The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-12-06


 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 com merce commission It is greatly to be de- sired 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 com merce laws could be brought under the Jurisdiction of the federal authorities. At present it occurs 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 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 commission in all these matters whether in regulating rates for transportation for storing or for handling property or commodities in transit. The history of the cases litigated under the present commerce act shows that It's efficacy has been to a great degree destroyed by the weapon of delay, almost the most formidable weap- on in the hands of those whose purpose it is to violate the law.
 
 recommendations are not made In any spirit of hostility to the railroads On ethical grounds on grounds of right, such hostility would be intolerable and on grounds of mere national 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 of rail- way employees, wage-workers and most severely against the interest of the pub lie 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 we'll should not be exposed to com petition with those who have no such desire, and the only way to secure this end is to give to some government tri- bunal the power to see that justice is done by the unwilling exactly as it is gladly done by the willing Moreover, if some government body is given increased power the effect will be to furnish au- thortative answer on behalf of the rail- road whenever irrational clamor against 1t Is raised or whenever charges made against 1t are disproved. I ask this leg islation not only in the interest of the public, but in the interest of the honest railroad man and the honest shipper alike for it is they who are chiefly Jeop- arded by the practices of their dishonest competitors. This legislation should be enacted in spirit as remote as possi- ble from hysteria and rancor. If we Of the 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, just as much as we should scorn any enort 10 make us look down upon or treat cohteHPtu- ously any man because he IS poor. we judge a man by his conduct-that IS, py his character-and not by his wealth or TO l.e o1yn fortune estly, there is no just cause or quarrel with him. Indeed, we have nothing put inc kindliest feelings of admiration TOT the successful business man Wno pehaVeS decently whether he has made ms suc cess by building or managing rai,roau or by shipping goods over that raiiroau The big railroad men and big shippers ara s,,nnlv Americans of the ordinary tyne who have developed to an extraor- dinarv degree certain great business oua1ities They are neither petter nor worse than their fellow citizens or shhan- CT means They are merely more apie in certain lines and therefore exposed to certain peculiarly strong temptations These temptations have not sprung new ly into being; the exceptionally success ful among mankind have always been exposed to them; but they have grown amazingly in power as a result or the extraordinary development of industrlal- ism along new lines, and under these new conditions, which the lawmakers Of old could not foresee and therefore could not provide against. they have become so serious and menacing as to demand entirely new remedies. It is in the in- terest of the best type of railroad man and the best type of shipper no less than of the public that there should be gov ernmental supervision and regulation or these great business operations, for the same reason that it is in the interest of the corporation 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 chil- dren. All such legislation frees the cor poration that wishes to do well rom De- ing driven into doing i'll. in order to com pete with its rival. which prefers to oo ill We desire to set up moral stand ard. There can be no delusion more fatal to the nation than the deluson that the standard of profits, of business prosper ity. is sufficient in judging any business or political question-from rate legisia- ton to municipal government Business success, whether for the individual or Tor the nation, is a good thing only so Tar as it is accompanied by and develops ahigh standard of conduct-honor, in- tegrity, civic courage. The kind or busi- ness prosperity that blunts the standard