Los Angeles herald., 1907-04-02

aged in a spirit Of fairness and Justice
toward the public.
Roads Must BE Controlled
Actual experience has shown that
II Is not possible to leave the railroads
uncontrolled. Such a system, or rather
such n lack OF system, is fertile in
abuses of every kind and puts a
premium upon unscrupulous and ruth
less cunning in railroad management;
for there are some big shippers and
some railroad managers who are always
willing to take unfair advantage OF
their weaker competitors, and they
thereby force other big shippers and
big railroad men who would like to do
decently, into similar acts of wrong
and injustice, under penalty of being
left behind I'm the race for success. Gov
ernment supervision Is needed quite as
much in the interest Of the big shipper
and of the railroad manager who wants
to do right as in the interest of the
small shipper and the consumer.
Experience has shown that the
present laws are defective and need
amendment The effort to prohibit all
restraint Of competition, whether rea-
sonable or unreasonable, Is unwise. !
What we need is to have an admins
trative body with ample power to for
bid combination that is hurtful to the |
public and to prevent favoritism to
one individual at the expense of an
other. In other words, we want an
administrative body with the power to
secure all shippers who use the rail- |
roads-and all shippers have right to
use them
Maximum Rebates
"In my Judgment the most important |
thing to do is to give to this admin |
istrative body power to make it's find
ings effective, and this can be done |
only by giving 1t power, when COM
plaint is made of given rate as being |
unjust or unreasonable, If it finds the
complaint proper, to fix a maximum |
rate which 1t regards just and reason
able, this rate to go into effect prac-
tically at once, that is, within a rea-
sonable time, and to stay in effect un-
fless reversed by the courts. 1 earnestly
hope that we shall have law giving
this power passed by congress
'If there Is in the minds of the COM
mission any suspicion that a certain
railroad is in any shape or way giving
rebates, or behaving improperly, I wish
the commission to have power as a
matter Of right, not as a matter of l.
favor, to make a full and exhaustive
investigation of the rates and expendi-
lures of the railroad, so that any eva
SlOii VI Tie law may De ueJeCleQ. lnlS |
is not revolutionary proposal on my
part, for 1 only wish the same power
given in reference to railroads that is
now exercised as a matter of course
by the national bank examiners as re- l.
CARDS national banks. My object in
giving these additional powers to the
body representing the
goVernment-the interstate commerce
commission, or whatever it may be-is
MI fY,1a vii 20
sham control to the government repre-
THE American people abhor a sham,
and with this abhorrence 1 cordially
Nothing is more injurious
from every standpoint than a law
which is merely sound and fury, merely
pretense, and not capable of working
out tangible results. 1 hope to see all
The power that think it ought to have
granted to the government, but would
tar rather see only some of it granted,
but really granted-than see a pretense
Of granting all in some shape, that
really amounts to nothing
Combination Necessary
''The actual working of our laws has
shown that the effort to prohibit all
,om molnation, good or bad, is noxious
where it is not ineffective. Combina-
ton of capital, like combination of la
Dor, is necessary element of our
present usual system. 1t is not possible
completely to prevent it, and if 1t were
possible such complete prevention
would do damage to the body polite.
What we need is not vainly to try to /
destroy all combination, but to secure
such rigorous and adequate control and
supervision of the combination as to
prevent their injuring the public or ex-
listing in such form as inevitably to
threaten injury-for the mere fact that
a combination has secured practically
complete control of necessity for life
would under any circumstances show
that such combination was to be pre-
sumed to be averse to the public in
terest. '
"It is unfortunate that our present
laws should forbid all combinations S
instead Of sharply discriminating be- I
tween those combinations which do
good and those combinations which do
evil. Rebates. for instance, are as
often due to the pressure of big ship
pers Gas was shown in the case of the
Standard Oil company and which has
been shown since by the investigation
of the tobacco and sugar trusts as to
the initiative of the big railroads.
Often railroads would like to combine
for the purpose of preventing a big
shipper from maintaining improper ad-
Vantages ia the expense OF small ship
pers and of the general public. Such
combination, instead of being forbid
den by law, should be favored. In other
words, it should be permitted the rail-
roads to make agreements, provided
these agreements were sanctioned by
the interstate commerce commission
and were published. With these condi-
tions complied with it is impossible to
see what harm such a combination
could do to the public at large"