Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-05

ants If they had proper direction and prop
/ err authority to inspect books and papers,
| could accomplish much In preventing Will
| full violations of the law. 1t would not pc
necessary for them to examine into the
i accounts of any railroad unless Tor gooo
reasons they were directed to do so by the
| interstate commerce commission. 1t Is
| greatly to be desired that some way might
be found by which an agreement as to
| transportation within state intended TO
operate as a fraud upon the federal inter
state commerce laws could be brought UNI
der the Jurisdiction of the federal authori-
ties. At present 1t occurs that large ship
ments of Interstate traffic are controlled by
concessions on purely state business. which
of course amounts to an evasion of the law.
The commission should have power to en-
force fair treatment by the great trunk
lines of lateral and branch lines.
Expeditions Action Needed.
1 urge upon the Congress the need of pro-
vidng for expeditions action by the inter-
state commerce commission in all these
matters whether in regulating rates for
transportation or for storing or for handling
property or commodities in transit. The
history of the cases lltigated under the pres
ent commerce act shows that its efficacy
has been to great degree destroyed by
the weapon of delay, almost the most for
midable weapon in the hands of those
whose purpose it Is to violate the law
Let me most earnestly say that these rec
concentrations are not made in any spirit
of hostility to the railroads. On ethical
grounds, on grounds of right, such hostility
would be intolerable; and on grounds of
mere national self-interest we must remem-
Der that such hostility would tell against
the welfare not merely of some few rich
men, but of a multitude of small investors.
a multitude of railway employees wage
workers; and most severely against the in
terest of the public as a whole / believe
that on the whole our railroads have done
Well and not III; but the railroad men who
wish to do well should not be exposed to
competition with those who have no such
desire, and the only way to secure this end
Is to give to some government tribunal the
power to see that justice is done by the
unwilling exactly as 1t is gladly done by
the willing. Moreover, if some government
BODY Is given increased power the effect
VIII be to furnish authoritative answer on
behalf of the railroad whenever irrational
clamor against it is raised. or whenever
charges made against it disproved.
ask this legislation not only in the in
terest of the public, but in the interest of
the honest railroad man and the honest
shipper alike. for 1t is they who are chiefly
jeoparded by the practices of their dishon-
est 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 tradi-
tons we have inherited we shall always
scorn any effort to make US hate any man
because he is rich, just as much as we
should scorn any effort to make US look
down upon 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 intellect. If he
makes his fortune honestly. there is no just
cause of quarrel with him. Indeed we have
nothing but the kindliest feelings of admira-
ton for the successful business man who
behaves decently, whether he has made his
success by building or managing a railroad
or by shipping goods over that railroad.
The big railroad men and big Shippers are
simply Americans of the ordinary type who
have developed to an extraordinary degree
certain great business qualities. They are
neither better nor worse than their fell
low-citizens of smaller means. They are
merely more able In certain lines and there
temptations. These temptations have not
sprung newly into being; the exception
ally successful among mankind have always
been exposed to them; but they have grown
| amazingly in power as result of the ex-
traordinary development of industrialism
along new lines, and under these new condi-
| lions, which the lawmakers of old could not
foresee and therefore could not provide
against, they have become so serious and
lnenacing as to demand entirely new rene
dies 1t is in the interest of the best type
of railroad man and the best type of ship
per no less than of the public that there
should be governmental supervision and
regulation of these great business opera
| lions, for the same reason that it is in the
| interest of the corporation which wishes to
treat its employees Alright that there should
be an effective employers liability act or
an effective system of factory laws to pre-
vent the abuses of women and children.
All such legislation frees the corporation
that wishes to do well from being driven
into doing i'll, In order to compete with it's
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 sufficient in judging
any business or political question-from rate
| legislation to municipal government Bust
ness success, whether for the individual or
for the nation, is good thing only SO far
as it is accompanied by and develops high
standard of conduct-honor, integrity, civic
courage. The kind of business prosperity
that blunts the standard Of honor, that puts
an inordinate value on mere wealth. that
makes a man ruthless and constituencies
in trade and weak and cowardly In citi-
zenship, is not a good thing at all, but
very bad thing for the nation. This govern
ment stands for manhood first, and for
business only as an adjunct of manhood.
The question of transportation lies at the
root Of all industrial success, and the revo-
luton in transportation when mas taken
| place during the last half century has been
| the most important factor In the growth of
| the new industrial conditions. Most en-
| phatically we do not wish to see the man
| of great talents refuse the reward for his
| talents Still less do we wish to see him
| penaliZed; but we do desire to see the sys-
| tenn of railroad transportation so handled
| that the strong man shall be given no adj
| vantage over the weak man. We wish to