The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1908-07-31

ncan. convention.
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Mr.. Tsft's Speech.
Senator Warner and Gentlemen Of
the Committee. l am deeply sensible
of the honor which the Republican Ma.
tional Convention has conferred on me
in the nomination which you formally
tender. l accept it with full apprecia,
ton OF the responsibility it imposes.
Gentlemen, the strength Of the Re-
publican cause in the campaign at
hand is in the fact that we represent
the policies essential to the reform Of
known abuses, to the continuance Of
liberty and true prosperity, and that
we are determined, as our platform un-
equiyocally declares, to maintain them
and carry them on. For more than ten
years this country passed through an
epoch Of material development far be-
yond any that ever occurred in the
world before. In its course, certain
evils crept in. Some prominent and in
fiuential members of the community,
spurred BY financial success and in
their hurry for greater wealth, became
unmindful of the common rules Of
business honesty and fidelity and of
the limitations imposed by law upon
their action. This became known. The
revelations of the breaches Of trust,
the disclosures as to rebates and dis
ordinations by railways, the accumu-
hitting evidence Of the violation sof the
antitrust law by a number Of corpora
tions, the overissue OF stocks and bonds
on interstate railways for the unlawful
enrfching Of directors and for the pur4
pose sof' concentrating control Of raft
ways In one. management, all quick
ened the. conscience Of the people, and
brought on a moral awakening among
them that 5boded we'll for the future OF
tne coqhtrX.yaCgsg5e % 4ge ofpn,g' g9C
ess What Rooss.s @aysvs & Done.inlcE
The man who formulated The EXPIRES
eionsof the popular conscience and who
led the movement for practical reform
was Theodore ~ Roosevelt He laid
down the doctrine that the rich "vfoiator
OF tie law should be as amenable to
restraint and punishment as the Of
fender without wealth and without in
tnuence, and he proceeded by recon-
mending legislation and directing ex-
ecutive action to make that principle
good in actual performance.
President Roosevelt directed suits to
be brought and prosecutions to be in
stituted under the antitrust law, to en-
force its provisions against the NEST
powerful of the industrial corporations.
He pressed to passage the pure food
law and the meat inspection law in the
interest Of the health of the public,
clean business methods and great ulti-
mate beneht to the trades themselves
He recommended the passage Of law.
which the Republican convention has
since specifically approved, restricting
the future issue of stocks and bonds by
interstate railways to such as may be
authorized by Federal authority,
Chief Function Of Next Administration
The chief function Of the next Ad-
ministration, In my Judgment, Is dis
ment Of that which has been performed
by President Roosevelt. The chief
function Of the next Administration is
to complete and perfect the machinery
by which these standards may be main
tanned, by which the lawbreakers may
be promptly restrained and punished,
but which shall operate with sufficient
accuracy and dispatch to interfere with
legitimate business as little as possible.
Such machinery Is not now adequate.
Physical Valuation Of Railways.
Some of the suggestions of the Demo
cratic platform relate really to this
subordinate and ancillary machinery
to which Lave referred. Take for in
stance the so-called physical valuation
of railways" 1t is clear that the sum
Of all rates or receipts Of railway,
less proper expenses, should be limited
to a fair profit upon the REASONABLE
value Of it's property. and that If the
sum exceeds this measure, 1t ought to
be reduced. The difficulty In enforcing
the principle is In ascertaining what is
the reasonable value of the company 5
property, ard In fixing what Is fair
profit. 1t is clear that the physical
value of a railroad and its plant is an
element to be given weight In deter
mining its full value; but as President
Roosevelt in his Indianapolis speech
and the Supreme Court have in effect
pointed out, the value of the railroad
rs going concern, including its good
will, due to efficiency Of service and
many other circumstances. may be
much greater than the value Of its tan
gible property, and it is the former that
measures the investment on which a
fair profit must be allowed. Then, too,
the question what is fair profit is one
Involving not only the rate Of interest
usually earned on normally safe invest.
ments, but also sufficient allowance
Ito make up for the risk Of loss both
OF capital and interest in the original
outlay. These considerations will have