Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1906-05-04

numerous evils which are ineVltaDle
/ under system In which the big ship
| per and sthe railroad are left free to
crush out all individual initiative and
all power Of independent action be-
cause OF the absence of adequate anu
thorough going government control
Exactly similar conditions obtain In
large part OF the west and southwest.
This particular instance exemplifies the
fact that the granting to the govern
ment OF the power to substitute prop
er for an improper rate is in very many
] instances the only effective way In
which to prevent improper discrimin-
alton in rates.
1T is not possible to put into figures
| the exact amount by which the Stand
ard profits thru the gross fayoritism
shown 1t by the railroads In connection
with the open rates. The profit OF
course comes not merely by the saw
| ing in the rate itself as compared with
| Its competitors, but by the higher
prices II is able to charge and (even
without reference to these higher
prices) by the complete control OF the
| market which 1t secures, thereby get
ting the profit on the whole cousump-
ton. Here again the only way by
which the determinations Can be cured
is by conferring upon the Interstate
Commerce Commission the power to
take quick and effective action In reg
ulating the rates.
"one feature OF the report which is
especially worthy Of attention Is the
showing vi,lades as to the way IN which
the law II evaded by treating .as state
commerce what IL In reality merely q
part Of Interstate commerce 1t Is
clearly shown, for instance, that this
device is employed on the New York
Central railroad. as well as on many
other railroads, In such fashion as to
amount to thwarting the purpose OF
the law, altho the forms of the law
may be complied with.
Evasion Of Law.
sit is unfortunately not true that the
Standard Oil Company is the only
great corporation which in the imme-
diate past has benefited. and is at this
moment beneiiting, In wholly improper
fashion by an elaborate series OF rate
determinations, which permit 1t to
profit both at the expense Of It's rivals
and Of the general public. The attor-
ney general reports to me that the In
vestigation now going on as to the ship
ments by the sugar trust over the
trunk lines running out of New York
City tends to show that the sugar trust
rarely II ever pays the lawful rate for
transportation, and is thus improperly,
and probably unlawfully, favored at the
expense of It's competitors and Of the
general public.
"The argument is sometimes advan-
ced against comforting upon some gov
ernmental body the power Of supervis-
ion and control over interstate COM
nlerce, that to do so tends to weaken
individual Initiative. Investigations
such as this conclusively sdisprove any
such allegation. On the contrary, the
proper play for individual Initiative
can only be secured by such govern
mental supervision as will curb those
monopolies which crush out ,lll indi-
vidual Initiative. The railroad itself
can not without such government aid
protect the interests Of Its own stock
holders against one Of these great COR
porations loosely known as trusts.
''ln the effort to prevent the railroads
from uniting for improper purposes,
we have very unwisely prohibited them
from uniting for proper purposes; that
Is, for purposes Of protection to them
selves and to tbe general public as
against the power Of the great corpor-
ations. They should certainly be Civ
en- power thus to unite on conditions
laid down by congress, such conditions
to include the specific approval of the
interstate commerce commission Of any
agreement to which the railroads may
come. In addition to this, the govern
ment must interfere thru its agents to
deprive the railroad of the ability to
make to the big corporations the con-
cessions which otherwise it is power
less to refuse.
THE government should have power
by its agents to examine into the con-
duct OF the railways-that is, the ex-
aminers under the direction OF the in
terstate commerce commission should
be able to examine as thoroughly into
the affairs Of the railroad as bank ex-
aminers now examine into the affairs
Of banks.
Give Commission Power.
TT is impossible to work a material
improvement in conditions such as
above described merely thru the in
strumentality Of a law suit. A law
suit Is often necessary method; but
by itself it is an utterly inadequate
method. What is needed is the con-
ferring upon the commission of ample
affirmative power. so conferred as to
make its decisions take effect at once.
subject only to such action by the
court as Is demanded by the constitu-
tion. The courts have the power to,
and will undoubtedly. interfere II the
action OF the commission should be-
come in effect confiscatory of the prop
erty Of an Individual or corporation. or