The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-12-04

| Many ar these strikes and IockOutE
would not have occurred had the parties
! TO the dispute been required to appear pc
| fore an unprecedented body representing
I the nation and, face to race, STATE . the n
! stances the dispute would doubtless pc
1 found to be due to a ntsunders eal2dlng ~
each of the others rights, aggravated Dy
/ an unwillingness of either party TO sc-
| cept IS true the statements or tl2e other
[ as TO the Justice injustice or Inc mat
| tiers in dispute The exercise OF a judicial
/ spirit by disinterested body re present
would be provided by a commission on
Cancellation and arbitration would tend 70
! create an atmosphere of friendlnesss and
/ Cancellation between eontend1ng partles'
and the giving each side an equal oppof-
| tunity to present fully its case in the
/ presence of the other would preveFl- many
disputes from developing into serious
I strikes or lOckouts, and. in other cases,
would enable the commission to persuade
the opposing parties to come TO terms
combinations, neither employers nor en-
ployes should be left completely at the
mercy of the stronger party to Il dispute,
regardless of the Righteousness of their
respective claims: The proposed measure
would be in the line of securing recogni-
ton of the fact that in many strikes the
public has itself an interest which can
not wisely be disregarded; an interest not
merely of general convenience, for the
question of a just and proper public pol
latiOn of this kind it is well to advance
cautiously. testing each step by the ac-
iy be safely taken, for the decisions of
the commission would not bind the par
a chance for public opinion to crystalline
and thus to exert its full force for the
It is not wise that the nation should
ALLEVIATE its remaining coal lands. l have
all the lands which the geological sur
vey. has indicated as containing. OF in all
probability containing coal. The ques-
ton, however can be properly settled
only by legislation. which in my judg-
ment should provide fer the withdrawal
of these lands from sale or from entry,
save in certain especial circumstances.
The ownership would then remain 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 to permit 1t to see that
ers. 1t would, of course be as necessary
to supervise the rates charged by the
as the rates charged by those VINO mine
it; and the supervision must extend to
the conduct Of the common carriers, SO
that they shall IN no way 1aVoE one com
petitor at the expense of another The
withdrawal of these coal lands would
which has been followed in withdrawing
the forest lands from ordinary settlement
The coal, like the forests should pc
treated as the property of the public and
its disposal should be under conditions
which would inure to the benefit Of the
public rs a whole
Corporations.
The present congress has taken long
tsrides in the direction of securing prop
er supervision and control by the ma
tional government over corporations en-
gagged in interstate business-and the
enormous majority of corporations of any
size are engaged in Interstate business. /
The passage of the railway rate bill. and
only to a less degree the passage of the
pure food bill, and the provision for in
/, creasing and rendering more effective ma |
tional control over the beef-packing in |
dustry, mark an important advance in !
the proper direction. In the short ses- |
sion " VIII perhaps pc dltHcuit 10 DO
be best TO wait until the laws have been
IN operation Tor number or months be
daq n co hniT
because only operation will show with |
exactness their merits and their shOrtcom- |
what further remedial legisIa ton is |
needed. Yet in my judgment it Will in |
the packing house inspection law to pro- |
vide for putting date on the label and |
packers All these laws have already jus |
titled their enactment. the interstate
amusingIy falsified the predictions, both |
of those who asserted that it would ruin |
asserted ass di''i that It did not 20 H far
enough and would accomplish moth |
roads have shown increased earnings and |
some of them unusual dividends; while |
effect of the law has produced an unpre- |
cedented, a hitherto unheard of, number t
of voluntary reductions in freights and |
fares by the railroads Since the found |
ing of the commission there has never /
thing like so many reduced tariffs have |
been put into effect On August y. for !
instance. two days before the law /
went into effect, the commission received /
notices of over five thousand separate |
tariffs which represented reductions from
previous rates
It must not be supposed, however. that |
with the passage of these laws it will be |
possible to stop progress along the line of
increasing the power of the national gov /
eminent over the use of capital in inter-
state commerce For example. there will |
ultimately be need of charging the pow
ers Of the interstate commerce commits /
sion along several different lines. so as I
to give 1t a larger and more efficient con-
troll over the railroads.
experience has conclusively shown the /
impossibility of securing by the actions Of
islatures anything but ineffective chaos |
in the way of dealing with the great cor
sively within the limits of any one state. /
In some method. whether by a national |
license law OF in other fashion. we must
exercise. and that at earlX date. far |
more complete control thanRat present
over these great corporations control /
that Will among other things prevent the
evils of excessive OVercapitalization. and |
that will compel the disclosure by each /
big corporation of its stockholders and |
of its properties and business, whether /
owned directly or through subsidiary or |
affiliated corporate This will tend to |
profits by favored individuals at the ex-
pense whether of the general public, the !
stockholders. or the wageworkers Our 4
consolidation such. but so to super |
wise and control 1t as to see that it re-
suits in no harm to the people. The re-
dictionary or ultraconservative apologists |
for the misuse of wealth aSSail the effort !
to secure such control as a step toward |
Socialism. AS matter of fact it is /
these reactionaries and ultrac ons ervatives /
who are themselves most potent in in
creasinE socialistic feeling. One of the
most efficient methods of aVerting the (
consequences of a dangerous agitation
which is so per cent wrong, is to remedy |
the 20 per cent of evil as to which the /
agitation is weI1-founded The best way
to avert the very undesirable move for |
the governmental ownership of railways !
is to secure by the government on behalf /
of the people as a whole such adequate
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