana inc
power Of the corporations LOT soou OF es"
Il connection with the nations prosperity.
he says:
o. Ionv az the finances of the nation
ara kent upon an honest basis. no other
question of internal economy with Wh!c"
the congress has the power 70 oeaI begins
to approach in Importance the ma.'er OF
endeayoring to secure proper lndustIia'
conditions under which the inolVlouals-
and especially the great corporations
dninv an interstate business are to act
The makers of our national constitution
nrov;led especially that the regulation
Of interstate commerce should come win
in the sphere of the general government
The arguments in favor OF their taxing
this stand were even then overWhelm,ns.
But they are far stronger eo.uas. :" we"
Of the enormous development OF great
business agencies, usually corporate in
form. Experience has shown conclusive
Nv that it is useless to try TO get any
adequate regulation and supervision oi
these great corporations by state action.
Such regulation and supervision can only
he effectively exercised by sovereign
whose jurisdiction is coextensive with the
field Of work of the corporations-that is.
by the national government. l believe
that this regulation and supervision can
be obtained by the enactment of law by
the congress. If this proves Impossible.
it will certainly be necessary ultimately
to confer in fullest form such power upon
the national government by proper
amendment of the constitution. 1t would
obviously be unwise to endeavor to secure
such an amendment until 1t is certain
that the result cannot be obtained under
the constitution as 1t now Is. The laws
Of the congress and of the several states
hitherto, as passed upon by the courts.
have resulted more often in showing that
the states have no power I'm the matter
than that the national government has
power; so that there at present exists
q very unfortunate condition of things.
under which these great corporations do
ing an interstate business occupy the po-
sition of subjects without sovereign.
neither any state government nor the ma
tional government having effective con-
troll over them. Our steady aim should
be by legislation, cautiously and care
fully undertaken, but resolutely per-
severed in. to assert the sovereignty OF
the national government by affirmative
action.
This is only in form an innovation. In
substance 1t is merely restOratton; for
from the earliest time such reguia ton
Of industrial activities has been recog-
nized in the action of the law-maklng
bodies: and all that l propose is to meet
the changed conditions in such manner
as will prevent the commonwealth abdt-
eating the power it has always Possessed.
not only in this country. hut also in
England before and since this country
became separate nation
Present Laws Inadequate.
It has been a misfortune that the ma.
tional laws on this subject have hitherto
been of negative or prOhibittve rather
than an Affirmative kind. and still more
that they have in part sought to prohibit
what could not be effectively prohibited,
and; have in part In their prohtbitions
COMPOUNDED what should be allowed and
what should not be allowed. 1t is gem
orally useless to try to prohibit all re.
straint on competition. whether this re-
stHatnt be reasonable or unreasonable.
and where 1t Is not useless 1t is eener.
ally hurtfnl. Events have shown that it
Is not possible adequately to secure the
enforcement Of any law of this kind nv
tncessart appeal to the courts. The de-
partmeht of justice has for the last fo,Ir
years devoted more attention to the en-
forcelnent of the antitrust lexislatfon
than to anything else. Much has been
accomplished; particularly marked has
been the moral effect of the prosecutions.
but it is increasingly evident that there
will be very insufficient beneficial re-
suit in the way of economic change The
successful prosecution Of one device to
Rvade the law Immediately develops an
other device to accomplish the same pmr-
pose. What is needed Is not sweeping
prohibition Of every arrangement. good
or bad, which may tend to restrict COM
petition, but such adequate supervision
and regulation as will prevent any re-
strictfon of competition from being to
the detriment of the public-as we'll as
such supervision and regulation as viii
prevent other abuses in no way connected
with restriction of competition. or these
abuses, perhaps the chief. although by
no means the only one. IL overcapitaliza-
tion-generally itself the result of disllon-
est Observation-Disclosures OF the myriad
evils it brings in its train: for such over
Capitalization often means an imitation
that invites business panic: 1t always con-
ceals the true relation of the profit earned
to the capital actually invested. and it
creates q burden of interest payments
which is a fertile cause of improper re-
duction in or Limitation of wages: it
damages the small investor. disc0urages
thrift, and encourages gambling and
speculation: while perhaps worst of all
is the thickness and dishonesty which it
tmplies-for harm to morals is worse than
any possible harm to material interests,
and the debauchery of politics and hush
ness by great dishonest corporations is
far worse than any actual material evil
they do the public Until the national
government obtains in some manner
which the wisdom of the congress may
suggest. proper control over the hig cor
porations engaged in interstate commerce
that is. over the great majority of the
big corporatjons-it will be impossible to
deal adequately with these evils.
Railroad Rate Regulation.
am well aware of the difficulties
Of the legislation that I am suggest
ing, and Of the need of temperate and
cautious action in securing it. I should
emphatically protest against improp-
erly radical or hasty action. The first
thing to do is to deal with the great
corporations engaged in the business
of interstate transportation. AS said
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