The Dakota chief. (Gann Valley, Buffalo County, S.D.) 18??-1913, 1908-02-06

or any road as to which IL deems this
valuation necessary.
.........."... OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES.
| In some form the federal government
should exercise supervision over the
| financial operations of our Interstate rail-.
roads. In no other way can justice BET
done between the private owners Of those
pbbopertes and the public wash pay their
/ has become ONE fixed d in nv value. M lis So existence
must be recognized. As a practical matt
ter 1t is then often absolutely necessary
TO take account of the thousands of in
nooent stockholders who have purchased
suit OF such imitation is therefore to inn
pose. upon the public an unnecessary but
EVERLASTING tax, while the innocent pur-
chasers or the stock are also harmed and
only few speculatofs are benefited. Such
wrongs when once accomplished can with
dihculty be undone: but they can be pre-
vented with safety and with Justice
When combinations of interstate railways
must obtain government sanction; when
1t Is no longer possible for an interstate
the manner approved by the federal gov
ernment; when that government makes
sure that the proceeds of every stock and
BOND issue SO into the Improvement OF
the property and not the enrichment OF
some individual or syndicate; when.
whenever, 1t becomes material for guild
ernment the physical value of one OF
these properties Is determined and made
known--there will be eliminated from
railroad securities that element of un-I
certainty which lends to them their spec-l
ul9tive quality and which has contributed
nuch to the financial stress of the recent
I think that the federal government
must also assume a certain measure of
control over the physical operation OF
traffic. The commission now has author
ity to establish through routes and joint
rates In order to make this provision
- 70 In, fts,,na
OF necessity the p:oper movement of traf-
nc, think 1t must also have authority to-
determine the conditions upon which cars
interstate railways. 1t Is also probable
that the commission should have author
ity, in particular instances, to determine
the schedule upon which perishable COM
modities shall be moved.
In reference to the Sherman ANTITRUST
law, i repeat the recommendations made
IN my message at the opening Of the
present congress, as well as in my mes
sage to the previous congress. The att
tempt in this law to provide in sweeping
terms against all combinations of what
ever character, If technically in restraint
of trade as such restraint has been de-
fined by the courts, must necessarily be-
either futile or mischievous, and some-
times both. The present law makes some
combinations illegal, although they may
De useful to the country. On the other
hand, as to some huge combinations which
are both noyious and Illegal, even If the
action undertaken against them under the
law by the government Is successful, the
result may be to work but a minimum
benefit to the public. Even though the
combination be broken up and small
measure of reform thereby produced, the
real good aimed at can not be obtained.
for such real good can come only by a
thorough ard continuing supervision over
the acts OF the combina ton I'm all it's
parts, so as to prevent stock watering,
improper forms of competition, and, in
short, wrong doing generally. The law
should correct that portion of the Sher-
man act which prohibits all combinations
Of the character above described. whether
they be reasonable or unreasonable: but
this should be done only as part of gem
and thorough going superviSion by the
national government of all the operations
of the big interstate business concerns.
Campaign Against Privileges.
Superficially it may seem that the laws,
the passage of which l herein again ad-
vocate--for / have repeatedly advocated
them before-are not connected. But in
reality they are connected. Each and
every one of these laws, il enacted, would
represent part OF the campaign against
privilege, part of the campaign to make
the. class of great property, holders
less than it's rights. When the courts
guarantee to the employer, as they should,
the rights of the employer, and to prop
erty the rights of property, they should
TO less emphatically make it evident that
they will exact from property and from
the employer the duties which should
hitherto our laws have failed in precisely
this point of enforcing the performances
of duty by the man of property toward
the man who works for him, by the man
of great wealth, especially If he uses that
wealth in corporate FORM toward the in
vestor, the wageworker and the general
public. The permanent failure of the man
of property to fulfill his obligations would
Ultimately assure the wrestling from him Of
the privileges which he is entitled to enjoy
only If he recognizes the obligations ac-
Sl.s,a
share the responsibility for this failure are
rendering but a poor service to the cause
which they believe they champion.
| do not know whether it is possible,
but il possible, it is certainly desirable,
that in connection with measures to re-
strain stock watering and oYercapitaliza-
ton there should be measures taken to
prevent at least the grosser forms of gam
bling in securities and commodities. such
as making large sales of what men do
not possess and ''cornering' the market
Legitimate purchases of commodities ana
of stocks and securities for investment
have no connection whatever with pur-
chases of stocks or other securities or
commodities on margin for speculativo
and gambling purposes. There is no moral
difference between gambling at cards or
i'm lotteries or on the race track and gam
bling in the stock market One method
IS just as per1icious to the body polite
as the other in kind, and in degree the
evil worked is far greater. But 1t is a
far more, difficult subject with which to
deal The great bulk of the business
transacted on the exchanges IS not only
legitimate, but is necessary to the work.
ing Of our modern industrial system, and,
extreme care would have to be TAKEN
not TO interfere with this business in doing
away with the bucket shop type of oper-l
alton. 1t would seem that the federalI
government could at least act by for
bidding the use of the mails telegraph
and telephone wires for mere gambling I'M
stocks and futures, just as IL does in,
lottery transactions.
r. letters Show Trust Methods.
L tnclose here&ith a statement issued by
the chief of the bureau of corporations
in answer to certain statements (Which
also .nciose) made by and on behalf of
the agents of the Standard Oil corporation
and a letter of the attorney general con-
tanning an answer to certain statements,
also incIosed. made by the president of
the Santa Fe Railway company. The
Standard Oh corporation and the
railway company have both been