The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-06-22
MIR. ROOSEVELT AND THE RAIL-
 ROADS.

From The New fork Ilmes. June AV'
 The significance of the report that the President has abandoned his inten- tion of .convoking Congress in extra In railroad circles. where nothing that MT. Roosevelt does escapes attention. The news that the President has changed his mind about the extra ses. the form of rumor or report; but it's correctness is attested by at least one Senator and by several members of excellent reasons for believing that Congress will not be summoned In ad- vance vance of It's time of meeting for the the in fact reconsidered his intention. we think his present decision must be purpose to secure from Congress a law vesting the Interstate Commerce Com mission with the power to fix railroad resh and Fass e mos of as methods by which the President might have put upon Congress very. great Re Ress desIred. m ec%RH coRnHS@ned q for e the purpose would have been in all it's utterances eye of the people, Gnd 1t is well known that the President has done his utmost to inspire the people with a belief that ed for their protection and relief. To give up the extra session, therefore. is to surrender quite half of his power in fact. the relinquishment for good and ali of his policy of rate-making by Federal commission?
 definitely abandoned his desi gn Is by no means without the support of con temporary evidence. MT. Roosevelt IS as some of his critics have imagined. This reconsideration of the decision reached in regard to the pureha,se, ps,s, and supplies Is evidences of that. Moreover, if the Executive mind Is not
 shY it %1s5 and hSyH 9fen RrDd a conclusfon adverse to the earlier resolves by a study of the testimony taken Rerore of he tbe senate of whcS Senator Elkins Is chairman; IL was the purposes of the commitee's inquiry to add to the stock of accessible knowl, knowledge of the truth is or should be the basis of every legislative act: Mir. Roosevelt as shutting his mind altogether to the flood of illumination upon the subject. before him by the mittee' Seeo He must. in sincerity and good faith. have studied the printed reports of the testimony with view to de- keep on or to turn back. We think 1t extremely probable that he has de- cided to turn back. ,
  would require evidence to remove that any body of fair and candid men who should diligently peruse and with ju-- pages of testimony taken before the Senate committee on Interstate Com merce. if their opinion were asked by the change in the law he has demand ed is unnecessary and would ne un- wise. Taking the testimony all in all' sclf-interest. and pre-judgmeHt of the question involved the testimony pre- sumptively establishes the following " i. That the complaints received by the Interstate Commerce Commission againts railroads because of unreas9n- able high rates are so few in number as to warrant the belief that railroad extortion through overcharglng IS rare evil. not sufficient in It's eEtent or its effect to demand new legisla-
 ,. That in suppression of secret re- bates and unfair discTlrim1matl0rs sali nsas1rs of relief against an expressions from which the commerce of the country now suffers at the hands of the rail-
 '. That the enforcement of the ex- istlng provisions of the laws Tor the reggiation of interstate rs,nn5H commerce tSe abuses chargeable against the rail roads. including unreasonable rates "44efeTSa That 'a a Federal commission vest ed with the power and charged with the duty to fix railroad rates all over the country would find itself burdened with a task the complexity, dimculty, and enormous burden of which would make it's satisfactory accomplishment wholly impossible. According to the testimony of MT. Hines one railroad system the Louisville and Nashville. employs sixty-six officials ana some thirty clerks in the work or determin- ing and classifications.
 5. That the assumption py Una Fed eral Executive of the power 10 control the earnings of railroads would grave- ly affect the market value of railroad securities and cause alarming business disturbances. MT. James J; Hlll, point
 ing out that the railroad tonnage of the country had increased 150 per cent since 1890, and that at that rate of increase it would within seven years amount to 800, ,0OO, 100000 ton miles, said that this growth in the volume of trafhc would require immense out lays for new construction. extension. and rolling stock. and that the rail- roads would be unable to borrow, un- able to sell their bonds at any price; If the power to fix rates demanded for their services were taken out of their hands. The far-reaching effect of the proposed legislation may be in- ferred from the fact that there are now in the United States outstanding railroad securities to the value of $l2,- 900. 900. 900 These securities are not. as is popularly supposed. owned alto gether by the rich. MT Daniel Daven- port submitted to the Senate commit tee the statistics showing that in the New Hampshfre Massachusetts, Con- nectfout and Maine savings anstttu-