The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1905-12-07
PRESIDENTS MESSACE

President Roosevelt's annual message
has been delivered to congress. Open
ing with plea for the cooperation Of
all classes in continuing the country's
prosperity and in correcting existing
evils, for square deal" for every
body, the message first takes up the
question Of corporations and railroad
rate legislation. The president says:
Corporations.
am in no sense hostile to corpora
lions. This is an age of combination,
and any effort to prevent all combina-
ton will be not only useless, but in the
end vicious, because of the contempt
for law which the failure to enforce
law inevitably produces. The corpora
ton has come to stay, just as the
trades union has come to stay. Each
can do and has done great good. Each
should be favored so long as it does
good. But each should be sharply
checked where it acts against law and
justice.
Experience has shown conclusively
that it is useless to try to get any ade
quate regulation and supervision Of
these great corporations by state ac-
ton. Such regulation and supervision
can only be effectively exercised by
sovereign whose jurisdiction is cock
tensive with the field work of the cor
porations-that is, by the national gov
eminent. believe that this regulation
and supervision can be obtained by the
enactment of law by the congress. II
this proves impossible, 1t will certainly
be necessary ultimately to confer in
fullest form such power upon the ma
tional government by affirmative ac-
ment of the constitution.
The laws of the congress and Of the
by the courts, have resulted more often
in showing that the states have no
power in the matter than that the ma
tional government has power; SO that
there at present exists very unfortu
nate condition of things, under which
these great corporations doing an in
terstate business occupy the position of
subjects without sovereign, neither
any state government nor the national
government having effective control
over them. Our steady aim should be
by legislation, cautiously and carefully
undertaken, but resolutely persevered
in, to assert the sovereignty of the ma
tional government by affirmative ac-
ton.
This is only in form an innovation
In substance it is merely a restoration,
for from the earliest time such regula
ton Of Industrial activities has been
recognized in the action Of the law
making bodies, and all that I propose
is to meet the changed conditions in
such manner as will prevent the com
monwealth abdicating the power it has
always possessed, not only in this coun-
try, but also in England before and
since this country became separate
nation.
Railroad Rate Legislation.
AS said in my message of Dec 6
last, the immediate and most pressing
need so far as legislation is concerned
is the enactment into law of some
scheme to secure to the agents of the
| government such supervision and regu-
lation of the rates charged by the rail
roads of the country engaged in inter-
state traffic as shall summarily and eff
fectively prevent the imposition of un-
| just or unreasonable rates. 1t must
include putting q complete stop to re-
bates in every shape and form. This
power to regulate rates. like all similar
powers over the business world, should
be exercised with moderation, caution
and self restraint, but it should exist
SO that it can be effectively exercised
when the need arises.
In my judgment, the most important
provision which such law should con
tain is that comforting upon some com
petent administrative body the power
to decide upon the case being brought
before it whether given rate pre-
scribed by railroad is reasonable ant
i just, and if it is found to be unreason
able and unjust then, after full investi
CATION of the complaint, to prescribe
the limit of rate beyond which it shall
not be lawful to gO-the maximum
reasonable rate, as it is commonly call
ed-this decision to go into effect with
in a reasonable time and to Obtain
from thence onward, subject to review
by the courts.
1t sometimes happens at present, no
that rate is too high, but that ia
vored shipper is given too low rate
In such case the commission would
have the right to fix this already estab
lished minimum rate as the maximum
and it would need only one or two sucl
decisions by the commission to cur,
railroad companies Of the practice O
giving improper minimum rates. cal
your attention to the fact that my pro
posal is not to give the commission
power to initiate or originate rates gen
orally, but to regulate a rate already
fixed or originated by the roads upo1
complaint and after investigation. A
heavy penalty should be eXacted from
any corporation which fails to respec
an order of the commission. regard
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