The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1906-12-07

in all probability containing, coal. The
question, however, can be properly set
tied only by legislation which in my
judgment should provide for the with
drawal of these lands from sale or from
entry, save in certain especial circum-
stances. The ownership would then re.
main In the United states, which should
not however attempt to work them,
but permit them TO be worked by private
individuals under a royalty system, the
government keeping such control as TO
permit it to see that no excessive price
was charged consumers
CORPORATIONS.
The present congress has taken long
strides in the direction of securing
proper supervision and control by the
nutlonal government over corporations
engaged in interstate business-and the
enormous majority of corporations OF
any size are engaged in interstate busi
ness. The passage of the railway rate
bill, and only to a less degree the pas
sage of the pure food bill, and the pro-
visions for Increasing and rendering
more effective national control over the
beef-paciing industry, mark an imporD-
ant advance in the proper direction. IN
the short session it will perhaps be
difficult to do much further along this
line;, and il may be best to wait until
the laws have been in operation for a
number of months before endeavoring
to increase their scope, because only
operation will show with exactness their
merits and their shortcomings and thus
give opportunity to define what further
remedial legislation Is needed. Yet in my
judgment it will in the end be advisable
LIN connection with the packing house
| inspection law TO provide for putting a
date on the label and for charging the
cost of inspection to the packers. All
these laws have already justified their
enactment. The interstate commerce
| law for instance, has rather amusingly
| falsihed the predictions, both of those
who asserted that it would ruin the rail
roads and of those who asserted that il
did not go far enough and would ac.
complish nothing. During the last five
months the railroads have shown in.
creased earnings and some of them un.
usual dividends while during the same
! period the mere taking effect of the Law
| has produced an unprecedented hither'
to unreard of, number of voluntary re-
ductions in freightS and fares by the
! railroads. Since the founding of thu
/ commission there has never been a tim'
of equal length in which anything like
so many reduced tariffs have been pu
| into effect. On August 81 for instance
two days before the new law went int
effect, the commission received notices
of over five thousand separate tariff
| which represented reductions from previ
| Gus rates
1t is unfortunate that our present law
| should forbid all combinations, insteat
of sharply discriminating between thos
combinations which do good and thos
combinations which do evil. Rebates, fo
instance. are SO often due to the pres
the investigations of the Standard Oi
company and as has been shown sine
by the investigation of the tobacco an,
sugar trusts as to the initiative of bi
railroads. Often railroads would lilS
to combine for the purpose of preventing
a big shipper from maintaining i'm
| proper advantages at the expense G
small shippers and of the general pub
lic Such a combination, instead of be
ing forbidden by law, should be favored
In other words, 1T should be permitte
to railroads to make arrangements, pro
vided these agreements were sanctione
by the interstate Commerce Commission
and were published. With these tw
conditions complied with 1t is impossibl
to see what harm such a combinatio
could do TO the public at large.
INHERITANCE AND INCOME TAX
The question of taxation is difficult 1
any country, but 1t is especially Difficult
in ours with It's federal system of gov
ernment. Some taxes should on ever
ground be levied in a small district fo
fuse In that district. Thus the taXatio
of real estate is peculiarly one for tn
immediate locality in which the re:
estate is found. Again, there is no NOR
legitimate tax for any state than a ia
on the franchises conferred by thf
| state upon street railroads and sinlila
corporations which operate who'll
within the state boundaries, somet;m,
: in one and sometimes In several munic