The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1908-06-05
FROM THE
THE PRESIDENT URGES CENTRAL,
lZATiON.
MIR. BRYAN'S PAPER

As The COmmoner has commended
| President Roosevelt wherever he has
recommended democratic reform, 1t Is
| the more free to criticisc him when he
recommends things undemocratic. one
| OF the undCmuCratic things which he
has recommended is the surrender OF
! the right Of the state TO control com
/ merce within its borders He says
/ that state commerce forms but
/ small fraction Of the commerce carried
| by the railroads through each state,
| and that actual experience has shown
! that the effort at state control Is sur"
! to be nulliied In one way or another
sooner or later" lie then proceeds to
argue that the nation alone can act
with effectiveness and wisdom, II
should have control Of both. OF the
business and Of the agent by which
the business is done. for any attempt
To separate this control must result In
grotcsquc ahSurdity" Explaining this
proposition he says This means thai
We must rely upon national legislation
now exist and the others that ar" sure
10 arise unless some efficient govern.
ment body has adequate power OF con.
troll over them In another part OF
the message he says that he believes
that ultimately We shall have to adopt
a national incorporation law" but he
recognizes that this may be- impos
siblc AT present
We are thus brought face to face
with "A most serious proposition, name.
~, whether the dual character Of our
! government shall be preserved AS II Is
defined by the constitution, or oblit.
Grated as is proposed by the president.
What is the situation? Congress
now has power which It has not cN"I.
ciscd; II has all the power It needs.
For ten years q railroad lobby al Wash.
ingtOn prevented the adoption Of the
recommendations Of the Interstate
commerce commission. and while new
legislation was prevented, the rail
roads continued to grant rebates and
to nake determinations The work of
the lobby was open and notorious. II
ia lcss than three years since repre-.
sentativcs Of two Of the leading rail.
roads of tho east used the Hobbies Of
congress TO bribo members into the
support Of appropriations desired by
the railroads These representatives.
did not disguise the fact that they
kept n record of the votes cast by
members and rewarded with passes,
or punished them By Withholding
passes according to their votes. The
pass evil has at last been corrected,
but Il required tremendous convul.
sion and al the influence that the
president could exert through an
aroused public opinion,
II the railroad influence has been
so great when congress exercised con
troll over interstate commerce only,
what will be the influence when all
regulation Is ceutered at Washington
and the railroads enter politics for tn"
purpose OF controlling the senate, the
house. the interstate commerce com.
mission, the president and the courts?
Already there are indications that the
railroads are planning for the coming
campaign One railroad attorney an.
nounCcs that the railroad employees
must stand with the railroad managers
against any party which attempts to
antagoniZe railruads--and to- autugOn.
iZe the rOalrOads means to antaEuniZc
the views Of few railroad mapnatcs
,,sI. t1,. roll a.,
tens OF the country. Another organl.
cation has been recently formed which
announces that railroad batting
must stop-and railroad batting can
only mean the attempt OF the lcgisla
lures to regulate the railroads. The
railroad managers are sudiously cir
culating the idea that business has
been impaired and industry generally
paralyzed by criticism OF railroad man
agcment and by proposed remedies,
1t is impossible to cyaggeratc the cx
tent TO which the railroads will enter
, poitics N the presidents plan ia car.
ricd out and Washington is made the
9 arena In which the people must fight
. all their battles for railroad regulation
, At present the people Of a large mum
her of the states are enjoying a two
r cent passenger rate, this reform did
not come from Washington II came
/ from the state legislatures and Sccrc
. tary Taft has gone to the trouble OF
p telling an eastern audience that the
2 president is not responsible for the
. rate reductions, II was state lCgisla
\ ton that led the railroads to demand
r national incorporation and the rcmova
A of Legislation from state capitals tC
p Washington. Can this be in the inter
p est Of the people? II Is serious is
0 sue that the president presents anC
p one that the people must be prepared
TO meet, for while he has fought fol
reforms on some other subjects. he is
on this subject fighting hand in hant
; with the very men who attempted Il
;, prevent the passage Of the president
q rate bill. The conspiracy formed
among the leading Republicans oi iht
4.