New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-12-06


that large shipments of interstate traffic are
controlled by concessions on purely State bust
ness, which of course amounts to evasion OF
enforce fair treatment by the great trunk lines
Of lateral and branch lines
l urge upon the Congress the need of pro-
viding for expeditions action by the Interstate
Commerce Commission in all these matters
whether in regulating rates for transportation
or LOT storing or Tor handing properly or COLI
litigated under the present commerce act shows
that its efficacy has been to great degree de-
stroyed 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 recon-
mendations not made in any spirit of hos
tility to the railroads On ethical grounds, on
grounds of right, such hos
NO SPIRIT tity would be intoierable;
OF HOSTILITY and on grounds of mere ma
TO RAILROADS tional self-interest we must
remember that such hostility
| would tell against the welfare not merely OF
some few rich men. but of g. multitude or small
investors, a multitude of railway employees,
wage workers, and most severely against the
interest of the public whole. I believe
that the whole railroads have done well
and not i'll; but the railroad men who wish to
do well should not be exposed to competltlon
with those who have such desire and the
only way to secure this end is to give to some
government tribunal the power to see that JUS
Uce is done by the unwilling exactly as IL is
gladly done by the willing. Moreover, If some
effect will be to furnish authoritative answer on
behalf of the railroad whenever irrational
clamor against it is raised. or whenever charges
made against it diSproved. ask this leg1s-
laton not only in the interest of the public, but
in the interest of the honest railroad man ana
the honest shipper alike for it is they who are
chiefly jeOpardZed by the practices of their dis
honest competitors. This legislation should be
enacted in spirit remote as possible from
hysteria and rancor. If we of the American
body polite are true to the traditions we nave
inherited we shall always Scorn any effort to
make US hate any man because he is rich, just
as much should scorn any effort to make
us look down upon treat contemptuouSly any
man because he is poor. We judge man by
his conduct-that is, by his character-ano not
by his wealth or intellect. If he makes his
fortune honestly, there is no just cause or quar-
rel with him. Indeed, we have nothing but the
kindliest feelings of admiration for the success
full business man who behaves decently, whether
he has made his success by building or lnanag-
ing a railroad by shipping goods over that
railroad. The big railroad men and big snip
pers are simply Americans Of the ordinary type
who have developed to an extraordinary degree
certain great business qualities. Ihey are
neither better worse than their fellow citl-
zens of smaller means.
They are merely more able in certain lines
and therefore exposed to certain peculiarly
strong temptations: These temptations have
not sprung newly into being; the exceptionally
successful among mankind have always been
exposed to them; but they have grown anaaz-
ingly in power as a result of the extraordinary
development Of industriaism along new lines,
and under these conditions, which the law
makers of old could not foresee, and therefore
serious and menacing as to demand entirety new
remedies. 1t is in the interest or the pest type
Of railroad man and the best type OF shipper no
less than Of the public that there shouid De
governmental supervision and regulation OF
these great business operations for the same
reason that it is in the interest of the corpora
ton which wishes to treat It's employees Alright
that there should be an effective employers
liability act or an effective system of factory
laws to prevent the abuse of women and chill
dren. All such legislation frees the corporation
that wishes to do we'll from being driven into
doing Ill, IN order to compete with It's F1gaI,
which prefers to do ill., We desire to set ul> a
moral standard. There can be no delusion more
fatal to the nation than the delusion that the
standard OF profits, of business prosperity, is
sufficient IN judging any business or political
question-from rate Legislation 10 munlclPaI
government. Business success, whether Tor the
Individual for the nation, is good thing
only so far it is accompanied by and de-
velops a high standard of conduct-honor, In
tegrity, civic courage The kind of business
prosperity that blunts the standard of honor,
that puts an inordinate value on mere wealth,
that makes a man ruthless and constituencies
in trade and weak and cowardly in citizenship,
is not good thing at all, but very bad thing
for the nation This government stands Tor
manhood first and for business only as an ad-
junct of manhood
The question of transportation lies at the root
of all Industrial success, and the revolution IN
transportation which has taken place durlng |
the last half century has |
IMPORTANT been the most important |
FACTOR IN factor in the growth OF the |
INDUSTRIAL new industrial conditions.
GROWTH Most emphatically we do |
not wish to see the man OF |
great talents refused the reward for his talents
Still less do we wish to see him penalized; put |
portation so handled that the strong man shall
be given no advantage over the weak man. we |
town as for the big city; for the small! shipper |
as for the big shipper. In the old days the |
highway of commerce, whether by water or by |
a road on land, was open to all; 1t belonged TO
the public and the traffic along 1t was free-
At present the railway is this highway and
we must do our best to see that 1t is kept OPEN
It is a very difficult and complex thlng 10
manage, and it is far better that 1t should pc
managed by private individuals than by the
government But it can only be SO managed
On condition that justice is done the puonc.
It is because, in my Judgment public owner
ship of railroads IS highly undesirable and would
orobab bly, in this country entail far-Teachlng
disaster. that wish to see such supervision
and regulation OF them in the interest OF the
public as will make it evident that there is no
need for public ownership. The opponents OF
government regulation dwell upon the dlmcui-
les to be encountered and the intricate ana
involved nature of the problem Thelr conten-
ton is true 1t is a complicated and delicate
problem, and all kinds of difficulties are sure
10 arise in connection with any plan of solution,
while no plan will bring all the benefits hoped
for by it's optimistic adherents. More
over. under any healthy plan the benefits VIII
develop gradually and not rapidly. Finally, we
must clearly understand that the public ser
wants who to do this peculiarly responsible
md delicate work must themselves be OF Ie
highest type both as regards integrity ana EN-
,iency. They must be well paid for otherwise
able men cannot in the long be secured; |
and they must possess a lofty probity winch
will revolt as quickly at the thought Of pander-
ng to any gust OF popular prejudice against
-ich men as at the thought of anything even
'emotely resembling subserviency to rich men
But while I fully admit the difficulties IN the
way I do not for a moment admit that these
difficulties warrant us In stopping in our eTort
o secure a wise and just system. They should
nave no other effect than to spur us on to the
exercise of the resolution the even handed JUS
ice and the fertility of resource. which we like
o think of typically American. and which
will in the end achieve good results in this as
n other fields of activity. The task is a great
me and underies he task dealing with the