Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1906-12-07

generation will look upon this act O
President Roosevelt's as a great bles
ing though just at present it has thu
appearance of being detrimental t,
the interests of the county in the with
drawal of so much land from entry.
PLEADING FOR MORE POWER.
Chicago Tribune: In his remark.
at st. Louis night before last Mr.. Har
riman said that in his opinion the rail
roads must have more power if the,
are to continue to prosper. Existing
conditions hamper them. 1t is no,
easy he says to manage the affairs o,
a great road. if one has always to turf
to the legal department to ascertain
whether it is or it is not legal to Dc
a certain thing. which apart from the
question of its lawfulnes. seems mos
desirable.
Not so mqany years ago the rail
road president had that freedom o.
action which is denied him now. He
did whatever seemed eXpedient to hin
without asking his law department,
about 1t. Those were the happy days
when he could build up one town and
pull down another, give wealth to one
manufacturer and take it from an.
other without troubling his head a
bout the lawfulness of his acts.
Men who have exercised unrestrict.
ed power naturally chare when their
freedom of action is limited by legal
barriers. They begin TO talk as Mr..
Hartman does of the good they might
accomplish if not checked by restric-
ton, they find it more difficult to give
development start They have 70
leave the country dormant, when. in
their hands, they could wake it up.
While dwelling on the good things
they could do if they had more power,
railroad men like Mr.. Hartman do
not mention the bad things they did
while they were unregulateo and I'm.
restrained. Secretary Root. who re.
piled briefly TO Mr.. Hartman did not
neglect this aspect Of the case. He
agreed that a railroad by special rates
can help build up a bigger and a bet.
ter business, but the privilege of the
railroads in discriminating in the mat.
ire of special rates and compensation
is too often abused as We have seen. "
1t has been used ito give advantage tc
the wealthy shipper against the weak
er ones II has been used to crush
the weak, while, as Mr.. Root says
the science of government always
gives chance to the weak as vel
as TO the strong. The railroads hav
ing abused their power it became nee
essary to bride their power by gov
eminent control.
The railroads are an Illustration O.
the dangers of uncontrolled power
They abused their freedom. The!
could not refrain from doing wrong
and that government CONTROL which
irritates them became necessary t,
keep them from doing wrong. 1t il
salutary legislation which they woult
welcome if they had not had too much
| liberty.
In time, railroad presidents will rec
oncile themselves to the novel require
ment that they shall ask their Law
departments as to the lawfulness O.
policy before attempting to put ii
in operation. Men in other pursuits
have become accustomed to doins
that and have often found that II
keeps them out Of great trouble. The
new legislation leaves the railroads
sufficient power to discharge their full
duty to the public, though it will in
terfere with their ability to be the
special providence Of some communi
ties or individuals by discriminating
in their favor and refusing to give
their rivals fair chance.
Even those who may have found
much to condemn or criticise in F
Augustus Heinze will readily admi,
that his act in drawing his check fo1
100000 for the relief of the deposit
ors of the defunct Aetna bank of Butte
was most praiseworthy He practi
| cally makes a gift of this amount, a.
there was no legal or moral obligation
resting upon him to do so. Although
Mr.. Heinze was president of the Act
ma bank at one time he severed hi
connection with that institution thre
years ago and has not since that tim
been connected with it in any capa,
ity. Although his retirement was mad
public there were doubtless many d,
positors who thought he was still a.
ISOLATED with the bank and such bein
the case felt secure. Mr.. Heinze
generous contribution will helm out tn