The Mena weekly star., 1907-06-06
ROOSEVELT ON RAILROADS
The President Defines His Position in no Uncertain Language
 at Indianapolis.
PREDATORY MAN OF WEALTH 4 MENACE
Power of Nation Will be Exerted to Stop cri.rss Of Cunning No Lese Than Crimes or vioience-Will be No Deviation From Lines Marked Down.

ueHt hOOseNelt dellNeTeu the prlHclple address in this city Thursday at the unveiling of the statue to Gen. Law ton, a victorian of the civil war, who died in the service of his country in the Philippines The address had been looked forward to for weeks as being the first authoritative expres- sion of the presidents views regard ing the relationship of the govern men to the railroads of the country.
 After delivering an eulogy on Gen. Lawton and the veterans of the Civil war Mir. Roosevelt said among other things:
 Great social and industrial prob lems confront us, and their solution demands on our part unfaltering cour- age, and yet wise, good-natured self shall neither be daunted by diff culties nor fooled by those who would seek to persuade us that the diffi- culties are insuperable; while on the other hand we are not misled into showing either rashness or vindictive- ness.
 One great problem that we have before us is to preserve the rights of property; and these can only be preserved if we remember that they are in less jeopardy from the socialist and the anarchist than from the pre- datory man of wealth. 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 deliber- ately elected to pursue, the policy of asserting the right of the nation, so far as it has the power, to super vise and control the business use of wealth, especially in it's corporate form. To-day I wish to say word to you about the first and most im- portant feature of this task, the control of the common carriers doing an interstate business; control ab- solutely vested in the nation. There must be vested in the Federal Gov ernment full power of supervision and control over the railways doing interstate business; a power in many respects analogous to and as com plete as that the Government exer- rises over the national banks. l. must possess the power to exercise supervision over the future issuance of stocks and bonds, either through national incorporation (which should prefer) or in some similar fashion
 The movement to regulate railways by law has come to stay. The people of this country have made up their minds and wisely made up their minds--to exercise a closer control over all kinds of public service cor porations. including railways. Every honestly managed railway will gain and not lose by the policy. The men more anxious to manipulate stocks than to make the management of their roads efficient and honest are the only ones who have cause to op- pose it.
 We who believe in steady and healthy progress stand unalterably for the new era of the widest pub lic1ty, and of fair dealing on the part of railroads with stockholders, pas sengers, and shippers. We ask the consent of no man in carrying out this policy; but we gladly welcome the aid of every man in perfecting the law in it's details, and in secur- ing it's enactment and the faithful observance of it's wise provisions.
 Whenever evil doers can be, they shall be, brought to justice; and no criminal, high or low, whom We can reach will receive immunity. Ample provision should be made by congress to enable the Interstate Commerce commission, by the employment of sufficient force of experts, to under take the physical valuation of each and any road in the country, when- ever and so soon as in the opinion of the Commission such valuation of any road would be of value to the Commission in it's work.
 One of the most important features of the Hepburn act is its having
 
 trol over the accounts of railways. We hope as one of the chief means for betterment of conditions to secure as complete publicity in the affairs of railroads as now obtains with re- gard to national banks No state, of course, can do for the railways what the national government has already done for the banks. and that govern ment should do something analo- gous for the railways. National bank stocks are bought and sold largely on the certificate of character which the government, as a result of it's exam nations and supervision, gives to them. Most certainly there will be no relaxation by the government au- thorities in the effort to get at any great railroad wrecker-any man who by clever swindling devices robs investors, expresses wage workers, and does injustice to the general public. In the natural indignation the people feel over the dishonesty, 1t is all-essential that they should not lose their heads and get drawn into an indiscriminate raid upon all cor. porations, all people of wealth, wheth- CT they do we'll or ill Out of any such wild movement good will not come, can not come, and never has come There mnSt he inst ona raas