The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1908-04-28

puDllc interest," Out IL must Always De
remembered that as regards the great
and wealthy combinations through
which most of the interstate business
of today is done the burden of proof
should be on them to show that they
have a right to exist No judicial tri-
bunal has the knowledge or the expe-
rience to determine in the first place
whether a given combination is adviS-
able or necessary in the interest of the
public. Somebody, whether commits
sion or bureau under the department
of commerce and labor, should be Civ
en- this power. My personal belief is
that ultimately we shall have to adopt
national incorporation law, though l
am well aware that this may be impos-
sible at present. Over the actions OF
the executive body in which the power
is placed the courts should possess
merely a power of review analogous to
that obtaining in connection with the
work of the interstate commerce com
mission at present TO confer this
power would not be a leap in the dark.
1t would merely be to carry still fur
Their the theory of effective govern
mental control of corporations which
was responsible for the creation of the
interstate commerce commission and
for the enlargement of its powers and
porations.
The interstate commerce legislation
has worked admirably. 1t has benefit
ed the public. 1t has benefited hon
estly managed and wisely conducted
railroads, and in spite of the fact that
the business of the country has enor-
mously increased, the value of this
federal legislation has been shown by
the way in which it has enabled the
federal government to correct the
most pronounced of the great and
varied abuses which existed in the
business world twenty years ago,
while the many abuses that still re-
main emphasize the need of further
and more thorough going legislation.
Similarly the bureau of corporations
has amply justified it's creation. In
other words, it is clear that the prin-
ciples employed to remedy the great
evils in the business world have work
ed well, and they can now be EN-
ployed to correct the evils that fur
Their commercial growth has brought
more prominently to the surface The
powers and scope of the interstate
commerce commission and of any sim
liar body, such as the bureau of cor
porations, which has to deal with the
matter in hand, should be greatly en-
larged so as to meet the requirements
of the present day.
States and National Commerce.
| The decisions of the supreme court
in the Minnesota and North Carolina
cases illustrates how impossible is a
| dual control of national commerce.
The states cannot control it, All they
can do is to control interstate com.
merce, and this now forms but small
fraction of the commerce carried by
the railroads through each state. Ac-
tual experience has shown that the eff.
/ fort at state control is sure to be multi
! fed in one way or another sooner OIL
later. The nation alone can act with
effectiveness and wisdom. 1t should
have the control both of the business
and of the agent by which the business
is clone, for any attempt to separate
this control must result in grotesque
absurdity This means that we must
rely upon national legislation to pre-
vent the commercial abuses that now
exist and the others that ale sure to
arise unless some efficient government
al body has adequate power of control
over them. At present u failure Of