, 1908-01-31
THE LARAMIE REPUBLICAN, DAILY EDITION FRIDAY JANUARY 81 1908

~cilities will not be adequate unless the
capital employed is assured of just
treatment and an adequate return. II
fixing the charges of our railroads,
believe that, considering the interests
of the public alone, it is better to al
low too liberal rather than too scanty
earnings, for, otherwise, there is grave
danger that our railway development
may not keep pace with the demand
for transportation. But the fundamen-
tai idea that these railways are public
highways must be recognized, and they
must be open to the whole public upon
equal terms and upon reasonable
terms.
Illegal But Useful.
trust law, l repeat the recommends
tons made in my message at the open
ing of the present congress, as well as
in my message to the previous con-
gress. The attempt in this law to pro-
vide in sweeping terms against all
combinations of whatever character, il
such restraint has been defined by the
courts, must necessarily be either fu-
tile Or mischievous, and sometimes
both. The present law makes some
combinations illegal, although they
may be useful to the country. On the
other hand, as to some huge combina-
lions which are both noxious and lille.
gal, ever if the action undertaken
against them under the law by the
government is successful, the result
may be to work but a minimum benefit
to the public.
Good Out of Evil.
Even though the combination be
broken up and a small of re,
form thereby produced, the real good
aimed at can not be obtained, for such
real good can come only by a thorough
and continuing supervision over the
acts of the combination in all its parts,
so as to prevent stock watering, i'm,
proper forms OF competition, and, in
short, wrongdoing generally. The law
should correct that portion of the Sher
man act which prohibits all combina,
lions of the character above describ
ed, whether they be reasonable or un.
reasonable; but this should be done
only as part of a general scheme tc
provide for this effective and thorough.
going supervision by the national gov.
eminent of all the operations of the
big interstate business concerns.
Ample Power of Congress.
Judge Hough of New York, in his re
cent decision in the Hartman case
states that the congress possesses the
power to limit the interstate opera.
tons of corporations not complying
with federal safeguards against the re
currence of obnoxious practices, and to
license those which afford the public
adequate security against methods cal
culated to diminish solvency, and
therefore efficiency II economy in in
terstate transportation. The judge
adds that in these matters 1.-THE power
of congress is ample, though as yet no,
fruitful in results" 1t is very ear
nestly to be desired that either along
the lines the judge indicates, or in
some other way equally efficacious, the
congress may exercise the power
which he holds it possesses.
Part of One Campaign.
Specifically it may seem that the
laws, the passage of which | herein
again advocate-for | have repeatedly
advocated them before-are not con
Eected. But in reality they are con,
Eected. Each and every one of these
laws, if enacted, would represent part
of the campaign against privilege, part
of the campaign to make the class OF
great property holders realize that
property has its duties no less than its
rights. When the courts guarantee to
the employer, as they should, the
right of the employer, and to property
the rights of property, they should nc
less emphatically make it evident that
they will exact from property and from
the employer the duties which should
necessarily accompany these rights
and hitherto our laws nave failed in
precisely this point of enforcing the
performance of duty by the man oil
property toward the man who works
for him, by the man of great wealth,
especially if he uses that wealth in
corporate form, toward the investor
the wageworker, and the general pub
lie.
Rendering But Poor Service.
The permanent failure of the man OF
property to fulfill his obligations woulj
ultimately assure the wrestling from
him of the privileges which he is en-
titled to enjoy only if he recognizes
the obligation accompanying them
Those who assume or share the re.
sponsibility for their failure are rem,
dering but a poor service to the cause
which they believe they champion.