The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1907-10-03

Il state commerce. Now, by the RAJ
4 road, the mails, the telegraph. al
% the telephone an immense part Of OF
ID commerce is Interstate. by the tran
I formation II has escaped from a
, power of the state and come unde
!. the power of the Nation. Therefor
: there has been great practices
!. change In the exercise OF the Nations
:, power under the acts OF congress
!, over interstate commerce; while o.
+, the other hand there has been n
T, noticeable change In the exercise 0
The National power ito regulate CON
lmeree with, foreign nations. aud witt
, the indian tribes The change as re
cards Interstate commerce has been
not in the. Constitution, hut III. th'
business OF che people TO which II /,
10 be applied. Our economic ant
I, socialfuture depends In very large
part upon how the Interstate com
merce power of the Nation Is inter
lpreted
/ | believe that the Nation has thu
whole governmental power over in
terstate commerce and the widest dis
erection in dealing with that subject
of course under the express limits
prescribed in the Constitution for the
exercise of all powers. such for in,
stance as the condition that due pro.
cess of law" shall not be denied The
Nation has no direct power over pure.
| ~ interstate commerce, even where
! II is conducted by the same agencies
which condvce interstate commerce,
! The courts must determine what is
national and what is state commerce.
rhe same reasoning which sustained
he power of congress to incorporate
The United States bank tends to sus-
ain the power to incorporate an in
.erstate railroad. or any other corpo-
~ation conducting an Interstate bust
less
Try Brood Interpretation.
There are difficulties arising from
ur dnal form IF government. II they
rove to be insuperable resort must
be had to the power Of amendment.
.et MS first try to meet them by an
,xercise Of ali the powers of the Ma
-ional government which in the mar
hail spirit of broad Interpretation
an he found In the Constitution as 1t
s. They are OF vast extent. The
,hief economic question of the day In
his country is to provide sovereign
or the great corporations engaged In
Interstate business; that is. for the
'aiiroads and the interstate industrial
corporations. At the moment cur
prime concern is with the railroads.
When railroads were first britt they
we're purely local in character. Their
boundaries were not coextensiye even
With the boundaries OF one state.
,sually covered but two or three
cunties. All this has now changed.
At present FIVE great systems enbody
early four-fifths of the total mileage
Il the country All the most import
INT railroads are no longer state roads
but Instruments of interstate com
nerce. Probably s. per cent Of their
BUSINESS Is interstate business. 1t IL
he Nation alone which can with WIS
ION. Justice. and effectiveness exer-
Use over these interstate railroads
he thorough and complete super
vision which should be exercised.
Inc of the chief, and probably the
thief of the domestic causes for the
adoption Of the Constitution was the
rntf Nv.
elusive control over interstate com
nerce. But this grant of power is
worthless unless it Is held to confer
horoughgoing and complete control
iyer practically the sole instrumental
ties of interstate commerce-the in
,erstate railroads. The railroads
themselves have been exceedingly
hortslghted in the rancorous bitter
ness which they have shown against
The resumption by the Nation of this
long-neglected power. Great capital
SITS. who pride themselves upon their
7xtreme conservatism, often believe
they are acting in the interests OF
property when following course so
shortsighted as to be really an as
sault upon property. They have
shown extreme unwisdom in their VIC
lent opposition TO the assumption of
complete control over the railroads
by the federal government. The
American people will not tolerate the
happy-golucky system of no control
over the great interstate railroads.
with the insolent aud manifold abuses
which have so generally accompanied
IT, The control must exist some
where: and unless II IS by thorough
going and radical law placed upon the
statute books of the Nation. II will
be exercised in ever-increasing meas
ure BY the several states. The same
considerations which made the foun-
dcrs Of the Constitution deem II
imperative that the Nation should
have complete control of interstate
commerce apply with peculiar force
to the control of interstate railroads
AZ the present day: and the argu-
-nents of Madison OF Virginia. Pinek-
roy of south Carolina. and Hamilton
and jay of New York. in their essence
apply now as they applied one hun
lred and twenty years ago.
The national convention which