Los Angeles herald., 1908-04-28

| ly carried on, and the evils which flow
from the riot and chaos of unrestrict-
ed individualism. There is grave dam
ger to our free institutions in the cor
| rupting influence exercised by great
| wealth suddenly concentrated In the
hands of the few. We should in a
sane manner try to remedy this dam
| ger in spite of the sullen opposition
of these men and with the full purpose
to protect them In all their rights at
the very time that we require them to
deal rightfully with others.
when with steam and electricity
modern business conditions went
through the astounding revolution
which in this country began over half
a century ago, there was at first much
hesitation as to what particular gov
ernmental agency should be used to
grapple with the new conditions.
"At almost the same time, about
twenty years since, the effort was
made to control combinations by reg
ulating them through interstate COM
merce commissions and to abolish them
by means of the antitrust act, the
two remedies therefore being in part
mutually incompatible. The interstate
commerce law has produced admirable
results, especially since it was
strengthened by the Hepburn law two
years ago.
1.-The antitrust law, though it
worked some good, because anything
is better than anarchy and complete
absence of regulation, nevertheless has
proved in many respects not merely
Inadequate. but mischievous. Twenty
years ago the misuse of corporate
power had produced almost every con-
ceivable form of abuse and had
worked the gravest injury to business
morality and the public conscience. For
a long time federal regulations of in
terstate commerce had been purely
negative, the national judicial acting
merely in isolated cases to restrain the
state from exercising a power, which
was clearly unconstitutional as well
as unwise for them to exercise, but
which nevertheless, the national gov
ernment itself failed to exercise.
Made Law for Themselves
"Thus the corporations monopolizing
commerce made the law for themselves,
state power and common law being in
| adequate to accomplish any effective
| legislation and the national power not
yet having been put forth. The result
was mischievous in the extreme and
only short-sighted and utter failure to
appreciate the grossness of the evils to
which the lack of regulation gave rise
can excuse the well-meaning persons
who now desire to abolish the anti
trust law outright or to amend 1t by
simply condemning unreasonable COM
binations.
Power should unquesionably be
lodged somewhere in the executive
branch of the government to permit
combinations which will further the
public interest, but it must always be
remembered that as regards the great
wealthy combinations through which
most of the interstate business of today
Is done, the burden of proof should be
on them to show that they have a
right to exist. No judicial tribunal has
the knowledge or the experience to de-
termine in the first place whether a
given combination is advisable or nee
essary in the interest OF the public.
Somebody, whether a commission or
bureau under the department of COM
merce and labor, should be given this
power My personal belief is that ul-
timately we shall have to adopt ma
tional incorporation law, though am
well aware that this may be impossible
at present. Over the actions OF the
executive body the power is placed and
the courts should possess merely a
power of review, analogous to that OBJ
taining in connection with the work Of
the interstate commerce commission at
present.
ITO secure this would not be a leap
in the dark, 1t would be to carry still
further the theory of effective govern
mental control of corporations, which
was respo. .sible for the erection of the
interstate commerce commission, and
for the enlargement of it's powers and
for the erection of the bureau of COR
porations.
Legislation Is Good
1.-THE interstate commerce legislation
has worked admirably. 1t has benefit
ed the public, 1t has benefited honestly
managed and wisely conducted rail-
roads, and in spite of the fact that the
business of the country has enormously
increased the value of this federal leg
islation has been shown by the way in
which it has enabled the federal gov
ernment to correct the most pro-
nounced of the great and varied abuses
which existed in the business world
twenty years ago, while the many
abuses that still remain emphasize the
need of further and more thorough
going legislation. Similarly the bureau
of corporations has amply justified its
creation.
"In other words, 1t Is clear that the
principles employed to remedy the
great evils in the business world have
worked well, and they can now be en-
ployed to correct the evils that further
commercial growth has brought more
prominently to the surface. The pow
ers and scope of the interstate COM
merce commission and of any similar
body, such as the bureau of corpora
tions, which has to deal with the mat
ter in hand, should be greatly en-
larged so as to meet requirements Of
the present day.
1.-THE decision of the supreme court
in the Minnesota and North Carolina
cases illustrate how impossible is a
dual control of national commerce.
The states cannot control 1t. All they
san do is to control intrastate COM
merce, and this is but a small fraction
of the business carried through each
state.
State Control Nullified
Actual experience has shown that
the effort at state control is sure to be
nullified in one way or another. sooner
or later. The nation alone can act with
effectiveness and wisdom; it 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 great abb
surdity. This means that we must rely
upon national legislation to prevent the
commercial abuses that now exist and
the others that are sure to arise unless
some efficient governmental body has
adequate power of control over them.
cat present the failure of the con-
gress to tilize and exercise the great
l.