The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1908-07-30

is sure to be essential to our material
progress.
From what has been said. the proper
conclusions would seem to be that in
attempting to determine whether the
entire schedule of rates Of railway Is
excessive. the physical valuation of the
road is a relevant and important but
not necessarily a controlling factor.
am confident that the fixing Of
rates on the principles suggested above
would not materially impair the pres
ent market values Of railroad securi-
ties In most cases, for | believe that
the normal increase In the value of
railroad properties, especially In their
terminals. will more than make up for
the possible overcapitalization in ear
lier years. In some cases. doubtless
1t will be found that overcapitalizatiOn
Is made an excuse for excessive rates.
and then they should be reduced; but
the consensus of opinion seems to be
that the railroad rates generally in this
country are reasonably low.
nSTo onOuiO DC
Physical Valuation.
have discussed this, with some de-
gree Of detail, merely to point out that
the valuation by the Interstate Com
merce Commission of the tangible
property of u railroad is proper and
may from time to time be necessary in
settling certain issues which may come
before them, and that no evil or injus-
| tice can come from valuation In such
cases, II 1t be understood that the re
suit Is to be used for just purpose.
and the right to a fair profit under all
| the circumstances of the investment is
recognized.
National Control Of Interstate Com
meree Corporation.
Another suggestion in respect to sub
| ordinate and ancillary machinery nee
essary to carry out Republican policies
is that of the incorporation under Ma
tional law or the licensing by National
license or enforced registry of compa-
MES engaged In interstate trade. The
fact is that nearly all corporations do
| ing commercial business are engaged
in Interstate commerce, and If they all
| were required to take out a Federal
license or Federal charter the bur
den upon the interstate business Of the
country would become intoGerable.
| 1t Is necessary, therefore, to devise
some means for classifying and insur-
| i,,,r %
porations as have the power and temp
| tation to effect restraints of interstate
trade and monopolies. Such corpora
tiOns constitute very small percent
age of all engaged in interstate busi-
ness.
Construction of Anti Trust Law.
| The possible operation of the anti
trust law under existing rulings of the
Supreme Court has given rise to sug-
gestiOns for Its necessary amendment
to prevent its application to cases
which 1t Is believed were never In the
contemplation Of the trainers of the
statute. Take two instances: Amer
| chant or manufacturer engaged In a
| legitimate business that covers certain
States, wishes to sell his business and
his good will, and 50 In the terms of
the sale Obligates himself to the pur-
chaser not to go into the same bust
ness in those States. Such a restraint
Of trade has always been enforced at
common la. Again, the employees of
an interstate railway combine and en-
ter upon a peaceable and lawful strike
| to secure better wages. At common
! law this was not restraint of trade
| or commerce or violation OF the
rights Of the company or of the public
| Neither case ought to be made a viola
tion of the antitrust law. My own
| impression Is that the Supreme Court
would hold that neither of these in
stances is within its inhibition, but, If
they are to be 80 regarded, general leg
islation amending the law Is necessary
| The proposal to compel every cor
poratiOn to sell its commodities at the
| same price the country over, allowing
for transportation, Is utterly imprac-
| ticable. If 1t can be shown that in or
der to drive out competition, a corpo
ration owning large part of the plant
| producing an article Is selling in one
| part Of the country, where 1t has com
| petitOrS. at low and Improbable
| price, and In another part Of the cOun-
| try, where it has none at an eXOrbi-
| tant price, this Is evidence that 1t is at
| tempting an unlawful monopoly, and
| justifies conviction under the antitrust
law; but the proposal to supervise the
business Of corporations In such way
as to fix the price of commodities and
| compel the sale at such price Is as alb
| surd and Socialistic plank as was
ever inserted In Democratic political
platform.
Advantage Of Combination Of Capital.
The combination Of capital in large
| plants to manufacture goods with the
greatest economy is just as necessary
| as the assembling Of the parts Of a
machine to the economical and more
| rapid manufacture of what in old
times was made by hand. The Gov
ernment should not interfere with one
| my more than the other.
What Is an Unlawful Trust7
| When, however, such combinations
are not based on any economic prin-
ciple, but are made merely for the pur-
pose of controlling the market, to
maintain or raise prices, restrict output
and drive out competitors. the public
derives no benefit and we have mo-
nop0y. 1t is important, therefore,
that such large aggregGtSsas Of cap.
ital and combination Bhoofd be con.
trolled so that the public may have
the advantage of reasonable prices
and that the avenues of enterprise