Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1908-12-16

rights of the public. no injurious mo-
snopoly, no oppression either OF rivals
Ecr consumers. II the big corpora tons
called trusts render obedience to law,
respect the rights of others and aH '
injustice and oppression. it's q matter
of perfect indifference whether IN the
conduct of their business they are IN
5fluence by the old principle of compe-
tition or the new and better principle
of combination
PUBLIC SERVICE CORPORATIONS.
a So. too. q wise and just solution Of
the problem of great fortunes VIII en-
able us to take a saner view of railway
and other public service corporations
Undoubtedly in the past their legitt-
mate business has been hampered by
blind and needless legislation. It Is
question whether rebates, discr1fnlna-
ticns, and other injurious practises.
could not have been eliminated by
4 the enforcement of the provisions of
common law. And in trying to remedy
these evils by new statutes We nave
undoubtedly created other evils and
greatly hampered business. Hallway
men are the best judges of the methods
of transacting railway business. The
public had no interest In interfering in
that province. All that the public de-
sires of the public service corporations
obligations imposed upon them by law
in return for the franchise which the
law has conferred upon them. And
these lust and reasonable demands
the public will undoubtedly enforce
Efficient service without discrimination
and at reasonable charge: these are
the conditions under which public fran
schises have been granted and these are
the conditions the recipients of those
franchises must fulfill e
The problem of the supervision and
regulation of public service corpora
tons has under the statesmanlike
leadership of Governor Hughes been
satisfactory solved in the State OF
New York. Two commissions have
been established to represent the
state. which are clothed with large
powers and have authority to en-
force against the corporations the
obligations which they assumed when
they received their franchises. These
commissions are at all times ready to
hear complaints and to represent the
rights and interests of the people. On
the other hand they must do justice
to the corporations; for any order
involving a confscation Of property
would be renewable in the courts,
and by the courts set aside. Perhaps
the greatest value of these commits
5sions lies In the fact that there Is a
body representing theScommunity. to
which the citizens can go, sure of a.
sympathetic hearing. In this way
commissions are able to adjust diff
culties before they become acute. The.
great gain is the opportunity for the
hearing of every complaint by dis
interested parties. And the vast ma
jority of cases are settled without
calling for the issue of an order by
the commission. Equally valuable are
these commissions from the point Of
view Of the corporations. for they
protect the corporations against hasty
ana 3ill-considered action by the legis-
lature and assure them at all times
of absolutely just treatment. If the
commissions assert the rights of the
people, they also recognize the rights
of the public service corporations.
But they never lose sight of the fact
that the corporation when it has re-
3ceived its franchise from the state
assumed obligations in the way of
efficient service, at reasonable cost.
which the state has right to enforce.
and which the state through these
commissions is now actually enforc-
. j Ht-9 II H.