The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-05-08

Central Railroad. ~ weII as on many
. niher railroad s. lu such fashion aa -
mount t. thnartiHg The purpose If
Law, although the forms OF the
law NAV be complied with.
III is unfortunately not tEue taat tn
Standard ON Company lis the only
great corporation which in the imHe-
date past has benefited. and il at
this moment beuehting. i'm Wholly inn
proper fashion by an elaborate serits
of rate determinations. which permit
it to profit both an the expense II its
rivals ana the general public. The
Attorney General reports to me that
the Investigation now going ou as 70
the shipments by the sugar trust o~sI.
I The trunk lines running out Of Me-"
York city tends 10 show that the <
. trust rarely II ever pays the lawful
rate Of transportation. and Is thus
improperly. and probably unlaVYfuIly.
favored at the expense Of its com
p~ctltors and Of the general public.
The argument is sometimes ad-
yauccd against comforting upon some
governmental body the power of su-
pcryisiou aud control over interstate
commerce.. that to do 50 tends To
weaken Individual Initiative lives
legations such as this concluslveiy di<-
prove any such allegation. ON The
contrary. the proper play for individ-
Is4 liiIAl4|ls' 'tlt Dl4tE ~ -
such governmental supervision a. Will
curb those mOnopolies which crush
out All individual initiative. The rail.
road Itself cannot. without such gov.
eminent aid protect the Interests IF
its own stockholders AS against one
Of these great corporations loosely
known as trusts.
In the effort to prevent the railroads
from uniting for improper purposes
We have very unwisely prohibited
them from uniting for PROPER puf-
poses, that is. for purposes Of protec-
ton to themselves and to the general
public as against the power Of the
great corporations. They should Ger
fainlv given pOWe. thus TO unite or
conditions laid down by Congress,
such conditions to include the spe-
ciic approval of the Interstate Conf
merce Commission of any agreement
to which the railroads may come. In
addition to this the government must
interfere through its agents to deprive
the railroad of the ability to make u
the big corporations the concessions
which otherwise il is poWerleSS to re
fuse.
The government should have power
by its agents to examine into the conf
duct of the raiIWays-that is. the eX-
am1ners under the direction of the IN
t~erstate Commerce Commission should
be able to amin as thoroughly into
the affairs of the railroad as bank eX-
aminers now examine into the affairs
of banks.
More Power for Commissioners.
# is impossible to work q material
Improvement in conditions such rs
above desoribed merely through the
nstrumenatIity of a lawsuit. \ law
suit is often a necessary method, but
by itself it is an utterly inadequate
method. What il needed il the co!i-
icrring upon the Commission OF ainpic
affirmative power. SO conferred aS 30
make its decisions take effect at once,
subject ONLY to such action by the
court as j. demanded by the Consti-
tuition. The courts have the power to,
and will undoubtedly, interfere If the
action of the Commission should be-
come in effect ConfiscatOry of the
property of an individual or corpor-
alton, or if the Commission should
undertake to do anything beyond the
authority conferred upon it by the law
under which it is acting. | am We'll
aware that within the limits thus set
the Commission may at times be gull
ty of injustice; but far 9rOsScr and fan.
more frequent injustice, and injustice
OF Il much more serious kind. now re-
suits and must always result from
the failure to give the Commission
ample power to act promptly and eff
fcctiyc!y within these broad limits.
Though not bearing upon the ques-
ton Of railroad rates, there are two
measures consideration of which is
imperativeIy suggested by the submis-f
sion of this report. The Standard Oil
Company has. largely by unfair or
unlawful methods. crushed out home
competition. 1t is highly desirable
that an element of competition should
be introduced by the passage of some
such law as that which has already
passed the House putting alcohol
used in the arts and manufactures
upon the free lists. Furthermore the
time has come when no oil or coal
lands held by the government, either
upon the public domain rop or
in territory owned by the Indian
tribes, should be alienated. The fee
to such lands should be kept in the
United States government whether or
not the profits arising from it are to
be given to any Indian tribe, and the
lands SHOULD be leased only on such
terms and for such periods as will en-
able the government to keep entire
control thereof.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
The White House. May +, 1906.