The morning journal-courier., 1908-04-28

of which would be frauGht with disaS- ter to our free institutions, state and national We are trying to avoid alike the evils which would flow from gov ernment ownership of the public utili- ties by which interstate commerce is chiefly carried on, and the evils which flow from the riot and chaos of unre- stricted lndlviduallsm. There Is grave danger to our free institutions in the corruptlng influence exercised by great wealth suddenly concentrated in the hands of the few. We should in sane manner try to remedy this danger, in spite of the sullen opposition of these few very powerful men, and with the full purpose to protect them in all their rights at the very time that we require them to deal rightrully with other,
 Astonishing Revolution In Business
 Methods,
 When with steam and electricity modern business conditions went through the astounding revolution which In this country began over half century ago, fhere was al first much hesitation as to what particular gov, ernmental agency should be used to grapple with the new conditions At almost the same time, about twenty years since. the effort was made 10 con
 trol combinations by regulating them through the interstate commerce com mission, and to abolish them by means of the antitrust act; the two remedies therefore being in part mutually ln
 compatible The interstate commerce law has produced admirable results { especially sine. it ~as strengthened hy ,ne Hapburn lsw TWO wears ago. The antuus, lay" thousn it worked some good, because anything is better than anarchy and complete absence of reg ulation, nevertheless has proved in many respects not merely inadequate but mischlevous. Twenty years ago the 1 misuse of corporate power had pro- ! duced almost every conceivable form of abuse, and had worked the gravest In- I jury to business morality and the pub ] He conscience. For long time federal regulation of interstate commerce had been purely negative, tho national ju
 dietary merely acting in isolated cases to restrain the state from exercising q power which it was clearly unconsti- tutional as well as unwise for them to exercise, but which nevertheless the national government itself failed to exercise. Thus the corporations monop- olizing commerce made the law for l themselves, state power and common law being inadequate 10 accomplish any effective regulation, and the na- tional power not yet having been put
 forth The result was mischievous in
 the extreme, and only shortsehted and
 utter failure to appreciate the gross ness of the evils 10 which the lack of
 regulation gave rise, can excuse the
 to abolish the antitrust law outright, or to amend 1t by simply condemnIng "un- reasonable combinations.
 Favors National Incorporation Law.
 Power should unquestionably be lodged somewhere in the executive
 branch of the government to permit combinations which will further the public interest; but 1t must always be
 remembered that, as regards the great and wealthy combinations through which most of the interstate business of to-day is done, the burden of proof
 should be on them to show that they
 have right to exist No judicial tri-
 bunal has the knowledge or the exper-
 fence to determine In the first place
 whether a given combination is ad-
 visable or necessary in the interest of the public. Somebody, whether a
 commission, or a bureau under the
 Department of ommerce and Labor,
 should be given this power My per
 sonal belief is that ultimately we
 shall have to adopt a national incor-
 Forstion law, though l am well aware
 that this may ne impossible at present
 over the actions of the executive body
 in which the power is placed tho
 courts should possess merely power
 of review analogous to that obtaining in connection with the work of the
 interstate ComnlerCe commission at present, TO confer this power would not be q leap in the dark it would merely be to carry still further the theory of effective governmental con trol of corporations which was res. ponsihle for the creation of the inter. state commerce commission and ful
 the enlargement of it's powers, and fol the creation of the bureau of corpora. tons. The interstate commerce leg. islation has worked adnita bly,, Ii has benefited the public; it has bene. filed honestly managed and wisely . conducted railroads; anG in spite oi the fact that the business of the coun, try has enormously increased, the value of this federal legislation has been shown by the way in which 1t haS enabled the federal government tC correct the most pronounced of tho . great and varied abuses Which existed [ in the businc ss Y orld twenty years agt 3 while the many abuses that still re- main emphasize the need of further - and more thorOughgoing legislation . Similarly, the lureau of corporation ' has amply justified its creation, IT , other Words, it Is clear that the prin . cipies employed to remedy the grta l evils in the busineess world hay, 5 worked well, and they can now be em