Coeur d'Alene evening press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1907-1929, 1909-01-26
IIF7'S TRADE MOVE
:, Increase Efficiency Of Inter-
.tate Corporation Regulation.
NEW JUDICIAL BUREAU.

..,u Work In Cooperation With Bu.
...u Of Corporations and interstate
n.,usrcs Commissions President
r,.,t. Purpose to Avoid Overlap
la and Duplication Of Work.
rom Mr.. Taft's friends 1t Is learned
49,, he is working out the details Of
Ian designed to increase the efficiency
government regulation Of corpora
Ans doing an interstate business, Mr..
T.1 declines to discuss the plan for
.,,r,cation. but persons who have
..Ited with him say that 1t viii fol-
,,w the lines suggested by him in his
.,mDaign speeches and will have as
/, chief object the quick enforcement
i laws already on the statute books.
Mr Tafts friends say that the pro-
,ocsd plan will need legislation from
congress decreasing the powers of the
,ntorstate commerce commission, great
/ increasing the powers of the bureau
y corporations in the department Of
Thor and commerce and creating a
orsetlcally new bureau in the depart
uent of justice.
The general outline of the plan ia
described as follows: The interstate
,ommerce commission is to be relieved
At its duties as an investigating body.
II ia TO be a commission exercising
0uly si-judicial functions. The ju-
diction of the bureau OF corporations,
an the other hand, is to be extended
over all corporations doing an inter-
state business. 1t win be charged
With the detailed work Of investigating
and preparing cases.
This bureau, acting upon individual
n complaints or upon its own initiative,
viii lay the results Of its Investigations
before the interstate commerce COM
mission for decision. 1t win originate
all cases. The new bureau in the de-
mrtment Of justice will work in CO.
operation with the bureau Of corpora
ions and the interstate commerce com
mission when legal aid Is necessary.
Mr.. Tafts friends say that the pro-
posed plan does not contemplate the
licensing of corporations. but that un-
der 1t corporations will probably be
obliged to submit to closer scrutiny by
The bureau of corporations.
n 1t is plain that Mr.. Taft's purpose is
b avoid the overlapping and duplica-
don of work which has been COM
plained Of under the present system.
The plan also is in direct line with
Nh. Taft's frequently expressed wish
70 do everything in his power to ex
pedite the administration of justice in
ibis country. In his speech Of accept
lnce last July Mr.. Taft indicated
plainly enough that he regarded the
hterstate commerce commission as an
sverworked body.
Under plan such as Mr.. Taft's
friends suggest the department Of com
herce and labor, containing the bureau
q corporations, will become a cabinet
post Of the first Importance. 1t is said
nat Mr.. Taft is fully alive to this fact
lnd that he is devoting a great deal
q attention to the selection of a man
IN that portfolio.
Federal officers at Washington are
peatly interested in plans attributed
2 Judge Taft evolving a cOmprehen-
we plan for the regulation of inter-
Hate corporations that he will ask
congress to put into the form Of law.
complaint has been made that the
PRESENT system of dealing with the cor
pofatiOns subject to regulatory laws is
aaWleldly, resulting In an overlapping
VI work that has frequently tended to
eonlusion and in some instances to de-
ny In the prosecution of cases insti-
Iated by one or the other of the three
onAhches Of the government which had
jurisdiction. While officials at Wash
lgton are divided on this point, the
ueW held by many is that the recent
WESTON of the United States supreme
eOurt In the Hartman case further
duplicates the situation.
some express the belief that the de-
sslOn will prove farreaching in its
saects; that it not only seriously cur.
aus the power of the interstate com
@etee commission to make inquiries
s.sA as were made in the case Of the
aAiriman lines, but that it places q
mutation ON the power of the commits
-1aer OF corporations in his relations
an Industrial corporations. This diff
,s.ellce it is held, merely emphasizes
Necessity for such changes In the
as win clearly define the powers
Tue interstate commerce commission
bureau of corporations and the de
'ment of justice in their relations
ausiness