Weekly Arizona journal-miner., 1905-12-13
Nastery Document Treating of Railroad Rates, nsur= ance Matters And Many Other Questions Of Vital Importance Including That of Joint Statehood

pursuant to law or regulation, and these books or memoranda should be open to the inspection of the govern ment. Only in this way can viola tions or evasions of the law be surely detected. A system of examination of railroad accounts should be provided similar to that now conducted into the national banks by the bank examiners few frst-class railroad accountants, if they had proper direction and proper authority to inspect books and papers, could accomplish much in pre- venting willful violations of the law. It would not be necessary for them to examine into the accounts of any rail road unless for good reasons they were directed to do so by the interstate commerce commission. It is greatly to be desired that some way might be found by which an agreement as to transportation within a state intended to operate as a fraud upon the federal interstate commerce laws could be brought under the jurisdiction of the Federal authorities. At present 1t oc- CUTS that large shipments of interstate traffic are controlled by concessions on purely state business, which of course amounts to an evasion of the law. The commission should have power to en- force fair treatment by the great trunk lines of lateral and branch lines.
 I urge upon the congress the need of providing for expeditions action by the interstate commerce commission jn all these matters, whether in regulating rates for transportation or for storing or for handling property or commodl' ties in transit. The history of the cases htigated under the present com merce act shows that its efficacy has been to a great degree destroyed by the weapon of delay, almost the most formidable weapon in the hands ot those whose purpose it is to violate the law.
 Let me most earnestly say that these recommendations are not made in any spirit of hostility to the rail- roads. On ethical grounds, on grounds of right, such hostility would be in- tolerable; and on grounds ot mere na- tional self-interest we must remember that such hostility would tell against the welfare not merely of some few rich men. but of a multitude of small investors, a multitude or railway em' ployes, wage-workers; and most severe | ly against the interest of the public as a whole. I believe that on the whole our railroads have done well and not | ill; but the railroad men who wish to do well should not be exposed to com | petition with those who nave no such desire, and the only way to secure this end is to give to some government trlb
 unal the power to see that justice ls
 done by the unwilling exactly as 1t l:
 gladly done by the willing. More
 over, if some government body II given increased power the effect VII
 be to furnish authoritative answer or
 behalf of the railroad whenever ira
 tional clamor against it IS raised, ol
 whenever charges made against 1t art
 disproved. I ask this legislation no
 only in the interest of the public, bu in the interest of the honest railroad
 man and the honest shipper alike, fo it is they who are chiefly Jeoparde'
 by the practices of their dishones competitors. This legislation should D enacted in a spirit as remote as pos sible from hysteria and rancor. If w
 of the American body polite are tru
 to the traditions we have inherited VI
 shall always scorn any effort to max
 us hate any man because he IS rlen
 inst as much as we should scorn an.
 effort to make us look down upon
 treat contemptuously any man becaus he is poor. We judge a man by his con duct-that is, by his eharaeter-an not bv his wealth or intellect. If h makes his fortune honestly, there IS inst cause of quarrel with him.
 It is in the interest of the best typ
 of railroad man and the best type O shipper no less than of the public tha , there should be governmental supervi' . ion and regulation of these great bus ? ness operations, for the same reaso ) that it is in the interest of the col . poration which wishes to treat its en :. nlovees alright that there should b 5 an effective employers liability ac 3 ar an effective system of factory law to prevent the abuse of women an 9 children. All such legislation frees tn r eorporation that wishes to do we S from being driven into doing Ill, F. order to compete with its rival, whle r prefers the i'll. We desire to set u = a moral standard. There can be I S delusion more fatal to the nation tha T the Jelusion that the standard d p-ofits, of business prosperity, IS sui sui c cient in judging any business or pollt o cal question-from rate legislation e municipal government. Business su g cess, whether for the individual or f f the nation, is a good thing only so fl O as it is accompanied by and develol e a high standard of conduet-honor, IT tegrity, civic courage. The kind d business prosperity that blunts u