The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1905-12-07
THE PRESIDENTS MESSAGE.

President RCosevelt's message be-
gins with discussion of trusts or
combinations in their relations to the
government and the public. He finds
that after four years of effort to en-
force the anti-tr laws the outlook
is not encouraging and further steps
must be taken by Congress TO protect
the public. He takes pains to let it
be known that be is not opposed to
corporations. The corporation has
come to stay just as the trade union
has come to stay. Each should be
favored so long as it does good. But
each should be sharply checked
when its acts against law and JUS
tice." The President believes that
there is full power for congressional
action under the interstate clause of
the Constitution.
From corporations in general to
railroads in particular is natural
transition. He urges the question of
rates and rebates at some length, and
advocates a law which shall give
somebody created by the government
the power to fix maximum rate
where disputes occur. The law must
include the power of putting a stop
to rebates in every shape and form :"
He further suggests some sort of rail-
road supervision that will put a stop
to over capitalization, which thePres.
ident considers one of the most serious
evils of railroad management.
Under the head of corporations
may be included insurance com
panies, which President Roosevelt
thinks should be under federal con-
troll, as the states have shown their
inability to regulate them. There is
the difficulty that the Supreme Court
has already decided that the insur-
ance is not interstate commerce, and
there is no other clause of the Con
stitution which gives the power to
interfere. There have been no insur-
ance scandals except in one state,
and that state seems to be dealing
with the companies as vigorously as
the federal government could do if it
had charge,
The President urges the importance
of legislation requiring blocks signals
on railroads in order to check the
number of serious collisions He also
calls the attention of Congress to
''the excessive hours of labor of rail
road employees" which is an Injustice
to them and menace to the travel
ing public. The message makes an
elaborate appeal for the ameliOration
of the condition of labor, but as the
efforts of Congress are constitutional
ly limited to the District of Columbia
and the navy yards, the Presidents
admirable suggestions are not likely
to lead to practical results.
Mr.. Roosevelt gives no encourage
ment 10 tariff reformers. He evil
IDENTIFY assumes that "one swallow
does not make summer" He saws
there must be something like gen
eral agreement among the citizens of
the several states as represented in
Congress before it will be advisable
to make a change in the tariff. "Of
course, no change can be made on
lines beneficial to COR desired by one
section or one state only" which is a
fairly definite response to the untime-
ly appeal of certain people in Massa.
chusetts
The President advises strict econ
omy in the public service, and sug-
gests the abolition of unnecessary
Offices and retrenchment in the print
ing bureau The latter is unquestion-
ably spot where money can be saw
ed without detriment to the public,
and Congress can contribute largely