The Breckenridge news. (Cloverport, Ky.) 1876-1955, 1908-12-30
TRUST CONTROL PLAN
Secretary Straus Urges Federal
Publicity and More Supervision.
ADVOCATES NEW LABOR LAWS

of Workers.
Secretary Straus, in the sixth annual
report Of the department Of commerce
and labor, made public the other day,
pays particular attention to the prob
lem of the unemployed, government
supervision of corporations and the
relations between capital and labor
"The FIVE years experience Of the
bureau since its creation in dealing
with corporate affairs" says the re-
port, "has made 1t clear that the great
est advance toward corporate reform
must come through some general sys-
TEN Of publicity. The logical conclu-
sion from the work of the bureau thus
far points 80 the imperative need Of "A
federal constructive system for the
positive supervision of interstate cor
porations, to the primary end of Sc
curing efficient publicity in corporate
affairs. Such publicity must be of the
sort that is adapted to the practical re-
quirements Of American public opin-
ion. 1t cannot content itself with the
mere publication of masses of facts
and figures. The government must
summarize and digest them and pre-
sent them to the public in the shape
Of brief, reliable, clear conclusions
showing important corporate facts.
at is becoming more and more OBJ
vious that the work Of the government
in regulating corporations should not
be directed at the mere existence Of
combination itself, but should deal
with the way in which the cOmbina-
ton powers are used, so as to prevent,
as far as possible, the misuse Of these
great Industrial forces. Only such com
binations as are formed for wrongful
purposes or such combinations as use
their powers for evil should be brought
under the condemnation of the law"
In suggesting a definite plan for a
system Of government control over
corporations Secretary Straus says:
"Such a system should have the fol-
lowing basic features:
at should be carried on by the fed
eral government as the only jurisdic-
tion competent to handle a subject
matter so entirely national in it's scope
and nature.
at should require a system of reg.
ular reports from all large interstate
corporations, to be made to an admin
istrative office, and should provide that
that office shall have access to the rec
ords of those corporations.
"It should further provide that that
Office shall publish the important facts
as to corporate operations, so far as
they are Of public interest. safeguard
ing at the same time from unnecessary
publication all proper business secrets.
$50 far as possible. the system
should be made voluntary rather than
compulsory.
ain exchange for giving this publici-
ty corporations should be allowed to
register under such a law so as to OBJ
tain a federal standing and the public
benefit Of their position as concerns
not afraid OF scrutiny.
FINALLY such a system should rec
ognize the fact that there cannot be
both prohibition and regulation of
combination at the same time and that
II the government thus elects to reg
ulate combination 1t must at least per
NIT certain reasonable degree there
Of and recognize In law what has al
ready become an accomplished fact"
In reference to employers liability
and Industrial insurance Secretary
Straus says:
zone OF the great needs in Industrial
relations In the United States is a rad
zeal change in the law respecting EN-
ployers' liability. Under our practice
no compensation can be collected for
injury or death unless such injury or
death is due directly to some negli
gence on the part Of the employer or
one OF his representatives or employ
ees. In probably the majority Of cases
no one is properly to be blamed for an
Industrial accident. Modern industry
is becoming increasingly more danger
GUS, and a certain amount Of death
and injury inevitably results from
many of its processes.
1--WE should recognize that these ac-
cidents are and to a certain great ex-
tent must always be a part Of the
regular cost Of carrying on certain
trades; that they are as much a part
of the business economically as the
breakage and wear and tear of ma
chinery; that the expense Of them
should be borne by that business and
distributed upon the public and con
sumers like any other manufacturing
cost.
Justice demands that this burden of
industry should not be thrown upon
those members of society least able to
bear it-upon the victims themselves
and their families-as is now the case.
''The best practice in other countries
fixes a definite compensation for death
or for injury, based usually upon the
earning capacity of the person injured
or killed. This enables the employers
to calculate with some degree of GER
tainty the additional item necessary to
be included In the cost OF production.