Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1907-10-03

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 .tdue pro-
cess of law" shall not be denied. The
nation has no direct power over pure
ly intrastate commerce, even where it
is conducted by the same agencies
| which conduct Interstate commerce.
! The courts must determine what is
national and what is state commerce.
The same reasoning which sustain.
ed the power of congress to incor-
porate the United States Bank tends
to sustain the power to incorporate
an interstate railroad, or any other
corporation conducting an interstate
business. @.4 81. @Z.a,:EE.z=.
When railroads were first built
they were purely local in character.
| Their boundaries were not coexten-.
sive even with the boundaries of one
state. They usually covered but two
! OF three counties. All this has now
| changed. At present five great sys-
TENS embody nearly four-fift1ls of the
total mileage of the country. All the.
| most important railroads are no long
| er state roads, but instruments of in
cent of their business is interstate
| business. 1t is the nation alone
which can with wisdom, justice and
| effectiveness exercise over these in
terstate railroads the. thorough and
complete supervisor which should
be exercised. One of the chief, and
probably the chief, Of the domestic
causes for the adoption of the con-
stitution was the need to confer up
| on the nation exclusive control ov-
er interstate commerce. But this
grant of power is worthless unless it
| is held to confer thoroughgoing and
complete control over practically the
sole instrumentalities if hrdluetaoi
sole instrumentalities of Interstate
commerce-the Interstate railroads.
The national convention which
framed the constitution, and in which
almost all the most eminent of the
| first generation of American states
men sat, embodied the theory of the
instrument in a resolution to the eff
feet that the national government
should have power in cases where.
the separate states were incompetent
to act with full efficiency, and where
the harmony of the United States
would be interrupted by the exercise
Of such individual legislation. The.
| Interstate railroad situation is exact
| ly a case in point. There will, of
| course, be local matters affecting
railroads which can best be dealt with
by local authorities, but ais national
commercial agents the big interstate
railroad ought to be completely sub
ject to national authority. Only
thus can we secure their complete
subsection to, and control by, sim
gle sovereign, representing the whole
people, and capable both of protect
ing the public and of seeing that the
| railroads neither inflict nor endure
| injustice. .,z Ss.5
National Legislation.
Personally I firmly believe that
there should be national legislation
to control all industrial corporations
doing an interstate business, includ-
ing the control of the output OF their
securities, but as to these the neces-
sity for federal control is less ur-
gent and immediate than is the case
with the railroads. Many Of the alb
uses connected with these corpora
tions will probably tend to disappear
now that the government he public
lis gradually getting the upper
hand as regards putting a stop to
the rebartes and special privileges
which some Of these corporations
have enjoyed at the hands of the com-
] mon carriers. But ultimately 1t will
be found that the complete remedy
for these abuses lies in direct and
affirmative action by the national
/ government. That there is constitu-
tional power for the national regula-
tion of these corporations T have my
self no question. Two or three gem
/ erations ago there was just as much
hostility to national control of banks
4 as there Is now to national control
Iof railroads or Of Industrial corpora
tions doing an interstate business.
That hostility now seems to us ludic-
rous in its lack Of warrant; in like
i manner, gentlemen, our descendants
will regard with wonder the present
deposition to giving the national gov
eminent adequate power to control
those great corporations, which 1t
alone can fully, and yet wisely, safe.
4 " and Justly control Remember al
so that to regulate the formation Of
i these corporations offers one OF the