Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-05-25
Significance of Public Utilities
Legislation.
WHAT NEW LAW WILL DO
Control Of the Corporations in New
York.
GOES FURTHER THAN RATE BILL
Most Advanced Step Ever Taken in
This Country in Direction of
State Socialism.
By WILLIAM r. CURTIS

State Socialism.
By WILLIAM e. CURTIS
Special Correspondence of The Star and the Chicago
Record Herald.
NEW YORK, May "a, 1907.
The passage Of the public utilities law,
which has attracted so much attention
while under discussion in the New York
legislature, does not make Governor
Hughes Of this state candidate for the
presidency any more than one swallow
makes summer. 1t Is true that Governor
Hughes is responsible for the law. He
wrote It and he forced it through an un-
willing legislature. It Is also true that 1t
is the most advanced legislation that has
yet been enacted In the direction of cor
poration control, and the fact that it has
been unanimously indorsed by the legis-
lature of the state in which nearly all the
great corporations Of the country have their
headquarters and the seat of the money
power" OF which we are all SO much
afraid, Is even more remarkable. No one
would be surprised to have such q bill
passed by Nebraska or Mississippi or Ore
gon. but it is not the sort Of legislation one
would naturally expect from the legisla-
ture of New York.
Governor Hughes is bold. brave, indie
pendent and forceful man. No other kind
OF a governor could have accomplished this
extraordinary feat. He Is also a corpora
ton lawyer. Ever since he has been in
practice his clients have been corporations,
which Indicates that a lawyer may learn
something on both sides of an important
question by such associations, and it ought
10 make people careful about condemning
lawyers because they accept retainers from
railways and other corporations. You never
knew corporation to hire a poor lawyer
If 1t had the money to pay for good one,
and the fact that an honest lawyer has ac-
cepted fees from such sources does not
necessarily make him the enemy of the
people.
Accepted by the Corporations.
The passage of the public utilities law
by an almost unanimous vote of both par
ties in the New York legislature indicates
very clearly that the corporations are ac-
ceptfng government control as inevitable,
The provisions of the bill were examined
with the greatest care and anxiety by the
attorneys Of the great corporations, who
mace several important suggestions that
were accepted by Gov. Hughes. They also
pointed out certain defects and impractical
bic provisions In the bill as he originally
drew it. Beyond that there was very little
criticism or opposition. There was no lobby
at Albany against the bin, which is almost
as remarkable as the passage of the bill
Itself. because. heretofore. every corpora.
LioH VI Importance IN the state mas Kept q
man on guard to look after Its interests, to
prevent and promote legislation. This time,
however. the lobbyists kept away, and, In
deed 1t has been hard winter for agents
in Albany. ,'-' -
The only inference to be drawn from these
facts is that the railway magnates and the
heads Of the boards Of directors of great
corporations have come to the point Of view
taken by the President in speech he made
at a Gridiron dinner last winter. That
speech was the subject of much misrepre-
sentation and sensational comment and he
was accused of insulting Mr.. Pterpont
Morgan and Mr.. H. H. Rogers of the Stand
ard OIL Company. although neither of those
gentlemen nor any of the other guests per-
ceived the insult until it was explained
to them afterward by people who were not
the railways of the country ought to be
glad that the rate bill had been passed, be-
cause 1t Is moderate and conservative legis-
lation, whereas, If it had been defeated, a
more radical measure would certainly
sooner or later have become a law That
view seems to have been accepted by the
corporations of ASew York in connection
with the bill just passed.
Blow to Municipal Ownership.
The public utilities law is also notable as
being the most advanced step that has ever
been taken in this country in the direction
OF state socialism, and it will doubtless
prove to be an effective obstacle against
municipal ownership. 1t has made govern
ment ownership useless in this state as a
political issue, because it goes so far as to
give state commission practical control of
every kind Of corporation that does public
business, such as railways. steamships
street cars, express companies, baggage
transfer companies, cab and carriage COM
panies, bridges, ferries, electric light and
power companies, gas companies, excepting
only telegraph and telephone companies, and
why they WERE left out cannot ascertain.
In the recent campaign for mayor Of New
York city municipal ownership was the
popular issue, and 1t received surprising
support, probably from voters who did not
comprehend what they were voting for, but
who were determined to express as forcibly
as possible their dissatisfaction with the
management Of the public utilities in their
came very near being adopted. The repre-
sentative Of municipal ownership came very
near being elected. A good many people
think he was elected and counted out. The
without considering the amount Of money
that would be necessary to acquire the pub
lie utilities complained Of. or the taxes
that would he necessary to cover the ex-
pense. The theory was attractive. The
protest was emphatic. and have no doubt
that the enactment Of this new law is the
direct result of that campaign and a con-
cession to public opinion as expressed by
1t must not be understood that the law
was voted for willingly by majority OF
the members of the legislature. II Gov.
Hughes had been weak man or less de-
termined in his policy the bill would have
been tucked into a pigeonhole fnstead-of
being placed on the statute books. for he
compelled the caucuses of both parties to
do Whit he dared to do, not because they
approved of 1t, but because they were
afraid to vote against his bold PROPOSE
ton.
Goes Farther Than the Rate Bill.
The public utilities law is quite similar
in many respects to the rate bill recently
passed by Congress, but goes very much
farther and confers upon a state commits
sion even greater authority over corpora
lions doing business within the state of
New York than was conferred by Congress
upon the interstate commerce commission.
1t divides the state of New York into two
districts and provides a commission of five
members for each district. The commits
sioners are given double the salaries paid
the federal officials intrusted with the same
jurisdiction. just as the state of New York
pays it's judges twice as much as the men,
hnr oe ho Uni cd rat