Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-04-28

u
i ton with the work of the interstate com
i merce commission at present. To confe
i this power would not be leap In the
/ dark 1t would merely be to carry still
i further, the theory of effective govern
] mental control of corporations which was
4 responsible for the creation of the inter-
i state commerce commission and for the
i enlargement of its powers. and for the
4 creation of the bureau of corporations.
4 The interstate commerce legislation has
I worked admirably. 1t has benefited the
/ public:.-it has benefited honestly man.
! aged and wisely conducted railroads; and
| in spite of the fact that the business OF
| the country has enormously increased
the value of this federal legislation has
| been shown by the way in which it has
enabled the federal government to cor
rect the most pronounced of the great
and Varied abuses which existed in the
business world twenty years ago-while
the many abuses that still remain en-
| phasize the need of further and more
4 thoroughgoing legislation. Similarly. the
burea u ;of corporations has amply justi-
fled its creation. In other words. it is
clear that the principles employed to
remedy ;thes great evils sin. the business
| world have worked we'll. and they can
now be employed to correct the evils
brought more prominently to the sur
face. The powers and scope Of the in
| terState commerce commission. and OF
any similar body. such as the bureau of
u
! matter in hand. should be greatly en-
| larged so as to meet the requirements of
| the present day.
States Cannot Control
The decisions of the Supreme Court in
the Minnesota and North Carolina cases
illustrate how impossible is a duaa con-
troll of national commerce. The states
cannot control it. All they can do is to
control intrastate commerce. and this
now forms but small fraction of the
commerce carried by the railroads through
each state. Actual experience has shown
| that the effort at state control Is sure to
be nullified in one way or another soon
| err or later. The nation alone can act
with effectiveness and wisdom: 1t should
have the control both of the business and
of the agent by which the business is
done. for any, attempt to separate this
| control must result in grotesque absurd
| ity. This means that we must rely upon
| national legislation to prevent the COM
mercial abuses that now exist and the
| others that are sure to arise unless some
| efficient governmental body has adequate
| power of control over them.
| At present the failure of the Congress
| to utilize and exercise the great powers
| conferred upon 1t as regards interstate
| commerce leaves this commerce to be
| regulated, not by the state nor yet by
the Congress. but. by the occasional and
| necessarily inadequate and one-sided &C
ton of the federal judiciary. However
upright and able court is. it cannot act
| constructively; it can only act negatively
or destructively, as an agency of govern
ment; and this means that the courts are
and must always be unable to deal eff
fectively with a problem like the pres
ent. which requires constructive action.
A court can decide what is faulty, but it
has no power to make better what it thus
finds to be faulty.
There should be an efficient executive
body created with power enough to cor
rect abuses and scope enough to work
out the complex problems that this great
country has developed. 1t is not suf
ficient objection to say that such body
may be guilty of unwisdom or of abuses.
Any governmental body. whether court
lative or judicial. If given power enough
to enable it to do effective work for good.
must also inevitably receive enough
evil ~ .y
Therefore, it is clear'fthat tunless
national incorporation law can be forth
with enacted) some body or bodies in the
executive service should, be given power
to. pass upon any combipation or agree
ment in relation to- Interstate commerce.
AMI every such combination or agreement
MOI thus approved asaouid@ be treated as
in violation Of lawd'and' rtos4cuted ac-
cordingly. The issuance of the ssecurities
of anyacembination doing interstate bust
the national government. @s~t
A strong effort has been made 10 have
labor organizations completely exempted
from any of the operations of this law.
whether or not their acts are IN restraint
of trade. Such exception would in all
probability make the bill unconstitutional,,
and the legislature has no more right
to pass bill without regard to whether
lightly to declare unconstitutional a law
which the legislature has solemnly enact
ed. The responsibility is as great on the
one side as on the other, and an abuse
of power by the legislature in one direc
ton is equally to be condemned with an
abuse of power by the courts in the
other direction. 1t is not possible wholly
to except labor organizations from the
workings of this law. and they who in
sist upon totally excepting them are mere
ly providing that their status shall be
kept wholly unchanged, and that they
shall continue to be exposed to the action
which they now dread.
Rights Of Laborers.
Obviously. an organization not cormed
for profit should not be required to
furnish statistics in any way as complete
as those furnished by organizations for
profit. Moreover. SO far as labor is en-
gagged in production only. it's claims to be
| exempted from the antitrust law are
| sound. This would substantially cover
the right o. laborers to combine. to strike
| peaceably. and to enter into trade agree
| ments with the employers But when
| labor undertakes in wrongful manner to
| prevent the distribution and sale of the
| products of labor, as by certain forms OF
the boycott. 1t has left the field of pro-
| duction. and its action may plainly be in
| restraint O. interstate trade, and must
necessarily be subject to inquiry, exactly
| as in the case of any other combination
| for the same purpose, so as to- determine
| whether such action is contrary TO sound
public policy.
The heartiest encoura cement should be
giver to the wageworkers to form labor
unions and to enter into agreements with
| their employers: and their right to strike
80 long as they act peaceably, must be
preserved. But we should sanction neither
| boycott nor blacklist which would be
| illegal at common law.
The measures l advocate are in the in
| terest both of decent corporations and
o. law-abiding labor unions. They are,
| moreover. prominently in the interest OF
the public, for in my judgment the Ameri-
| can people have definitely made up their
| minds that the days of the reign Of the
great law-defyng and law-evading cor
| porations are over, and that from this
| tim" on the mighty organizations Of cap
| ttal necessary for the transaction of bust
| ness under modern conditions, while en-
couraged so long as they act honestly
and in the interest Of the general public
ar: to be subjected to careful supervision
and regulation of a kind so effective as
| to insure their acting in the interest of
| the people as a whole.
|