Tonopah bonanza. [volume] (Butler City [i.e. Butler], Nev.) 1901-1909, 1906-12-08

to that which is followed in with
drawing the forest lands from ordi-
nary settlement. The coal, like the
forests, should be treated as the
property of the public and it's dis
posal should be under conditions
which would inure to the benefit of
the public as a whole.
Corporations.
The present Congress has taken
long strides in the direction of Sc
curing proper supervision and con-
troll by the National Government
over corporations engaged in inter-
state business-and the enormous
majority of corporations of any
size are engaged in interstate bust
ness. The passage of the railway
rate bill, and only to a less degree
the passage of the pure food bill,
and the provision for increasing and
rendering more effective national
control over the beef-packing indus
try, mark an important advance in
the proper direction. In the short
session it will perhaps be difficult to
do much further along this line; and
1t may be best to wait until the laws
have been in operation for a number
of months before e~ndeavoring to in
crease their scope, because only OPP
GRAFTON 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 in connec-
tion with the packing house inspec-
ton 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 COM
merce law, for instance, has rather
%amusingly falsiied the predictions,
both If those who asserted that 1t
would ruin the railroads and Of
those who asserted that it did not go
far enough and would accomplish
nothing. During the last five months
the railroads have shown increased
earnings and some Of them unusual
dividends; while during the SAME
period the mere taking effect OF the
law has produced an unprecedented
a hitherto unhe~rd Of, number OF
voluntary reductions i'm frelghts and
fares by the railroads. Since the
founding Of the Commission there
+ has never been a time Of equa
d length in which anything like Sc
y many reduced tariffs have been puI
( into effect. On August 81, for in
+ stance, two days before the new Law
e went into effect, the Commission re
cefyed notices Of over five thousant
/ separate tariffs which represented re
e auctions from previous rates.
l. 1t must not be supposed, however
0 that with the passage of these law
IS it will be possible to stop progress
g along the line of increasing the pow
n err of the National Government owe
IS the use of capital in Interstate com
n merce. For example, there will III
timately be need of charging tn
,r powers of the Interstate Commerce
d Commission along several differep
lie lines, so as to give it a larger an
10 more efficient control over the raj
roaCs.
ID 1t a not too often be repeate
y that experience has c~onclusiyel
# shown the impossibility Of securin
le by the actions of nearly half a hun
dred different State legislatures an!
e. thing but ineffective chaos in Ii
s. way of dealing with the great co.
~ porations which do not operate e
ny clusiyely within the limits Of an
r. one State. In some method, wheth,
e. by a national license law or in 9th,
of fashion, we must exercise, and thi
IS at an early date. a far more compile
IL control than at present over the
all great corporations control TIL
to will among other things prevent u
ep evils of excessive overcapitalizatio
% and that will compel the disclosu.
or by each big corporation of it's stoc
on holders and of its properties al
,al business, whether owned directly
a through subsidiary or affiliated CO
al porations. This will tend to put
'ce stop to the securing of inordina
profits by favored individuals at Il
expense whether of the general phi
on lie, the stockholders, or the was
oal workers, Our effort should be n
tn so much to prevent consolidation
Ids such, but so to supervise and co
in troll it as to see that It results in
lb- harm to the people. The reactiona
es- or ultraconservative apologists Z
the misuse of wealth assail the {
my fort to secure such control as a ST
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