Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1907-10-02

] ST lnulNuse NaIl OF our commerce Il
| interstate. 49, the transformation AL
I has escaped from the power ~ Tho
state and come under the power on
| fhe nation. Therefore there has been "a
| great practical change IN the exercise
| ~ the national power under the acts
| 81 Congress. over. Interstate commerce.
| while on the other hand there has been
| no noticeable change ln the exercise
of the national power TO regulate
| commerce with f0reieu nations ana
/ With thc Indian tribes The change
| ns regards Interstate commerce has
been. not in me Constitution, but In tho
/ business of tlo people to which 10 is TO
Doc applied. our economic ana social
| future depends en- very large part
/ upon how tho Interstate commerce
] power of The nation is interpreted.
POWER OVER coMMERcE.
believe that the nation has the
/ whole governmental power over intcr-
! state commerce and The widest dis
! erection boo dealing with that subject:
| OF course under the express limits pre-
/ aoriuod in the Constitution foI the eN-
I ercise OF 400 power such lor instance
as the condition that 'due process OF
/ law shall not be- denied. The nation
| has no direct power oyer purely intra-
| state commerce cvCr whore DO is con-
! Quoted by the same agencies which
.onduct interstate commerce. The
courts must determine What 81 u1ional
and what o. state commerce Tho same
reasoning whic1 sustained The power OF
! congress Co incorporate the United
| states bank tends CO. sustain tde pow
/ en- TO incorporate am Interstate railroad
| or any other corporation conducting an
| Interstate business.
DUAL FORM or GOVERNMENT.
There are dmcutes arising from our
dual form of government " they
prove tu ha iusuperahI. resort must b.
bad to The power of amendment Let as
urs, ivy TO meet them 6y am exercise OF
all the powers OF the national govern
ment which in the Marshall spirit OF
broad Interpretation can bo found in
the Constitution as o. is. They are OF
vast extent. The chief economic uues-
zion Of the day in this country is 20
provide sovereign FOR the great corr
lotations engaged lu interstate busi-
ness; that IT, for The railroads and the
interstate Industrial corporations. At
the moment our prime concern Is with
the railroads. when railroads were
first built they were purely local I'm
character Their boundaries were not
cocXtelsiNc even with the boundaries
or one state. They usually covered but
two or three counties. All This has now
changed. At present Eve great systems
cmbOdy nearly fOur-nfths OF the total
mileage OF the country An the most
important railroads are. no longer state
roads. but Instruments of Interstate
commerce Probably So per cent Of
their business Is Interstate business ID
Is the nation alone which can with
wisdom, justice, and effectiveness eXer-
else over these interstate railroads the
thorough and complete supervision
which should De exercised. one Of tho
chief and probably the chief 0f the
domestic causes Tor the adoption of the
Constitution was tho need tn confer
upon the nation exclusive control over
interstate commerce. But this grant
Of power Is worthless unless 30 is held
10 confer thOroughgolng and complete
control over practically the sole IN
strumentaliues Of interstate COM
merce-thc interstate railroads.
BITTERNESS or RAILROADS
The railroads themselves hove been
exceedingly shortsighted IN the rauCor-
Gus bitterness which they have shown
against the resumption by the nation Of
this long-uegleCted power Great capt.
talists. who pride themselves upon their
extreme conservatism. often believe
they are acting IN the interests Of prop
crtY when following a course 80 short
sighted as 10 BE- really an assault upon
property. They have shown extreme
unwisdom IN their violent opposition 10
assumption OF complete control over the
railroads by the federal government.
The American people viii not tolerate
the happy go-lucky system OF no con-
troll over the great Interstate railroads,
with the msolent and manifold abuses
which have so generally accompanied
f. The control must exist somewhere; /
and unless q IL by thoroughgoing and
radical law placed upon the statute
books OF the nation. IL Will be exercised I
IN ever-increasing measure by the sew
.eral states The same considerations
~ fh.. Com
stitution deem Il imperative that the
nation should have complete control or |
Interstate commerce apply with peCu- /
liar force 10 the control OF interstate |
railroads at the present day and the |
arnumeufs of Madison Uf Virginia, /
Piekncv OF south Carolina, and Hami- /
ton and JAY of New York, In their es- /
sence apply now as they applied l2O l
years ago.
THEORY or CONSTITUTION.
The national convention which franz /
ed the Constitution, and I'm which all /
most all the most eminent of the nrst /
generation Of American statesmen sat, /
embodied the theory Of tho instrument /
In a resolution. TO the eitect that the
national government should nave
mower IN cases where the separate I
states were incompetent to act with
full efficiency and where the harmony 4
of the United States would be inter-
rupted by the exercise of such indi-
vldual legislation The Interstate tali-
road situation Is exactly "a case in
point. There wnl of course. be local
matters affecting railroads which can
best be ucalt with bv local authority
but as national commercial agents the
big Interstate railroad ought 20 be com
pletely subject 20 national authority
only thus can we secure their CONF
plete subsection Co., and control by. a
single soVereign.represcntln The whole
people. aud capable both Of protecting
the public and OF seeing that the rail-
~. m. nnlIhar. InnLnl nor nnnurl IN