The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-04-02

messages which the president marked
are as follows:
In his address at Raleigh the presi-
dent said:
Against Government Ownership.
q do not believe in government own
ership of anything which can with pro-
proiety be left in private hands, and in
particular l should most strenuously
object to government ownership of
railroads. But l believe with equal
rirmness that it is out of the question
for the government not to EXCISE SUI
pervisory and regulatory right over the
railroad; for it is vital to the we'll
being of the public that they should
be managed ia a spirit of fairness and
jusCica toward the public. Actual ex-
peTienCe has shown that it is not pos
sibIe to leave the railroads uncontrolled.
Such 4 system. or rather such a lack
of system, is fertile i'm abuses of every
| kind, and puts a premium upon I'M
scrUDulOus and ruthless cunning in
railroad management; for there are
some big shippers and some railroad
managers who are always willing to
take unfair advantage of their weaker
competitors. and they thereby force
other big shippers and big railroad men
who would like to do decently into sim
llar acts of wrong and injustice, under
penalty Of being left behind in the race
for success. Government supervision
Is needed quite as much in the interest
of the big shipper and of the railroad
manager who wants to do right as III
| The interest of the small shipper and
the consumer
Experience has shown that the pres
/ ent laws are defective and need amend
ment- The effort to prohibit all restraint
OF competition whether reasonable OF uil-
reasonable is unWiSe. What We neeu IS
to have some administrative body vita
| ample power to forbid combination that
is hUTtfu to the public and to prevent
favOritism to one individual at the eX-
pense of another In other words, We
want an administrative body with the
power to secure fair and just treatment
as among all shippers who use the rail-
roads-and all shippers have right to
use thsm.
More Power Needed.
Tn my judgment the most importan
thing to do is to give to this adminls-
trative body power to make its findings
effective, and this can he done only by
giving it power, when complaint Is made
of a given rate as being unjust or
reasonable. IL it finds the complaint
( proper then itself to fix a maximum rate
which 1T regards as Just and reasonable,
this rate TO go into effect practically at
once, that is, within a reasonable time,
and to stay in effect unless reversed by
the courts. ! earnestly hope that We
shall sec law giving this power passed
( by congress
IF there Is in the minds of the com
mission any suspicion that certain
/ railroad Is i'm any shape or way giving
rebates. or behaving improperly. ] wish
the commission To have power as mat
! ter Of right. not as a matter of favor. to
make full and exhaustive investigation
/ of the rates and expenditures OF the rail-
I 1.4n ID
be detected. This Is not revolutionary
] proposal on my part. for | only wish
! the same power given in reference to
/ railroads that Is now exercised as mat
! ter of course by the national bank exam
] inar5 as regards national banks My OBJ
! lact iii giving these additional powers TO
/ the administrative body representing the
gpEernment-thc Interstate commerce
/ commission, or whatever it may be--ls
primarily to secure real and not a
sham control to the government repre-
/ Sentdtives. The American people abhUr
a sham, and with this adherence / cor
/ daily sympathize. Nothing is more in
I furious from every standpoint than a
/ law which is merely sound and fury
merely pretense. and not capable of
working out tangible results ! hope TO
see all the power that I think it ought
I to have granted to the government; but
/ would far rather see only some of II
granted. but really gTanted-than TO see
d pretense of granting all in some shape
that really amounts TO nothing.
Not to Run Amuck.
1T must be understood. as a matter
Of course, that if this power is granted.
it is to be exercised with wisdom and
caution and self-restriction. The inter
state commerce commissioner or other
government official who fails to protect
. a railroad that was in the right against
any Clamor, no matter how violent, on
the part of the public would be guilt
of as gross q wrong as if he corruptly
rendered an improper service to the rail
road at the expense of the public. Fur
/ Their. l say square deal. l mean Il
square deal; exactly as much square
deal Tor the rich man as for the poor
man: but no more. Let each and on his
merits, receive what is due him. and he
judged according to his deserts.
In his address to railroad employees in
this city, Nov. II, 1905. the president said:
There has been comparatively little
complaint to me of the railroads being
as whole too high. The most serious
have been of improper discrimination in
railroad rates. For instance, in two re-
cent cases affecting great corporations
the complaints that have been made to
me have been that they were too low IS
regards certain big shippers; the COM
plant in both these cases is about the
differential, the difference of treatment
of two sets of users of the railways. the
difference in favor of one set OF ship
pers as against another set of shippers.
Justice for All.
IF you will look at my Raleigh speech
and my other recent utterances YOU will
see my principles clearly set forth
have said again and again that / would
not tolerate for one moment any injus-
tice to a railroad any more than I would
tolerate any injustice by a railroad
have said again and again that I would
remove public official who improperly
yielded to any public clamor against a
railroad. no matter how popular that
clamor might be, Just as quickly as
would remove a public official who rem
dered an improper service to the rail-
road at the expense of the public Bur
/ am convinced that there must be an IN
creased regulatory and supervisory DOW
er exercised by the government over the
railways Indeed, I would like il exer-
cised to a much greater extent than ]
have any idea of pressing at this mo-
ment. For instance / would greatly like