Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1908-01-31
EMPLOYERS LIABILITY.
continued from page one'o

ploS thor causes may In any given
hnu Justify an advance IN rates. ana
eis the advance should be permitted
u - unroved. But there may be, and
ana al are. cases where this Ia
dou ,rie. and our law should be so
Iu' that the government as the
tlarnosenthtive of the whole people, can
fspttcct the individual against unlaw-
ovactlon for the use of these pup
iu .iyhwpvs The Interstate commerce
Iu.,,,roisslon should be provided with
,,,eans to make n physical Valua-
she ~ any road as to which it deems
Won ,oination necessary. In some form
Wv yadaral government should eXer-
tne snpervlson over the financial OPP
cry of our Interstate railroads. In
other way can justice be done be-
10 -asn the private owners of those
tvM.narties and the public which pay
thelr charges
Inflated CAPITALIZATION.
uben once an inflated capitalization
,os cone upon the market and has
h haS fixed In value. it's existence
..nst be recognized AS Il practical
i I.,s IL is then often absolutely nee
l sarv 10 take account of the thou
ssnds of innocent stockholders who
have purchased their stocks in good
sanh. The usual result of such infia-
Alan is therefore to impose upon the
hllc an unnecessary but everlasting
~ while the innocent purchasers of
,be stock are also harmed and only
ter speculators are benefited. Such
,,,rnngs when once accomplished can
With difficulty be undone; but they
can be prevented with safety and with
3nstlce When combinations of inter-
state railways must obtain government
sanction when II Is no longer posi-
H. for an Interstate railway to issue
Stock or bonds, save In the manner ap-
,royed by the federal governme t;
when that government makes sure that
Me- proceeds of every stock and bon
issue 90 into the Improvement of the
nrnperty and not the enrichment of
some Individual or syndicate; when,
whenever it becomes material for guild
ence In the regulative action OF the
government, the physical value of one
of these properties is determined and
made known--there will be eliminated
from railrnld securities that element of
uncertainty which lends to them their
speculative quality and which has con-
tributed much to the financial stress of
the recent past.
| think that the federal government |
must also assume certain measure of |
control over the physical operation of |
railways IN the handling of Interstate |
traffic. The commission now has au-
thority to establish through routes and |
tolnt rates. In order to make this |
provision effective and in order to pro-
mote in times of necessity the proper
movement of traffic, / think 1t must |
also have authority to determine the |
conditions upon which cars shall he |
interchanged between different inter- !
state railways. 1t is also probable |
that the commission should have au- |
thority, In particular instances, to de- |
termne the schedule upon which per- |
ishable commodities shall be moved.
TRAFFIC ASSOCIATIONS.
In this connection ] desire to re- |
peat my recommendation that rail-
ways be permitted to form traffic as
sociations for the purpose of confer
ring about ana agreeing upon rates, |
regulations and practices affecting in |
tcrstate business in which the members
of the association are mutually inter-
ested. This does not mean that they
should be given the right to pool their
earnings or their traffic. The law re-
quires that rates shall be so adjusted |
as not to discriminate between indi-
viduals, localities, or different species
of traffic Ordinarily, rates by nj!
linvs must be the same. As
applied to practical conditions, the
railway operations of this country |
cannot be conducted according 70 law
without what is equivalent to confer
ence and agre ament. The articles un-
der which such associations operate |
should be approved by the commits
sion; all their operations should be
open to public inspection; and the rates
regulations and practises upon
which they agree should be subject
to disapproval by the commission.
| urge this last provision with the
same earnestness that | do the others.
This country provides its railway ia
cili'es bv private capital. Those Ia
cilities will not be adequate unless the
capital employed Is assured OF JUST
| believe that, consider
ing the interests of the public alone,
1t is better to allow TOO npsrai I7tsnei
than too scanty earnings, FOR other-
wise. there is grave danger that our
railway development may not Keep
pace with the demand for transporta-
lion But the fundamental idea that
these railways are public highways
must be recognized, and they must De
open to the whole public upon equai
terms and upon reasonable terms
SHERMAN ANTITRUST LAW.
In refernce to the Sherman antitrust
law, / repeat the recommendations In
my message at the opening of the pres
eut Congress, as well as In my mes
sage to the previous Congress. The
attempt in this law ~ provide in
sweeping terms against all combina-
tons Of whatever character, il teehnio
ally IN restraint of trade as each re-
s,r8lnt has been defined by the courts,
necessarily must either be futile or
mlschicvous, and sometimes both. Tho
present law makes some combinations |
Illegal although they may be useful
70 the country. on the other hand. az
TO some huge combinations which are
both obnoxious and Illegal If the ac-
ton undertaken against them under the
law by the government is successful,
good can come only by a thorough ana
minimum benefit to the public Even |
though the combination be broken up |
and small measure Of reform there
by produced, the real good aimed at |
can not be obtained, for such real |
god can come only by a thorough and |
continuing supervision over the acts |
OF the combination In all its parts, so