The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1907-09-13
President Urges Capitalization

IiOotu MS oIuSuIV lOi ''ull uliLutlOu
at which he has limited in former
speeches. In his Provincetown,
Mass, address, he proposes the
national incorporation of railroads
and other corporations engaged III
interstate commerce. He says:
Most large corporations do q
business that is not confined to one
State. Experience has shown that
the effort to control these corpora
tons by mere State action can not
produce wholesome results. In
most cases such effort fails to cor.
rect the real abuses of which the
corporation is or may he guilty;
while III other cases the effort is
apt to cause either hardship to the
corporation itself. or else hardship
to neigbboring States which have
not tried to grapple with the prob
lem IN the same manner; and. of
course, we must be as scrupulOus
to safeguard the rights of the cor
poratons us to exact from them in
return full measure of justice to
the public.
| believe in a national incorpor.
alton law for corporations engaged
IN interstate business. | believe,
furthermore, that the need for
action is most pressing as regards
those corporations which, because
they are common carriers, exercise
a quasi public function; and which
can be completely controlled, in all
respects, by the Federal govern.
ment, by the exercise of the power
conferred under the interstate com
merce clause, aud, if necessary,
under the post road clause, of the
constitution.
During the last few years we have
taken marked strides in advance
along the road of proper regulation
of these railroad corporations, but
We must not stop III the work.
The National Government should
exercise over them a similar super
vision and control to that which it
exercises over national banks. We
can do this only by proceeding far
Their along the lines marked out by
the recent national legislation"
Here is the secret-it is ont at
last! The States are annoying the
corporations and the corporations
demand Federal protection from
State legislation. The President
thinks that action is most press
ing as regards those corporations
which, because they are common
carriers, exercise a quasi public
function" The States have been
enacting two cent fare laws and
laws reducing freight rates and the
railroad managers demand that
they shall be relieved from further
fear of such legislation. The
Presidents Hamiltonian ideas
make him an easy victim and he
yields to the entreaties of the rail-
roads.
If it were the public he sought to
protect he would recommend Fed
eral remedies which would not in
terfere with the State remedies
but it is the railroads. not the pub.
lie, that demand the removal of
authority to Washington.
The Democrats can be depended
upon to oppose with all their might
this movement toward centraliza.
ton. II any Democrat wavers his
constituents should look into his
business relations and see whether
he is under business obligations
to the railroads. A Hamiltonian
Republican, like the President,
may honestly believe that the far
Their the government is removed
from the people the better it will
be, but Jeffersonian Democrat
does not cherish any such delu-
sions. Even the Hamiltonian Re-
publican ought to hesitate to trust
Congress with any more power
while the United States Senator:
are elected by Legislatures.
1t is fortunate that the people
have had an object lesson so re-
Gently. The Federal law stopped
passes and rebates, but the rail.
roads make more money thru they
did before. The States on tht
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