The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-12-06

I that the result can not be obtained under
 the constitution as it 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 in the matter
 than that the national government has power; so that there at present exists a
 very unfortunate condition of things. un- | der which the great corporations doing | an interstate business occupy the position | Of subjects without a sovereign, neither | any state government nor the national government having effective control over them Our steady aim should be by legs- | lation, cautiously and carefully under | taken, but resolutely persevered in, to
 assert the sovereignty of the national | government by affirmative action
 This is only in form an innovation. In | substance 1t Is merely restoration; for | from the earliest time such regulation 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 commonwealth abdicating the | power 1t has always possessed, not only in this country but also In England be- fore and since this country became a separate nation.
 It has been misfortune that the nat
 ional laws on this subject have hitherto been Of negative or prohibitive 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 prohibitions confounded what should be allowed and what should not be allowed. It is gen. orally useles sto try to prohibit all re- straint on competition, whether this re- straint be reasonable or unreasonable : and where it is not useless it is generally htrtful. Events have shown that it is not possible adequately to secure the en- ' foreement Sof any law of this kind by in- l cessant- appeal to the courts The de-
 partment of justice has for the last four years devoted more attention to the en- forcement of the antitrust legislation than to anything else. Much has been | accomplished; particularly marked has been the moral effect of the prosecu- tions; but 1t is Increasingly evident that there will be a very insufficient beneficial result in the way of economic change. The successful prosecution of one device to eyade the law immediately develops | another device to accomplish the same purpose. What is neded 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- striction of competition from being to the detriment of the public-as well as
 such connected with restriction of compe- tition. Of these abuses, perhaps the chief although by no means the only one, is
 over italization-generally itself the re- suit of dishonest promotion-because of
 the myriad evils it brings In it's train; for such overcapitalization often means an imitation that invites business panic; it always conceals the true relation of the profit earned to the capital actually in- vested, and 1t creates burden of interest payments which is a fertile cause of im- proper reduction in or limitation of wages. 1t damages the small investor, discourages | thrift, and encourages gambling and speculation; while perhaps worst of all
 is the trickiness and dishonesty which it implies-for harm to morals is worse
 than any possible harm to material inter- ests, and the debauchery of politics and | business by great dishonest corporations | is far worse than any actual material | evil they do the public. Until the nat l ional government obtains, in some man. ner which the wisdom of the Congress | may suggest proper control over the big corporations engaged in interstate com merce-that is, over the great majority of the big corporations-it will be impossible 1 to deal adequately with these evils.
 1 I am well aware of the difficulties of the l legislation that I am suggesting and of | the need of temperate and cautious action l in securing 1t. I should emphatically pro- l test against improperly radical or nasty | action The first thing to do is to deal with the great corporations engaged in | the business of interstate transportation. | As I said in my message of December 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 govern ment such supervision and regulation of | the rates charged by the railroads of | the country engaged in interstate traffic as shall summarily and effectively prevent | the imposition of unjust unreasonable i, rates It must include putting a complete | stop to rebates in every shape and form. | This power to regulate rates, like all sim | liar powers over the business world, | should be exercised with moderation, caution. and self-restraint but 1t should l exist, so that it can be effectively ex- | ercised when the need arises.
 1 The first consideration to be kept in | mind Is that the power should be af- | frmative and should be given to some 1 administrative body created by the Con gress If given to the present interstate | commerce commission or to a reorganzed | interstate commerce commission such | commission should be made unequivocally | administrative. I do not believe in the | government interfering with private bus | mess more than is necessary. I do not be- l lieve in the government undertaking any l work which can with propriety be left
 l in private hands. But neither do believe
 | in the government fiinching from over
 seeing any work when it becomes evident
 | that abuses are sure to obtain therein 1 unless there is governmental supervision.
 ! If is not my province to indicate the exact terms of the law which should be en-
 | acted; but I call the attention of the Cen
 gress to certain existing conditions with
 which it is desirable to deal In my judg-
 ment the most important provision which
 such law should contain is that conferring
 upon some competent administrative body
 ! the power to decide, upon the case being
 ] brought before it. whether given rate
 prescribed by a railroad is reasonable and
 just, and if 1t is found to be unreaspna-
 ble and unjust, then, after full investiga-