Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1907-05-31
PROPER RESTRAINT Of TRANSPORTATION
National COntro of ltsuo of Securities Il
Advocated
SQUARE DEAL FOR SHIPPER AND lNVES1oE
Physical Valuation of Railroads and
Inspection Of Accounts by Federal
Authority Suggested as Means
to End.

at the unveiling Of the monument TO Major
General Henry W. Lawton.
In opening his address the president re-
ferred in terms of eulosy to the bravery Of
the veterans of the civil war and other
wars, and he paid especial tribute to
Governor Morton.
He said
The men of the generation which fought
the civil war had their great tasks to per-
form. They met them as strong men
should have met them They did them,
and we, their children, pront by their
mighty deeds. But no generation can ever
plead the great deeds of its predecessors
AS al excuse for failing to perform It's
own duties. our duties are those of peace
and not of war. Nevertheless they are OF
the utmost Importance; of Importance to
ourselves, and of still greater importauce
TO the children who in few years VIII
take our places as the men and women OF
this republic. If we wish to show our
selves worthy heirs OF the men of the civil
war, we must do our tasks with the thor
oughness with which they did theirs.
Great social and industrial problems con-
front US, and their solution demands on
our part untalterng courage, and yet "a
wise good -natured self-restrant so that
on the one hand we shall neither be
daunted by difficulties nor fooled by those
who would seek to persuade us that the
difficulties are insuperable; while on the
other hand we are not mised into showing
either rashness or Vindictiveness Let us
try as a people to show the same qualities
deal with the industrial and social
problems of today that Abraham Lincoln
showed when with indomitabe resolution,
but with a kindness, patience and COM
mon sense quite as remarkable, he faced
four weary years of open war in front, OF
calumny, detraction and intrigue from be-
hind, and at the end gave to his country
men whom he had served so well the
blood bought gift of a race freed and
nation forever united.
Preservation of Property.
One great problem that we have before
us is to preserve the rights of property;
and these can only be preserved If we re.
from foi't the Socialist and the anarchist than
from the predatory man of wealth. H.
has become evident that to refuse to in"
woke the power of the nation to restrain
the wrongs committed by the man OF
great wealth who does evil Is not only to
neglect the interests of the public, but 10
to neglect the interests of the man OF
means who acts honorably by his fellows.
The power of the nation must be exerted
to stop crimes of cunning no less than
! crimes of violence. There can be no halt
in the course we have deliberately elected
to pursue, the policy of asserting the right
! of the nation. so far as II has the power,
| to supervise and control the business use
! OF wealth, especially In its corporate form.
| Today i wish to say word to you about
| the first and most important feature of this
| task, the control OF the common carriers
! doing interstate business; control alb"
| solutely vested in the nation, while insofar
as the common carriers also transport ths
/ mails II is in my opinion probable that
! whether their business is or is not inter-
! state it is to the same extent subject to
| federal control, under that clause of the
! constitution granting to the national gov,
| eTnment power to establish post roads and
| therefore by necessary implication power
/ to take all action necessary in order TO
keep them at the highest point OF efficiency
EhOrt of Six Years.
Every federal law dealing with corpo-
! rations or with railroads that has been
| put upon the statute books during the last
/ six years has been step in advance in
! the administration under these and the
! pre-eXIsting laws has been just and proper;
| Every suit undertaken during that period
| has been suit not merely warranted, but
/ required. by the facts; suit in the inter-
/ est of the people as a whole, and, in the
/ long run, particularly in the interest OF
stockholders as well as in the interest of
| business men of property generally. There
| can be no swerving from the course that
| has thus been mapped out in the legisla-
| tion actually enacted and in the messages
! in which l have asked for further legisla-
! ton We best serve the interests of the
| honest railway men when we announce
! that we will follow out precisely this
course. 1t is the course of real, of ulti-
mate conservatism. There will be no halt
! in the forward movement toward a full
development of this policy; and those who
: wish us to take step backward or to
| stand still, If their wishes were realized,
! would find that they had invited an out
I break Of the very radicalism they fear.
There must be progressive Legislation and
/ administrative action for the correction of
/ the evils which every sincere man must
admit to have existed in railroad manage
ment in the past.
More Power Needed.
| Such additional legislation as that for
! which l have asked in the past, and cspe.
| cially that for which | asked IN my nief-
sage at the opening of the last session Of
/ congress, is not merely in the interest Of
/ the public, but most emphatcally i1 tile
! interest of every honest railway inPnaEe r
and of all investors or would-be inv IS Ors
In railway securities. There must he
vested in the federal government a full
I power of supervision and control over the
! railways doing interstate business; a
power in many respects analogous to and
as complete as that the government ex-
4 ercises over the national banks. 1t must
possess the power to exercise supervision
, over the future issuance of stocks and
I bonds, either through a national incor-
poration (which / should preferI or IN
some similar fashion. such supervision to
include the frank publicity Of everything
/ at large have a right to know The fed
eral government VIII thus be able to pre-
vent all overcapitalization In the future;
70 prevent any man hereafter from plum
( dering others by loading railway proper
ties with obligations and pocketing the
money instead Of spending II in improve
I ments and in Legitimate corporate pur-
/ poses, and any man acting I'm such fashion
should be held 10 criminal accounta-
| bility. II should be declared contrary to
public policy henceforth 10 allow railroad
to devote their capital to anything but
the transportation business certainly not
10 the hazards OF speculat ation. For the
very reason that we desire 10 favor the
honest railroad manager, we should seek
to discourage the activities of the man
whose only concern with railroads Is 10
manipulate their stocks The business OF
railroad organization and management
should be kept entirely distinct from In.
Vestment or brokerage business, especially
of the speculative type, and the credit and
property of the corporation should be de-
voted 10 the extension and betterment OF
it's railroads, and 10 the development OF
the country naturally tributary TO the
lines. These principles are fundamental
Railroads should not be prohibited from
acquiring connecting lines. by acquiring
stocks bonds or other securities OF suci
] Ifuaa [ 4 already we'll ag
10 acquire control over parallel and COM
peting lines OF transportation. Subject IA
first giving 70 the government the power
Of supervision and control which / have
advocated above the law should he
amended 50 that railroads may be per
, mitted and encouraged 10 make traffic
agreements when these are In the Interest
Z of the general public as well as Of the
railroad corporations making them These
, agreements should OF course be made pub