The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1908-02-04
which they agree should be subject "a

which they agree should be subject ia
disapproval By the commission.
urge this last provision with the same
ea~rnestness that 1 do the other, This
country provides dts railway facilities
by private capital. Those facilities
will not be adequate unless the capl.
tai employed 10 assured OF just treat.
ment and an adequate return. - ax.
ing the charges Of our railrpads. ] be.
lieve that, considering the interest Of
the public alone, It is better TO allow
too liberal rather than too scanty
earnings, for, otherwise, there 10 grave
danger that our. railway development
may not keep pace with tho demand
for transportation. But the fundamen.
tai idea that these railways are public
highways must be recognized, and
they must be open to the whole public
on equal terms and upon reasonable
terms.
Sherman Antitrust Act.
JHl-gt.E& %NTH THE-G@70 fEEETTT .N.E
In reference to the Sherman anti.
trust act. ! repeat the reasons made
in my message at the opening Of the
sixtieh congress as well as In my
message to the previous congress.
The attempt ii this law to provide ID
sweeping terms against all combina.
lions o whatever character, If techni-
cally In restraint OF trade, as such re-
straint has been defined by the courts,
must necessarily either be futile or
mischievous and some times both.
The present law makes ON combina.
lions illegal. although they may be
useful to the country, while, on the
other hand, 1t affects some huge com
binations, which are both obnoxious
and illegal. II 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 com
bination is broken up and a small
measure Of reform thereby produced,
the real good aimed at cannot be OBJ
tanned, for such real good can come
only by a thorough and continuing
supervision over the acts Of the
combination In ali 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
Sherman act which prohibits all com
b%inations OF the character above de-
scribed, whether they be reasonable
or unreasonable; but this should be
done only Al part of a scheme to pro.
vide for this effective and thorough
going supervision by the national gov.
eminent Of all the operations OF big
interstate business concerns.
Power Possessed by Congress.
Judge Hough, Of New York, in his
recent decision in the Hartman case,
states that congress possesses the
power to limit the interstate opera
tions of corporations not complying
with federal regulations against the
recurrence of obnoxious practices, and
to license those, who afford the public
adequate security against methods
calculated to diminish solvency, and
therefore efficiency and economy In In
terstate transportation. The Judge
adds that in these matters, ""The pow
er Of congress is ample, though as yet
not fruitful in results,
It is very earnestly to be desired
that either along the lines the Judge
indicates, or in some other way equal.
ly ef~icacious, congress, may exercise
the power which It possesses. Super.
fcially, it may eem that the laws, OF
which I herein advocate, for ! have
repeatedly advocated them before, are
not connected, but in reality they are
connected. Each and every n OF
these laws, IL enacted, would repre-.
sent part of the campaign against pri.
vate interest to make the class OF
great property holders realize that
property has its duties no less than
its rights.
Duties Of Property Holders and En-
blowers,
When the courts guarantee to the
employer, as they SHOULD, the rights OF
the employer, and to property the
rights of property, they should no less
emphatically make it evident that
they will evact from pro erty and
from the employer the duties which
should necessarily accompany these
rights; and hitherto our laws have
failed at precisely this point of en-,
forcement Of the permanent duty by
the man of propertq toward the
man who works for him:i by the mar
of great wealth, especially If he uses
that wealth in corporate form, toward
the investor, the wage worker, and
the general public. The failure of the
man Of property to fulfill his obliga
tions would ultimately assure the
wrestling from him of the privileges
which he is entitled to enjoy IL hi