The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-04-18
TIE SHERMAN LAW
 NEEDS AMENDING Wade H. Ellis Says Radical Change Is Necessary AIB FOR THE RAILROADS Transportation Facilities Have Not Kept Up With the Industry for
 Years and Encouragement
 Should Be Given.
AIB FOR THE RAILROADS

New York April 17.-At the banquet of the Bar association at Delmonicos in this city tonight radical amendment of the sherman antitrust law was advo- cated by Wade H. Ellis, assistant attor- ney general of the United States. in his address on "The Business Man and tho Law"
 MT Ellis, who declared that he was not speaking an official of the national ad- ministration, but solely as a lawyer to lawyers and as a citizen to citizens, did not stint praise for the good that the Sherman act had accomplished, but he believed indefniteness of the provisions had been productive of unintended results and that 1t was necessary to make it's terms clearly and precisel! define every thing that 1t forbds.
 "The power to control prices is the wrong which all antitrust statutes seek to prevent" said Mir. Ellis. with re- speet to gigantic combinations of capi- tai engaged in a purely public service like the railroads. there is no need of any limitation whatever upon their rights to make mutual agreements. Why? Be- cause such agreements do not and can not control prices since the charges im- posed for the service are controllable by state or by the nation itself There fore, there is no reason why the anti trust act should apply to railroads at all.
 These are outside the reason for the law and ought not to be within it's terms. The public interest may be securely and completely guaranteed through the inter- state commerce act and the administra- tion of the interstate commerce com- mission and any additional legislation with respect to the supervision of rail- roads should be adopted as amendments to the law
 The railroads must be encouraged to keep pace with the industry of the coun- try. It is lamentable fact that railroad facilities in recent years have not respond ed to the commercial growth of the coun- try.
 While it is true, however, that traf- fic agreements and pools between rail- roads now forbidden by the antitrust act ought not to be forbidden, it is not true that a necessary condition to railroad im- proyement is that all governmental su- peryision shall cease. The railroads are public servants. The inadequacy of their service, the fair return on the money in- vested, the safety and compensation of their employees and the honest manage ment of the business are matters of pub lie concern.
 '"The third consideration for any amend ment of the antitrust act is that it shall punish only where the contractor combi- nation is devised for the purpose of straining competition or controlling prices.
 ''Fourth-The mere size of the corpor- ation ought not to condemn 1t. The chief evil which has induced popular prejudice against combinations of capital has been the maintenance by one secret domina- tion of numerous pretended rivals. It Is the use of the concealed weapons in busi- ness that people complain of
 "Fifth-In no amendment to the anti trust act must we psake matters worse by paternalzng the attitude of the gov ernment toward private business"