The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-08-20
SECRETARY TAFT
MAKES HIS TALK
FavorS Revision of the Tariff IN
the Dim and Distant Fu-
ture by Its Friends"
STANDS BY THE PRESIDENT
ANSWERS QUESTIONS PUT BY
BRYAN.

Columbus Ohio, Aug. 19.-Secretary
Taft arrived here today from Newark,
Ohio, where he was met by a commit
tee of citizens and escorted to this city.
The city is probably more deliberately
decorated than at any time since the
welcome to Mckinley. Secretary Taft
held a conference with his political
manager, A. / Vorys, during the day
and will probably stay here tomorrow
to meet political leaders from through
out the state The long-heralded speech
of the secretary on the issues Of the day
is as follows
Mr.. Taft's Address.
Members of the Buckeye Republican
Club and Fellow citizens of Ohio;
The present is a period of the great
est prosperity, general comfort ana
even luxury Throughout this country
the demand for labor has increased
wages to a higher point than ever be-
fore known. The compensation OF
skilled labor now frequently exceeds
that of certain professions, like teach
ing and the ministry. Wealth has &C
cumulated enormously in the hands of
individuals and never before have rich
men given so freely of their fortunes
TO educational and charitable objects
Such conditions are apt to dim ana
dull the eye and the ear of the people
to abuses and dishonesty in the body
politic and social It was such periods
in the history of ancient republics
when their foundations were Slapped
and their fall ultimately brought about.
Prophets of evil have fOretOld the same
fate for this republic. They have been
refuted. In spite of the general COM
fort, there have been made manifest
by signs not TO be misunderstood,
quickening of the public conscience
and a demand for the remedy of
abuses the outgrowth of this prosper
ity, and for a higher standard of bust
ness integrity. Every lover of his
country should have feeling of pride
and exaltatiOn I'm this evidence that
our society is still sound at the core.
Abuses in Railway Determinations.
1 have been invited by your body TO
discuss the national issues. Some of
these involve the abuses over which
the public conscience has been aroused
and the proper remedies for their re-
moval. The first, and possibly the
greatest abuse has been in the man.
agement of the arterial system of the
country which the interstate railroads
( form. Any unjust discrimination in the
4 terms upon which transportation of
freight or passengers is afforded an
individual or a locality paralyzes and
withers the business of the individual
or the locality exactly as the binding
of the arteries and veins leading to
member OF the human body destroys
its life.
Failure of Old Interstate Commerce
Law.
The result of twenty years opera
ton under the interstate commerce act
of 1887, passed to restrain abuses of
unjust discrimination and unreason-
ableness of rates, was that the rail-
roads came to regard the action of the
commission it created as of no i'm
pOrtance The delays, due to the neces-
sity of resorting to the courts to try
out the merits of every order of the
commission. before it became effec-
tive, made the remedy Of the complain
ing shipper or locality so slow and
burdensOme that in contested cases it
was no remedy at all. The commits
sion was not, under the old act au-
thOrized to fix reasonable rates. 1t
could only say that a particular rate
was unreasonable and order a railroad
to change its rate and make it rea-
sOnable. The railroad might fix a new
rate at anything less than the rate
declared to be unreasonable and if the
reduction made was not sufficient, a
now action had to be brought to decide
that the new rate was also unreasOn-
able
New Rate Bill.
Made aware of the moribund condi-
ton of railway regulation under the
old law and of the widespread abuses
which prevailed in railway manage
ment, President Roosevelt, in his mes
sage of 1904. recommended that the
powers of the commission be largely
increased, first by enabling the com
mission TO fix rates and second by
making its order effective against the
carriers without resort to courts TO
compel performance. He asked that
it be made an administrative tribunal
with real power. This was done by
the passage of the rate bill in June
1906. The new act enables the com
mission to fix rates and gives efficacy
to all of its orders by providing that
they shall go into effect thirty days
after they are made, unless suspended
by an order of court. and failure to
comply with them is punishable by
fine of $1,000 a dav during the delin-
quenry- Express companies. sleeping
car companies and oil pipe line com
panies are brought under the iurisdic
ton of the commission as common car
riers. The act gives the commission
power to fix the rates for the various
incidental services performed by rail-
ways at terminals and on the journey
and to require them to be performed
for every shipper. BY Withholding
such services from one and extending
them to another, and by imposing
varying charges for them companies
have been able in the past to make
them a convenient instrument of dis
elimination. The new law requires the
publication of rates charged for such
Incidental services. Railroads are COM
PEELED TO furnish cars without discrim-
ination for the movement of traffic
After May. 1908. they are confined in
their business strictly TO transporta-
ton by provision forbidding them,
after that date. to transport for them
selves anything but what is intended
for their use as common carriers. Ex-
perience has shown that the railroads
cannot be trusted to deal fairly in
matters Of transportation between