Bisbee daily review., 1905-10-20

floods, because if they are injured your manufacturing interests will suf- fer with them. The perpetuation of your forests, which have done so much for the south, should be one of the first objects of your public men, The two senators from North Caro- lima have taken an honorable part in this movement But 1 do not think that the people of North Carolina. or of any other southern state, have quite grasped the importance of this move ment to the commercial development and prosperity of the south
 The management of the new high way, the railroad, or rather of the intricate web of railroad lines which cover the country, is a task infinitely more difficult, more delicate, and more important than the primitively easy task of acquiring or keeping in order the old highway; so that there is prop erly no analogy whatever between the two cases. I do not believe in government ownership of anything which can with propriety be left in private hands, and in particular I should most strenuously object to government ownership of railroads But I believe with equal firmness that it is out of the question for the gov ernment not to exercise a supervisory and regulatory right over the rail- roads; for it is vital to the well being of the public that they should be man aged in a spirit Of fairness and justice toward all the public. Actual exper- fence has shown that it is not possible to leave the railroads uncontrolled Such a system, or rather such a lack of system, is fertile in abuses of every kind, and puts a premium upon un- scrupulous and ruthless cunning in railroad management; flor there are some big shippers and some railroad managers who are always willing to take unfair advantage of their weaker competitors, and they thereby force other big shippers and big railroad men who would like to do decently into similar acts of wrong and in justice, under penalty of being left behind in the race for success. Gov ernment supervision is needed quite as much in the interest of the big shipper and of the railroad man who want to do right is in the interest of the small shipper and the consumer.
 Experience has shown that the pres ent laws are defective and need amendment The effort to prohibit all restraint of competition, whether req sonable or unreasonable, is unwise. What we need is to have some admin istrative body with ample power to forbid combination that is hurtful to the public, and to prevent favoritism to one individual at the expense of another. In other words, we want an administrative body with the power to secure fair and just treatment as among all shippers who use the rail roads-and all shippers have a right to use them. We must not leave the enforcement of such a law merely to the department of justice; it is out of the question for the law depart ment of the government to do what should be purely administrative work
 The department of justice is to stand
 behind and cooperate with the ad- ministrative body, but the administra- tive body itself must be given the power to do the work and then held to a strict accountability for the exer- else of that power. The delays of the law are proverbial, and what we need in this matter is reasonable quickness of action.
 The abuses of which we have a gen | uine right to complain take many shapes. Rebates are not often given openly. But they can be given just as effectively in covert form; and pri- vate cars, terminal tracks and the like must be brought under the control of the commission or administrative body, which is to exercise supervision by the government. But in my judg- ment the most important thing to do is to give to this administrative body power to make it's findings effective, and this can be done only by giving it power, when complaint is made of given rate as being unjust or un- reasonable, if it finds the complaint proper. then itself to fix a maximum rate, this rate to go into effect prac-