The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-01-31

hundred states is supreme in it's part
Of the union in certain other respects,
renders the task OF dealing with these
conditions especially difficult NO
finally satisfactory result can De eN-
pected from merely state action. Inc
action must come through the federal
/ government. The business of the ccun-
try is now carried on in a way OF
which the founders of our constitution
could by no possibility have had any
idea.
"All great business concerns are en-
eaged in interstate commerce., and II
was beyond question the o.
the founder of our government lnH-
interstate commerce in all its DrancneS
and aspects should be under natlonal
and not state control If the courts ue
eide that this intention was not cdttnSU
out and made effective IN the co1iSeleuz
tion as it now stands, then IN IhS ~
/ the constitution, if not construed IN
ferently, will have to be amendeu 80
that the original u~ndoubted intentloh
may be made effective But, OF couASe'
a constitutional amendment is only 70
be used as a last resort, if every effort
of legislation and administration shaA
have been proved inadequate
Meanwhile the men in public lie
and he men who direct the great
business interests of the country
should work not in antagonism but IN
harmony toward this given end. IN
entering a field where the progress
must of necessity be so largely ex-
detrimental it is essential that the eff
fort to make progress should be
tentative and cautious We must
grow by evolution, not by revolution.
There must be no hurry, but there
must also be nc halt; and those who
are anxious that there should be no
sudden and violent changes must re-
m that precisely these sudden
and violent hange will be rendered
likely if we refuse to make the needed
changes in cautious and moderate
n
AT the present m the great
est need is for an increase in the pow
er of the national government to keep
the great highways of commerce open
alike to all on reasonable and equit-
able terms. Less thar a century agO
these highways were still, as they had
been since the dawn of history, either
waterways, natural or artificial, or
else ordinary roads for wheel vehicles
drawn by animal power. The rail
road, which was utterly unknown
when our government was formed
and when the great principles OF our
Jurisprudence We're laid down. mas
now become almost everywhere the
most important, and, in many large
regions, the only form of highway for
commerce. The man who controls its
use can not be permitted to control it
in his own interest alone.
1T is not only just but it is in the
interest of the public that this man
should receive the amplest payment
for the masterful business capacity
which enables him to benefit himself
while benefiting the public; but in re-
turn he must himself recognize his
duty to the public. He will not and
can not do this if our laws are so de-
fective that in the sharp competition
of the business world the conscientious
man is put at a disadvantage by his
less scrupulOuS fellows. 1t is in the
interest of the conscientious and pub
lie spirited railway man that there
be such governmental super
vision OF the railway traffic of the
country &c tn ran11iro frnro7 Tso 11-z
s~crGpulous competitors, and from IN
scrupulous big shippers as well, that
to the public welfare which he
himself WOuld willingly give. and
which is of vital consequence to the
small shipper. Every important rail-
road is engaged in interstate COM
MERGE. Therefore, this control over
railroads must come through the
national government.
The control must be exercised by
governmental tribunal, and it
must be real and effective. Doubtless
there will be risk that occasionally if
unfit president is elected, this con-
troll will be abused; but this is only an
other way of saying that any adequate
governmental power, from the power
OF taxation down, can and will be abus-
ed If the wrong men get control of it.
"Ine details must rest with the law-
makers OF the two houses of congress-;
but about the principle there can be no
doubt Hasty or Vindictive action would
merely work damage; but in temper
ate, resolute fashion, there must be
odged in some tribunal the power over
rates, and especially over rebates
secured by means of private
cars, of private tracks. in the form of
damages, or commissions, or in any
other manner-Which will protect alike
the railroad and the shipper, and put
the big shipper and the little shipper Oh
an equal footing. Doubtless no law
would accomplish all hat enthusiasts
nope; there is always disappointment
the results of such a law among the
oversanguine; but very real and mark
ed good has come from the legislation
and now, as part of a coherent
plan, it is entirely possible, and, in
deed, necessary to enact an additional
Which viii mean further progress :
along the same lines of FIN achieve
ment in the direction Of securing fair
dealing as between man and man.
In some such body as the interstate
omnerce commission there must be
lodged in effective shape the power to ]
see that every shipper who uses the ]
and every man h owns or
manages a railroad shall on the one I
hand be given justice and on the other !
hand be required to do justice. Justice !
SO far as it is humanity possible to give t
and to get JUSTICES the foundation of :
government. We are not trying to
strike down the rich man; on the con-
-rary, we will not tolerate any attack
lpon his rights. We are not trying to
give an improper advantage to the poor :
nan because ne Is pOOrs TO the man OIL 4
means because he has not larger !
but we are striving to see that :
man of small means has exactly as /
a chance, so far as we can obtain =
t for him, as the man of larger means: I
hat there shall be equality of oppOr- =
unity for the one as for the other. +
" do not intend that this republic 2
ever fail as those republics of olden /
lime failed. in which there finally came o
10 be a government by classes, which re-
suited either in the poor plundering the
-ich or in the rich exploiting and in one
lorm or another enslaving the poor; for
sither event means the destruction of free e
nstitutions and of individual liberty. n