Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1906-1908, 1908-02-07
PUBLIC OPINION
BUSINESS CURE
HERBERT KNOX SMITH POINTS OUT
REMEDY FOR CORPORATION
EVILS.
HE WOULD EXTEND SYSTEM.
For Federal License Law or Power to
Investigate Books of All Inter
state Industrial Firms.
SEES NO CONFLICT WITH STATES.

WASHINGTON, d. c., Feb. 81
Public opinion has been prompt and
efficient in the correction of commercial
evils when those evils are stated spe
ciically. This is one of the conclusions
reached by Herbert Knox Smith, com
missioner of corporations, and expressed
III the annual report of the operations of
the bureau OF corporations, made public
today. Naturally, under present cOndi-
tons, the real power of public opinion
reaches only such cases as may be 'spe-
cihcally stated"
Thus" says Commissioner SNith.
the experience of the bureau seems to
point logically to the need for an extern
sion of such results by the creation of a
general administrative system of super
VISION OF interstate corporations which
shall give, i'll substantially the same
form as is furnished now for 4 few cor
pOratlOnS, the essential facts relating to
all the great interstate corporations
Whether the system take the form of a
federal license plan or a simple require
ment that interstate corporations shall
make reports and submit their books to
federal bureau is of little consequence
so long as the information necessary for
publicity is obtained. The thing that is
important is to arrive at a system.
Time Rife for System.
1t is believed that the time is ripe
for such system. The bureau has had
increasingly the volunteer cooperation
and assistance of most of the large cor
pOratlonS involved in the subject matter
OF the bureaus Investigations This as
sistance given by the leaders Of industry
has been very encouraging, especially III
its indications of the attitude of many
of the ablest men of the country and
the attitude, of the public at large to-
ward the tunda mont al ohIpptS for which
this bureau was created.
There is no need that such federal
supervision should derogate from the
proper powers of the states. The bust
nesSes of today are contracted under con
dltlonS which, from a commercial stand
point, are purely national, with no refer
ence to state lines, but the legal status
of these businesses is still delimited al
most wholly by state statutes a dis
crepancy which has been the cause of
many existing evils. Corporate COM
merce as carried on by those great com
panies whose operations substantially
constitute the whole problem before us
is national, and has been deliberately
made national; the control over them
should. to some extent at least be also
NATIONAL
Corporate combination, as such APP
pears to be not only an economic neces-
sity, but also largely an accomplished
trial power, but rather its misuse, that
is the real problem. The government
should direct its attention toward pre-
venting unfair methods, and toward
Keeping open the opportunities for com
petition in industry
Investigations Still On.
Commissioner Smith says he is contin-
uing the Investigations already begun
into the industries of petroleum, tobacco
and steel. Under resolutions adopted by
the last Congress, the bureau also is
making Investigations into the operations
of the international Harvester company;
into the cause of the high price of lum-
Der with Il view to developing any com
bination that may exist; into the causes
of fluctuations and differences in the
price of cotton. and into patents granted
to officers and employees of the United
States. An inquiry also is being con-
Quoted into water transportation, both
cOastwise and internal