Arizona republican., 1907-12-04

pense of small shippers and of the | general public. Such combination, | instead of being forbidden by law. should be favored IL is a public evil to have on the statute books law incapable of full enforcement. because both judges and juries realize that it's full enforcement would destroy the business of the country; for the result is to make decent men violators of the law against their will. and to 1 put a premium on the behavior of the willful wrongdoers. Such a result Tn turn tends to throw the decent man
 and the willful wrongdoer into close association. and in the end 10 drag down the former 10 the latter's level; 1 for the man who becomes lawbreaker in one way unhappily tends to lose all respect for law and to be willing to , break it in many ways. No more scathing condemnation could he visited upon a law than is contained in the words of the Interstate Commerce Commission when. in commenting up- on the fact that the numerous joint traffic associations do technically viO- late the law. they say: The decision of the United States Supreme Court in the Trans Missouri case and the Joint Traffic Association case has pro- duced no practical effect upon the rail- l way operations of the country. Such associations. in fact. exist now as they did before these decisions, and with the same general effect. In justice to all parties we ought probably to add lthat- it is difficult to see how our in- terstate railways could be operated lwith cle regard to the interest of the fshipper and the railway without con- tcerted action of the kind afforded through these associations
 This means that the law as con- strlled by the Supreme Court is such that the business of the country can not be conducted without breaking it.
 The Light Will Still Blaze.
 "As I have elsewhere said: All this is substantially what have said over and over again. Surely it ought not
 10 be necessary to say that il in no shape or way represents any hostility t0 corporations as such. On the con- trary, it means a frank recognition of the fact that combinations of capital. like combinations of labor, are a nt-
 ural result of modern conditions and
 of our National development. As far as in my ability lies my endeavor is and
 willv be to prevent abuse of power by
 either and to favor both as tong as they do well. The aim of the National Government is quite as much to favor land protect honest corporations, hon. est business men of wealth, as to bring to justice those individuals and cor Iporations representing dishonest meth lods Most certainly there will be no rela xation bv the Government author ities in the effort to get at any great railroad wreckcr-any man who by
 clever swindling devices robs invest iors. expresses twage-workers. and does
 injustice to the general public. But any such move as this is in the inter-
 est of honest railway operators. of honest corporations. and of those who.
 when they invest their small savings
 in stocks and bonds. with to be assur- ed that these will represent money
 honestly expended for legitimate busi-
 ness purposes. To confer upon the
 National Government the power for which I ask would be a check upon overcapitalization and upon the clever NJ Otftll DN
 iZation. But it alone would mean an
 increase in the value. an increase in the safety of the stocks and bonds of
 w-abiding. honestly managed rail- roads. and would render it far easier to market their securities. I believe
 in proper publicity. There has been lcomplaint of some of the investigations recently carried on. but those who com- plain should put the blame where it belOngs-upon the misdeeds which are done in darkness and not upon the in tvestigations which brought them to light. The Administration is respon- sible for turning on the light. but 1t is not responsible for what the light showed. I ask for full power to be giv- en the Federal Government, because no single State can by legislation effec- tually cope with these powerful cor porations engaged in interstate com
 merce, and. while doing them full jus
 tice. exact from them in return full justice to others. The conditions of railroad activity. the conditions of our immense interstate commerce. are such as to make the Central Government alone competent to exercise full super
 vision and control.
 "'The grave abuses in individual cases of railroad management in the past represent wrongs not merely to the general public. but. above all, wrongs to fair dealing and honest cor
 porations and men of wealth. because
 they excite popular anger and dis trust which from the very nature of the case tends to include in the sweep of it's resentment good and bad alike
 From the standpoint of the public can not too earnestly say that as soon as the natural and proper resentment Iaroused by these abuses becomes indis- terminate and minimizing. it also be- comes not merely unwise and unfair,
 but calculated to defeat the very ends which those feeling it have in view. There has been plenty of dishonest lwork by corporations in the past
 There will not be the slightest let-up
 in the effort to hunt down and punish levery dishonest man. But the bulk of our business is honestly done. In the natural indignation the people feel over the dishonesty. it is all essential that
 they should not lost their heads and get drawn into an indiscriminate raid lupon all corporations. all people of wealth, whether they do well or ill Out of any such wild movement good | will not come, can not come, and never