The Miller sun. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 190?-19??, 1907-06-22
SHOULD RULE ROADS.
PRESIDENT ASKS FEDERAL CON-
Troll OF RAIL LINES.
Would Establish Supervision Anal
oEOus to That of Bnnks-Laws
Needed to Restore Trust--Much of

on the one hand we shall neither be daunt-
ed by difficulties nor fooled by those who
would seek TO persuade that the diff
ficuties are insuperable; while on the 9th
er hand we are not misled into showing
either rashness or vindictiveness.
Let us try as a people to show the same
qualities as we deal with the industrial
and social problems of to-day that Abra-
ham Lincoln showed when, with indomita-
BILE resolution, but with kindliness, pa
thence and common sense quite remark
able, he faced four weary years of open
war In front, of calumny, detraction and
intrigue from behind, and at the end gave
to his countrymea whom he had served so
well the blOod-bOught gift of a race freed
and a nation forever united.
One great problem that we have before
us Is to preserve the rights of property;
and these can only be preserved If we re-
member that they are in less jeopardy from
the Socialist and the anarchist than from
the predatory man of wealth. , 1t has be-
come evident that to refuse to invoke 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 inter
estS Of the public. but is to neglect the
interests of the man Of means who acts
honorably by his fellows.
The power Of the nation must be exert
ed 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 it has the power,
to supervise and control the business use
of wealth, especially In its corporate form.
Control OF Common Carriers.
To-day l wish to say word to you
about the first and most important feature
OF this task, the control Of the common
carriers doing an interstate business
control absolutely vested in the nation,
while In so far as the common carriers
also transport the mails, it Is in my
opinion probable that whether their bust
ness Is or Is not Interstate, 1t Is to
the same extent subject to Federal control
under that clause Of the Constitution grant
ing to the national government power 10
establish post roads, and therefore, by nee
essary implication, power to take all action
necessary in order to keep them at the
highest point of efficiency.
Every Federal law dealing with corpor-
atoms or with railroads that has been put
upon the statute books during the last six
years has been step in advance In the
right direction.
All action taken by the administration
under these and the preexistng laws has
been Just and proper. Every suit under.
taken during that period has been a suit
not merely warranted, but required, by the
facts; a suit in the interest of the peo-
pie as a whole, and, In the long run, par
tiCularly in the interest of stockholders,
as we'll as in the interest Of business men
of property generally.
There can be no swerving from the
course that has thus been mapped out i'll
the legislation actually enacted, and In the
message in which l asked for further legis-
lation.
We best serve the interest Of the honest
railway men when we announce that we
will follow out precisely this course 1t
is the course of real, of ultimate cOnserv-
atism. There will be no halt in the for
ward movement toward q full development
of this policy; and those who wish us to
take step, backward or to stand stu;
If their wishes were realized, would find
that they had Invited an outbreak 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.
Such additional legislation as that for
which l have asked in the past, and es-
peclally that for which asked in my
message at the opening Of the last SEES
sion of Congress, Is not merely In the
interest of the public, but most emphat-
icaly in the interest of every honest rail-
way manager and of all investors or would
be investors in railway securities.
Must Have Full Power.
There must be vested in the Federal
government a full power Of supervision and
control over the railways doing Interstate
business a power in many respects analoS-
GUS to and as complete as that the gov
eminent exercises over the national banks
1t must possess the power to exercise SUI,
pervision over the future issues of stocks
end bonds either through national In
corporation (Which l should prefer or
some similar fashion, such supervision to In
which would-be investors and the public
at large have right to know. The Fed
eral government will thus be able to pre-
vent all overcapitalization in the future
to prevent any man hereafter from plum
dering others by loading railway properties
with obligations and pocketing the money
instead of spending 1t in improvements and
in legitimate corporate purposes and any
man acting in such fashion should be held
to a criminal accountability.
1t should be declared contrary to pub
lie policy henceforth to allow railroads to
devote their capital to anything but the
transportation business, certainly not to the
hazards Of speculation. For the very rea-
son that we desire to favor the honest rail
road manager, We should seek to discour-
age the activities of the man whose only
concern with railroads Is to manipulate their
stocks.
The business of railroad organization and
management should be kept entirely dis
tinct from investment or brokerage busi-
ness, especially of the speculative type,
and the credit and property Of the corpora
ton should be devoted to the extension and
betterment of It's railroads and to the de-
veopment of the country naturally tribu-
tary to the lines. These principles are fun
damental.
We seek nothing revolutionary. We ask
for such laws as in their essence now OBJ
tain in the staid old commonwealth Of
Massachusetts such laws as now obtain
In England. The purpose of those of us
who so resolutely believe In the new poll
ICY in Its thorough carrying out and In its
progressive development, Is In no sense
punitive or vindictive
We would be the first to protest against
any form Of confscation of property, and
whether we protested or not, j may add
that the Supreme Court would be trusted
In any event to see that there should be
nothing done under the guise Of regulating
roads to destroy property without just COM
pension or without due process of law.
The man who builds great railway IA
cilities Is a vital necessity to the coun-
try We favor fun and ample return to
such men +; but we do not favor q policy OF
ba no hons nf ha