The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1907-12-05
CONGRESS HEARS
FROM PRESIDENT
MESSAGE DISCUSSES RECENT
FINANCIAL sTRiNeENcY AND
ITS CAUSES.
FINANCIAL REFORM IS NEEDED
ANTITRUST LAWS, INTERSTATE
COMMERCE AND TARIFF DIS
cussED.
FINANCIAL REFORM IS NEEDED

The following is a synopsis of the pres
ident's messaga:
In opening his message the president
refers to the financial stringency as FOL
lows:
mo nation has greater resources tnan
ours. and / think it can be truthfully saln
that the citizens OF no nation possess
greater energy ana indus.riat aDhb ns,ness
conditions sounder han In ours at this
very moment; and 1t Is foolish, wren
much is instead the case si fSs Rs9piies ito ito sosnd
banks: for it is such boarding that Is
the immediate occasion OF money strlh-
gency. Moreover. as a rule. the business
Of our people is conducted with honesty
and probity, and this applies alike 10
farms and factories, to railroads anu
banks. to all our legitimate commercial
enterprises.
In any large body of men, however.
there are certain to be some IN are dis
honest, and IL the conditions are such
snss s1sse with meh im pr : ! their Re 'e example is a
very evil thing for the community. Where
these men are business men of great
raRacity and of temperament both un-
s~erupuious and reckless. and where the
conditions are such that they act with
out supervision or control and at first
without effective check from public opin-
Ion. they delude many innocent people
into making investments or embarking In
kinds Of business that are really unsound.
When the misdeeds of these successfully
dishonest men are discovered, suffering
comes not only upon them. but upon the
innocent men whom they have misled.
1t Is a painful awakening. whenever 1t
occurs: and, naturally, when IL does oc-
cur those who suffer are apt to forget
that the longer II was deferred the more
painful ii would be. In the effort to pun
ish the guilty II is both wise and proper
to eDdeavor so far as possible to minimize
the distress OF those who nave been mis-
led by the guilty. Yet it is not possible
to refrain because of such distress from
striving to put an end to the misdeeds
that are the TINA causes of the SUI
1erinR, and, as a means to this end,
where possible to punish those respon-
SlDIe Tor them. There may be honest diff
ferences of opinion as to many govern
mental policies; but surely there can be
no such differences as to the need of un-
successful dishonesty"
Interstate Commerce.
N small part of the trouble tina we
nave comes from carrying to an extreme
the national virtue Of self-reliance. of in
~dependenc In initiative and action. 1t is
wise TO conserve this virtue and to pro-
vide for It's fullest exercise, compatible
with seeing that liberty does not become
q ilperty TO wrong others. Unfortunately,
this Is the kind of liberty that the lack
OF all effective regulation Inevitably
breeds. The founders OF the Constitution
provioed that the national government
should have complete and sole control of
interstate commerce.
ohiy the nallonai government can in
t~horoughgoing fashion exercise the need
ed control: This does not mean that
ulere should be any extension of federal
authority. for such authority already ex-
ISIS under the Constitution in amplest
and most far-reaching form; but it does
mean that there should be an extension
OF FEDERAL activity. This is not advo-
Sating Capitalization 1t is merely look
standardization in business has already
some and cannot be avoided or undone.
ana that the public at large can only
protect itself from certain evil effects OF
this business Capitalization bv PROVIDING
better methods for the exercise of CON.
troll through the authority already CEN
the Constitution itself. There must he
no halt In the healthy constructive course
OF action which this nation has elected
70 pursue. and has steadily pursued, dur
the legislation of the congress and the
administration of the law BY the DEPART
ment OF Justice. The most vital need is
IN connection with the railroads. AS to
pc either a national Incorporation act or
law licensing railway companies to en-
gag IN Interstate commerce upon GER
tain conditions. The law should be so
framed as to give to the interstate com
merce commission power to pass upon
ene future issue of securities, while
a AM means should be provided to en-
judgment IT Is necessary. to make A
physical valuation Of any railroad.
LAS stated IN my message to the con-
given power to enter into agreements
subject to these agreements being mada
Pubic In minute detail and to the con-
sent OF the interstate commits
sion being first obtained. NTH the ma
uonal government assumes proper con-
troll or Interstate commerce.. In the eYar-
Stse OF the authority it already possesses,
70 get from the railroads full Justice
Inc railroads and all other great cor.
porations will do well to that
t,ns Gontroi must come; the only ques-
can most wisely exercise II. The courts
VIII determine the limits within which
me federal authority can exercise IT, and
each state for the railway Commission
OF that state: and the national Interstate
Gommerce commission will work in har-
mo nny with the several state commits
achieve the desired end"
The Antitrust Law,
The president points out the need for
additional legislation looking to the nroner
Gon.roi or business concerns engaged in
exercised for their own benefit and nrose
perity no less than for the protection ~
investors and of the general public. He
''The antitrust law should not be re-
pealed; but. n should be made both more
emclent ana more In armony with actual
conditions. It should be so amended "a
70 forbid only the kind Of combination
which does harm to the general nublic
such amendment to be accompanied by.
or to be an incident OF, a grant OF s,ner,
yisory power to the government over
these big concerns engaged in interstate
business This hould be MED
by provision for the compulsory publica-
Sicn of accounts and the subsection OF
books and papers to the inspection of the
government officials. A beginning has AL
ready been made for such supervision nv
the establishment of the bureau of cor
porations. W.
9TH antitrust law should not prohibit
combinations that do no Injustice TO the
public, still 1ess those the existence Of
which Is on the whole Of benefit 10 the
public. But even II this feature OF the
law were abolished, there would remain
as an equally Objectionable feature the
difficulty and delay now incident to its
enforcement. The government must now
submit to irksome and repeated DELAY he
fore obtaining a final decision OF tfe
courts upon proceedings Instituted. and
even a favorable decree may mean an
empty victory. Moreover, to attempt TO
control these corporations by lawsuits
means to impose upon both the depart-
ment of justice and the courts an Inn
possible burden: II Is not feasible 10
1arr.. ON mora thar q lfxnffaI ,.-l -