The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1908-02-04
PUBLICITY
CURES EVIL
COMMISSIONERS OF CORPORA.
TONS PolhTs OUT EFFECT
OF HIS BUREAU.
TRUSTS NOT BAD.
Mr. Smith Asserts Il 10 the Abuse, Not
the Use Of Power Which Needs to
BE Provided Against -Favors Ma
tional incorporation Law as . Rem.
edy for Evils.

Washington, FEB. 3.-Public opin.
ion has been prompt and efacient In
the correction 1f commercial evils
when those evilsare stated specifcal.
ly. This Is one OF the conclusions
reached by Herbert Knox Smith,
comm,issi sioner Of corporations. as e1.
pressed in the annual report Of the
bureau Of corporations. made public
today. Naturaliy under present con.
dd!itions. the real power Of pubic opin-
ion reaches cnly sucn cases as may
be specifically stated." 81
"Thus," says Commissioner Smith,
the experience the bureau seems
to point logically ko the need for an
extension ofsguch reforms by the
creation Of y genSral administrative
system Of supervision Of Interstate
corporations which shall give, in sub
stance, in the same form as is fur
nished now Tor :af few corporations.
the essential lacts relating to all the
great Interstate corporations.
Whether the system takes the
form Of federal license plan or q
simple requirement that interstate
corporations snail make reports and.
submit their books to q federal bu-
reau is Of little consequence. 60 long
as the information necessary for pub
licity is obtained. The thing that is
important is TO arrive at system
which will accomplish the result;
which will enable the government to
deal with such corporations IN the
main by administrative supervision,
rather than by judicial procedure;
and, most ofsall, asystem which viii
AFFORD y permanent practical legisla.
ture and operation between. the gov
ernment ohicials charged with this
work on the one hand and the cor
poration managers on the other hand.
.s3s y Time 10 Rips. -3 &
1T Is believed that he time is ripe
for, such q System. The voluntary Co
operation and assistance Of most Of
the large corpor attons involved in the
subject matter 81 the bureaus inves-
LEGATIONS. Of the Industrial world has
been very encouraging; especially In
It's Indication Of the attitude Of many
q the ablest men 81 tie country and
the attitude ,of; the public at large to-
ward the fundamental objects for
which this bureau was created:
4, There 70 no need that such federal
supervision should derogate from the
proper powers Of the states,
= The business Of today is transact
ed under conditions which. from q
criminal standpoint. are purely ma
tional and with no reference to state
lines. but the legal statns Of these
businesses is stin limited almost
wholly by state statutes. discrep-
ancy which has been the cause of
many existing evils. Cooperative
commerce, as carried on by those
whose operations substantially consti-
tute the whole problem before us, is
national, and has been deliberately
made national; the control over them
should, to some extent at least, be also
national.
TT Is with such information which
the bureau OF corporations Is able, un-
der the law, to collect and publish,
that the great corrective force Of pub
lie opinion can be intelligently and ef-
directed at those industrial
Continued on Fourth Pase.)