The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-12-13
URGES COMBINE CURE Secretary of Commerce and Labor Report. Y ADVOCATES NEW DEPARTMENT Would Extend Scope of Bureau of
 Corporations. Wants Regular Reports From Cor perations--Recommen Newer Laws to stamp Out .white
 Slave Trsmc"--Asainst
 Alien Labor.
 

 ton to create e department of the government which would do for the whole country what the bureau of cor porations has been doing in specific instances, and compel complete pub licity in the management of interstate corporations. is one of the leading recommendations contained in the an nual report of the secretary of com merce and labor made public tonight.
 Newer and tigher laws to stamp out the white slave trade. which the secretary says is an organized and ex- tensiye business. Is the other
 The secretary recommends the fur ther development of the bureau of cor porations At the end of this fiscal year, the department still has on hand investigations of the lumber and steel industries the International Harvester Company. concentration of waterpower ownership. and transportation by water in the United States. It was still continuing its Investigations of the tobacco industry. the operation of cotton exchanges and state systems of corporate taxation.
 Refers to Government Control.
 On the subject of government con- trol of the financial and industrial forces, Secretary Nagei says some terse things and makes some impor- tant recommendations.
 The prime need of two things Is emphasized:
 First. reliable information upon which the government may take legislative and administrative action and second, reliable information in a concise and available form to serve for the basis of public opinion. The first step to be taken he says Is an advance toward a complete system for obtaining and making public this in- formation. The bureau of corpora tions has demonstrated the value of this beyond doubt, in the limited way which It's force and money available would allow.
 But Secretary Nagel, believes the time has come for far wider and more complete application. of those principles. This, the secretary recom- mends, can be accomplished only by definite federal system of statutory publicity by which all important cor porations engaged in interstate com merce will be obliged to report at stated intervals to a federal agency, such as the bureau of corporations, the essential facts regarding their organization. management and condi-. tion. This. the secretary believes, will accomplish for the whole coun- try what the bureau of corporations has been sloing dpnspeelfic cases. e r1aaExtendr Federal Power.
 This work must be carried on by the federal government, the secretary be- lieves, because 1t is the only agency which has Jurisdiction commensurate with the matter 1t has to consider and which can prescribe uniform condi-, tions for the entire country. ..
 Any attempt to solve the question through state action, has been and necessarily will be futile. says the report No considerable number of states can ever agree on establishing or maintaining any one system. No state alone can make its system eff fective. In financial and commercial conditions the country has become na- tionalized. It's legal regulation should also be national"
 An outline of the system the secre- tary recommends, would compel regu- lar reports from all interstate com- merce corporations. and their puhlica- ton in form which would safeguard business secrets.
 In the bureau of immigration and naturalization. the need of facilities to meet growing conditions is recog- nized Improvements have been made in the immigration stations all over the country ana VIII OG CdEEleuf OU. In all during the fiscal year, 944,235 cent of them came from Russia and the countries of Southern Europe. A total of 29 per cent of illiterates Is shown by the report. which Is some thing of an increase over the prev ious year. The coming of these aliens, however, brought $17.331,82S into the country and they possessed an average of $23.50 each. It is .cal- cuIated by the department. however. that 33 per cent of all those aliens were assisted with money to reach this country.
 Talks of "Whife Slaves"
 Tn one portion of his report Secre- tary Nagel takes up the white slave traffic. Through the watchfulness of inspectors. large num- Der of prosecutions have been begun by the department of justice. Where those prosecutions have covered the direct importation of women for im- moral purposes. the prosecutions have been considerably successful. The de- cision of the supreme court in the Keller case, which gave to the states a measure of authority to deal with their own situation. MT. Nagel says has embarrassed the federal authori- ties in that direction.
 The departments investigations show that the traffic In immoral women is an established and extensive business and Is by no means confined to trading in women who have been imported. It includes alien women who have entered the country in a regular way and American women as well. Under the law now existing the federal officers are equipped to deal with only small part of such a situation. The present law merely prohibits the bringing of women into the country for immoral purposes. The secretary recommends that the law be amended to prohibit as well. the bringing of women for such pur- poses from one state into another state and that sb0.00O be appropriated to enforce all federal laws against that traffic. There is no money available for special prosecution of that work at present.
 Against Allen Contract Labor.
 The need of strengthening the law against alien contract labor Is declar- cd to be pressing. The present laws do not always bring to justice those responsible for the importation of the men, The secretary suggests that 1t would be we'll to pre-investigate the claims of employers who seek the ex- ception of the law which allows foreign contract labor, when labor of a like kind cannot be found In this country.
 The need of amending the Chinese immigration laws to fit conditions exitsing Is urged Without surrender ing the real purpose of the law, the department Is working to have 1t so administered as to give the least cause for embarrassment and complaint from the Chinese. ..,.-,