Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1905-12-09
annual message
OF THE President
MATTERS IN NEED OF LEGISLA-
TIoN BROUGHT TO ATTEN-
TIoN OF CONGRESS-.
LAMENTATIONS MADE
ON SEVERAL SUBJECTS
Increased Power for Interstate Com
merce Favored as Cure for Rail
road Rebate Evil-Insurance and
Labor Questions.

merce Favored as Cure for Rail
road Rebate Evil--Insurance and
Labor Questions.
Washington, Dec 5.--1n his annual mes
sage to congress, the president brings sew
eral matters to the attention of the ma
tons lawmakers upon which, In his es-
tlmation legislation is necessary Recon-
mendations are made for new laws anu
advised in statutes already enacted, made
necessary by changed conditions. The
complete message is document of almost
z5OD words The only reference made to
tariff revision is IN the paragraph devoted
to national revenues, where he declared
that unless our expenditures can be kept
within the revenues, our revenue laws must
be readjusted. What form this readjust-
ment should take. II 1t Is needed, he de-
CARES ii IS as yet too early to say
Control Of Corporations.
The president devotes considerable space
to the discussion Of the great corporations
OF the country, and particularly the rail-
roads. He believes the time has come
when they should be placed under federal
control and recommends legislation look
ing to this end The railroad rebate evil
is depored, and he advises aetioni'sthat
would abolish IT, He believes the present
Interstate commerce laws are Inadequate
and that If the commission were endowed
with more power 1t wcdld aid greatly in
solving the vcxed problem, mthis connec-
tion he saws.
1T has been a misfortune that the ma
tional laws on this subject have hitherto
been Of negative or prohibitive rather
al L rtfI
that they have in part sought to prohibit
what could not be effectively prohibited,
and have In part in their prohibitions con-
founded what should be allowed and what
should not be lowed. It is generally use
less to try to prohibit all restraint on com
petition. whether this restraint be reason
able or unreasonable, and where II is not
useless 1t is generally hurtful, Events
have shown that ii is not possible ade-
quateiy to secure the enforcement of any
law of this kind by incessant appeal to the
courts. The department of justice has for
the last four years devoted more attention
to the enforcement of the antitrust legisla
tion than to anything else Much has
been accomplished particularly marked
has been the moral effect of the prosecu-
tons; but 1t Is increasingly evident that
there will be a very insufficient benef-
The successful prosecution Of one device to
evade the law Immediately develops an
other device to accomplish the same pur
pose, What Is needed is not sweeping pro-
billion of every arrangement, good or bad |
which may tend to restrict competition, but
such adequate supervision and regulation
as will prevent any restriction of cOmpeti- |
ton from being to the detrnent of the |
public-as well as such supervision and reg
ulation as will prevent other abuses in no
way cornected with restriction of compe-
ttion OF these abuses, perhaps the chief |
although by no means the only one is over |
captalizatto ton generally Itself the result
of dishonest promotion-because of the
myriad evils it brings in Its train; for such
overoapitaiization often means an initiation
that invites business panic; 1t always con-
cea,s the true relation of the profit earned |
to the capital actually invested, and II !
creates a burden of interest payments |
which is a fertile cause of improper reduc- |
tion in or limitation of wages II damages |
the small investor, discourages thrift, and |
encourages gambling ard speculation; |
while perhaps worst of all is the trickiness |
and dishonesty which il impies--for harm |
to morals is worse than any possible harm |
to material interests and the debauchery |
of politics and business by great dishonest |
corporations Is far worse than any actual |
material evil they do to the public. Until |
the national government obtains, in some
manner 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 |
to deal adequately with these evils"
Railroad Rate Regulation.
He strongly protests against radical or |
hasty action in stopping the rebate evil, |
and then goes on to say: 81 do not believe |
IN the government interfering with private
business more than Is necessary. ! do not
believe in the government undertaking |
any work which can with proppety be left
In private hands. But neither do believe
In the government ninching from oversee
ing any work when 1t becomes evident that
abuses are sure to obtain therein unless
there is governmental supervision 1t is
not my province to indicate the exact terms
of the law which should be enacted; but ! |
call the attention of the congress to GER
tain existing conditions with which It is
desirable to deal. In my judgment the
most important provision which such law
should contain Is that comforting upon
some competent administrative body the |
power to decide, upon the case being
brought before 1t, whether given rate pre-
scrihed by a railroad Is reasonable and !
just, and If 1t is found to be unreasonable
and unjust, then after full investigation
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 called-th!s decision to 20 into
effect within a reasonable time and to OBJ
tain from thence onward, subject to review
by the courts 1t sometimes happcns nj
present not that a rate is too high hut that
a favored simmer is given TOO low n rate
In such cases the commission would have
the right to fix this already established
minimum rate MS the maximum, ana /,
would need only one or two such decisions
BY the commission TO cure railroad com.
the @ lac. tnat my proposa, Is not to give
mate rates generally. but to regulate rate