Bisbee daily review. [volume] (Bisbee, Ariz.) 1901-1971, 1907-12-04


pense OF small shippers and OF the
general public Such combination, In
stead of being forbidden by law,
should be favored. It is a
public evil TO have on the statute
books law incapable of full enforce
meDt, because Doth Judges anu Juries
realize that IS fiiii SiiffoT &C iiiisIfts
would destroy the business u the
country; for the result is TO make
decent men violators of the law
/ against their viii. and to put pre-
MUM on the behavior of the willful
wrongdoers. Such a result in turn
tends to throw the decent man and
Z the willful wrongdoer into close as
| soeiation, and in the end to drag
I down the former TO the latter's level;
4 for the man who becomes a lawbreak-
er 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 be Wis
/ tied upon q law than is contained IN
| the words of the Interstate Commerce
Commission when, in commenting
upon the fact that the numerous joint
| traffic associations do technically yio-
| late the law, they say: The decision
OF the United States Supreme Court
in the TRANSIT Missouri case and the
| Joint Traffic Association case has
produced no practical effect upon the
railway 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 prob
! ably to add that it is difficult to see
how our interstate railways could be
operated with due regard to the in
terest of the shipper and the rail-
way without concerted action of the
kind afforded through these associa-
tons
| This means that the law as con
strued by the Supreme Court is such
that the business Of the country can
not be conducted without breaking it. y
As have elsewhere said:
"All this is substantially what I
have said over and over again. Sure
ly it ought not to be necessary to say
that it in no shape or way represents
any hostility to corporations as such.
On the contrary, it means a frank rec
lognition of the, fact that combinations
iof capital, like combinations of labor,
are a natural result OF modern con-
ditions and of our National develop
ment AS far as in my ability lies
my endeavor is and will be to pre-
vent abuse of power by either and to
favor both so long as they do well.
The aim of the National Government
is quite as much to favor and protect
honest corporations, honest business
men of wealth, as TO bring to justice
those individuals and corporations
representing dishonest methods. Most
certainly there will be no relaxation
by the Government authorities in the
effort to get at any great railroad
wrecker-any man who by clever
swindling devices robs investors, op'
presses wageworkers, and does injus.
tice TO the general public. But any
such move as this is in the interest
of honest railway operators, oF hon
est corporations, and of those who,
when they invest their small savings
in stocks and bonds, wish to be as
sured that these will represent money
honestly expended for legitimate bus
mess purposes. To confer upon the
National Government the power for
which l ask would be a check upon
over-capitalization and upon the clev-
er gamblers who benefit by over-cap-
EitaIization. But it alone would mean
an increase in the value, an increase
in the safety of the stocks and bonds
Of law-abiding, honestly managed rail
lToads, and would render it far easier
to market their securities. / believe
lin proper publicity. There has been
complaint or some of the inyestiga-
Itions recently carried on, but those
twho complain should put the blame
where it belongs-upon the misdeeds
which are done in darkness and not
upon the Investigations which brought
them to light. The Administration is
Irresponsible for turning on the light
j but it is not responsible for what the
light showed. / ask for full power to
be given the Federal Government, be-
cause no single State can by legisla-
ltion effectually cope with these pow
eTful corporations engaged in inter-
state commerce, and, while doing
them full justice, exact from them in
/ return IuII Justice 70 UIugEs, me
conditions y railroad sd activity, the
conditions of our immense interstate
commerce, are such as to make the
Central Government alone competent
to exercise full supervision and con-
troll.
The grave abuses in individual
cases Of railroad management in the
past represent wrongs not merely 70
the general public, but, above all,
wrongs to fair-deaiing and honest cor
lporations 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 its resentment good and bad alike
From the standpoint of the public
can not too earnestly say that as
soon as the natural and and proper
resentment aroused by these abuses
becomes indiscriminate and unthink.
ing, IL also becomes not merely un'
wise and unfair, but calculated TO de-
feat the very ends which those feel
ing it have in view. There has been
plenty Of dishonest work by corpora.
| tons in the past There will not be
, the slightest let-up in the effort to
hunt down and punish every dishon.
est man. But the bulk of our bust
ness is honestly done. In the natural
indignation the people feel over the
dishonesty, it is all essential that they
: should not lose their heads and get
drawn into inSi-cSininate raid upon
all corporatio..s Ill people of wealth,
whether they DO well or Ill. Out Of
any such wild movement good will
not come, can not come, and never
has come. On the contrary, the surest
way to invite reaction is TO follow the
lead OF either demagogue or vision
larry in sweeping assault upon prop
erty values and upon public conf
dence, which would work incalculable