The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1905-12-05

1 thoritieS- At present II occurs tina
large shipments of interstate trath'
are controlled by concessions OF
purely State business, which o.
course amounts to an evasion OF tht
law. The Commission should hayf
power to enforce 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 Com
mission in all these matters, whether
IN regulating rates for transporta-
ton or for storing or for handling
property or commodities in transit.
The history of the cases litigated
under The present commerce act
shows that its efficacy has been to a
greet degree destroyed by the weapon
of DELAY. almost the most formidable
weapon in the hands of those whose
purpose it is to violate the law.
let me most earnestly say that
these recommendations are not on
grounds of right, such hostility
would be- iRtolerable; and on
grounds of mere national self-in-
terest we must remember that such
hostility would tell against the vel
fare not merely of some few rich
men. but of multitude of small in
vestors, a multitude of railway em-
pIoyees. wage-workers and most
severely against the interest of the
public ms a whole. I believe that on
tn whole our railroads have done
we'll and not i'll; but the railroad
men who wish to do we'll should not
be exposed to competition with those
who have no such desire, and the
only wav to secure this end is to-
give to some Government tribunal
the power to see that justice is done
bv the unwilling exactly as 1T IS
gladly done by the willing. More
over. if some Government body lst
Given increased power the effect will
he TO furnish authoritative answer or
behalf of the railroad whenever IT
rational cIamor against it Is raised
or whenever charges made against II
are disproved. I ask this legisla-
tion. not only in the interest of the
public but in the interest of the hon
est railroad man and the honest ship
per alike. for it is they who arc
chiefly ieoparded by the practices OF
their dishonest competitors. This
legislation should be- enacted IN
spirit as remote as possible from
hvsteria and rancor- If we OF thel
American body polite are true to the
traditions we have inherited we shall
ALWAYS scorn any effort to make us
hate any man because he is rich |
lust as much as we would scorn any
effort to make us look down upon
or treat contemptuously any man be-
cause he is poor. We judge man
BY his cnnduct-that is, by his char
acter-and not by his wealth or IN
tellect. If he makes his fortune
honestly. there is no Just cause OF
quarrel with him. Indeed, we have
nothing but the kndlicst feelings OF
for the successful bust |
ness man who behaves decently
whether he has mnde his success b.
building or managing railroad or
by shipping goods over that railroad
The big railroad men and big SKIP
pers are simply Americans of tho
ordinary type who have developed to
an extraordinary degree certain grea
business qualities. They are neither
better nor worse than their fellow
citizens of smaller means. They
are merely more able in certain lines
and therefore exposed to certain pc
culiarly strong temptations. These
temptations have not sprung newly
into being: the exceptionally sue
cessful among mankind have always
been exposed to them but they have.
grown amazingly in power as a re-
suit of the extraordinary develop
ment of industrialism along new
Zines, and under these new condi-
tions, which the lawmakers Of old
could not forsee and therefore could
not provide against. they have be-
come so serious and menacing as to
demand entirely new remedies. 1t
is in the interest Of the best type of
railroad man and the best type of
shipper no less than of the public
that there should be governmental
supervision and regulation of these
great business operations, for the
same reason that it is in the interest
of the corporation which wishes to
treat its employees Alright that there
should be an effective employers liza
bility act, or an effective system of
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