Perth Amboy evening news., 1906-07-18

den's record on the negative slue
There is not a word frop Senator
Dryden in the Congressional hecoro
to show that he has any fault TO nnd
with the DISQUALIFICATION Of Dig In
t%erests, which President Roosevelt
declared in his last message TO be
the greatest evil of the times There
Is nothing to indicate that any OF
the big corporations with whlSQ Dry
den is identified has squeczea out
any of the water in its capltalAo r
proposes doing so.
The president in his message
federal supervision Of old
lions. Dryden introduced Il leaeral
insurance bill which everybody pc
lieved to be as unconstitutional as
it's provisions were inconsequentlal
and Intellectual. The only result II
accomplished was in giving the COM
mittees of both houses an excuse 10
hold up consideration of other lnsur-
ance bills of the const%itutionality OF
which there was no question.
1t has been declared by the SUI
preme court of the United states
| that railroads which produced ana
sold coal were engaged in unlawful
restraint of trade and competition,
when an amendment to the rate Dill
was proposed, with the object OF COM
pelling common carriers to get out
of the producing and selling business.
Dryden's only contribution to debate
on legislation on the subject was an
amendment intended to allow the
coal carrying roads five years to dis
pose of their coal properties, permit
ting them to continue that much
longer in business which the supreme
court had condemned.
Secret books and accounts have
for years aided the railroads and 9th
er monopolies in keeping up rebates
and discrimination in violation or
evasion of the law. The president
had said on this subject, in his mes
sage:
There should be publicity of the
accounts lof common carriers; no
COIltliOh CdlllCIO CI6dSCu LII AhtSA
state business should keep any books
or memoranda other than those re-
ported pursuant to law or regulation.
4" y y Only in this way can viola
lions or evasions of the law be sure
ly detected"
Senator Dryden opposed a clause
in the rate bill, forbidding common
carriers to keep accounts other than
of a form and nature approved by
the Interstate commerce commission,
on the ground that such a restriction
was unreasonable interference. His
main argument against a provision
intended to destroy the strongest
hold of the rebaters-secret accounts
was that it's enforcement would
prevent superintendent and track
walkers from making memoranda of
broken rails, damaged cars and 9TH
details of the business. The sec
ion went into the bill despite Dry
lens opposition.
His attempts to defeat this pro-
vision against secret accounts and
o give the coal and oil monopolies
i've years more of life were Dry
only participation in the rate
The only speech of note Dryden
made in the four years he has
,een in the senate was his defense
If the lock type of canal to be built
It Panama-the type approved by
Roosevelt. 1t is Characteristic and
of Dryden's political rec
'rd and his disinclination to put him
elf on record that up to a month
r two previous to the delivery of
he speech, he has been counted
mong the advocates of a sea level
anal. In the rate debate, Dryden
classed from start to finish by
verybody at Washington who knew
he conditions as one of the railroad
headed by Aldrich, Kean and
which was opposed to rate
egislation.
In his message this year the pres
dent renewed his recommendation
rging legislation to compel all rail-
Dads to equip their lines with block
ignal systems. An amendment pro-
osed by La Toilette to the rate bill
0 require the roads to equip their
Ines with block signals prior to July
4, 1911, was tabled without a record
ote, but Dryden did not go on record
S protesting against this action.
Dryden voted against La Follette's
Iroposed amendment putting an en-
liability clause into the rate
ill, although a similar but less
.rastic measure was later passed by
he senate without division.
Dryden was among the forty rail-
Dad senators who voted to table
he proposed La Toilette amendment
o the rate bill, authorizing the COM
mission to appraise the value of the
ailroads and to use that appraised
-alue as the basis of rate making,
he intent of which was to squeeze
nut the eight or nine billions of water
n the railroad capitalization of the
ountry which now serves as an eX-
use for keeping up the rates.
Dryden helped to defeat the La Fol
cite amendment proposing that the
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