Rocky Ford enterprise., 1907-06-07
FULL CONTROL
rHE oovERNMENr's eolicv
TOWARD RAILROADS CLEARLY
DEFINED.
PRESIDENT At lDIANAPoLIs
A Memorial Day Speech eristiins
With Aphorisms and Patri-
otie esnIimenta.

Indianapolis. May :o.-Presidsnt
Roosevelt today made the principal
address at the unyeiiing OF a monu,
msnt TO General Henry ". I.aw,on.
The speeca Was devoted to a discus
sion OF railway problems and ineidsn.
tally paid warm tribute To Oliver
Marion. the war governor OF Indiana.
lie said:
One great problem that NE have
before us is To preserve the rights Of
property; and ,hes. can only be
preserved IL we remember that
they are In less Jeopardy iron, the
Socialist and the Anarchist than from
the predatory man Of wealth.
1T has become eyident that 10 re-
fuse TO invoke the power of the nation
to restrain the wEonss committed by
the man OF great wealth who does evil
In not only to neglect the interests Of
III" public. but Ia To neglect IN. inter.
-hts Of th. man of means who acts
konorabiy by his fellows.
-The power OF the nation must be
easstsd to stop crimes Of cunning no
less than crimes Of violence.
There can b. no hal, In the course
We have deliberately elected to pur.
sue. the policy Of asserting the rish,
OF the nation so far ah II has the power.
TO supervise and controi III. business
usc of wealth. especially In Its cor.
poraic form.
To-day wish TO say n word to you
about the nrst and mos; Importan; Tea.
tnrc OF this task. the control of the
common carriers doing nm Interstate
business: n control absolutely vested
In the nation. Will" In no far as III.
common carriers also transport the
malls II II In my opinion probable that
whether their business IL or II not In.
tcrstate II Ii 10 the same extent sub.
ject TO federal control. under that
clause of the constitution granting To
the national government power to er.
iablih post roads and therefore by nee.
cssnry Implication power To take all
action necessary In order to keep
them nj the highcs, point Of efficiency.
Every federal law dealing with cor.
porations or with railroads that has
been put upon the statute books during
tho last six years has been step In
advance In the right direction. All nc
iion taken by the administration un.
der these and the prccxiEtinE laws
undertaken during that period has
been n suit not merely warranted. hut
required. by tho facts: suit In the
interest Of the pcopi" as whole. and.
In the long run. particularly In tho In.
tcrcst OF stockholders as well as In the
interest OF business men OF property
generally. There can be no swcrving
from the course that has thus been
mapped out In the Legislation actually
enncted and in the messages In which
I have asked for further legislation.
"Ws best serve the interests Of the
honest railway men when we announce
that We will follow out precisely this
course.
'lt Is the course Of real. OF ultimate.
colservatism.
"Thcre will be no halt In the for
ward movement toward a full develop.
ment OF this policy: and those who
wish us to take step backward or TO
stand still. n their wishes were real
lied. would find that they had invited
mn outbreak Of the very radicalism
they fcnr. There must be progressive
legislative and administrative action
for the correction OF the evils which
every sincere man must admit to have
existed In railroad management In the
past.
, "Such additional legislation. as that
for which I have asked In the past.
end especially that for which I asked
In my message Mt the opening of the
last session OF Congress. is not
merely in the interest Of the public
but most emphatically in the interest
OF every honest railway manager and
of all investors or would-be investors
in railway securities. There must be
vested in the federal government full
power OF supervision and control over
the railways doing Interstate business:
a power in many respects analogous to
and as complete as that the
government exercises over the
national banks. 1t must pos
sess the power to exercise su.
pervlsion over the future issuance OF
stocks and bonds, either through a ma.
tional Incorporation (Which should
prefer or in some similar fashion,
such supervision to include the frank
publicity Of everything which woald-be
investors and the public at large have
a right to know.
"The federal government will thus
be able to prevent all overcapitaliza-
ton in the future; to prevent any man
hereafter from plundering others by
loading railroad properties with oblf-
cations and pocketing the money in
stead of spending 1t in improvements
and in legitimate corporate purposes;
and any man acting in such fashion
should be held to criminal accounta-
bility. It should be declared contrary
to public policy henceforth to allow
railroads to devote their capital to any
thing but the transportation business,
certainly not to hazards Of speculation.
For the very reason that we desire to
favor the honest railroad manager. we
should seek to discourage the activities
of the man whose only concern with
railroads is to manipulate their stocks.
The business of railroad organization
and management should be kept en-
tirely distinct from investment or