Middletown transcript., 1909-01-02
Mr.. TAFrs TRusT BusrNa Plan
Quick Enforcsmeat Of DE Law Els cJ.iei
Object According e Tasi RsaHOr

It MT. Taft's friends II is learned shat be Ii
d working oHt the details of a plan designed
to increase the efficiency Of Goyernment
!. regulation Of corporations doing al inter.
I state business. Mr.. Taft declines ID dis
cuss She plan for publication, but persons
} who have talked with him, say that il
viii follow the lines suggested by him Ia
Dis campaign speeches and vii. have as its
chief object the qnick enforcement 81 laws
ALREADY on the status books. In ether
words, it will be one of MK. Tafs's 4irst
steps to make good bis campaign pre-. =
that he would do everything ia his po
TO ''clinch the Roosevelt policies. y
| Mr. Taft'a friends say that the PROPOSE
plan will need legislation from Conpres
decreasing the powers of the Interstate
Commerce Commission, greatly increasing
the powers of the Bureau of Corporations
in the Department of Labor and Com.
merce and creating a prad
bureau in the Departments Of
The general outline of the
scribed as follows; Thu Inters
merce Commission is ID -;
duties as an investigate
be commission exerc
judicial functions. The
the Bureau Of Corporation
hand, is to be extended
tions doing an interstate
be charged with the deta
vestigating and preparing
This bureau, acting
complaints or upon its owl
lay the results of its investigation Bsl
the Interstate Commerce CommissiSt.
for decision. Il win originate all cases.
The new bureau ia the Department Of
Justice will work in cooperation with the
Bureau of Corporations and the Interstate
Commerce Commission when legal aid Is
necessary.
Mr. Taft's friends say that Gle proposed
plan does not contemplate the Iicensine
Of corporations. but that under Ii corporl
ations will probably beobliged to snbais
to closer scrutiny by the Bureau Of cor
porations.
1t is plain that Mr.. Taft's purpose is to
avoid the overlapping and duplication Of
work which have been complained OF
under the present system. The plah also
is in direct line with Mr.. Faft's frequently
expressed wish to do everything in bis
power to expediate the administration of
justice in this country. In his speech Of
acceptance last July, Mr.. Taft indicated
plainly enough that he regarded the In.
terstate Commerce Commission as an
overWorked body.
Under plan such as Mr.. Taft Eienla
suggest the Department. Of Commercs ant
Labor, containing the Bureau Of CeEpoEa
tons. will become Cabinet post 81 the
first importance. It is said that Mr.. Taft
is fully aliye to this fact and that he is de-
veloping great deal of attention to the
selection OF man for that portfolio.
Mr.. and Mrs, Taft and their children
spent Monday at Aiken, s. C. They
made the trip from this city, distance of
twenty -FOUR miles, in private trolley
car. Mr.. and Mrs. John Hays Hammond
went with them. The party had lunched
at the Palmetto Club and Mr.. Taft and
Mr.. Hammond took turn over the links.
It was O'Clock in tue evening before the
party returned to Augusta.
Mr.. Taft was the guest of honor last
night at dinner. given by Henry G.
Maxwell. Among the guests were sey-
eral prominent Federal officehoiders in
Georgia.
WARRINGTON, December 9th. Federal
officers are greatly interested in reports
from Augusta, Ga, that Judge Taft has
evolved comprehensive plan for. the
regulation of interstate corporate bat
Of law.
Complaint has been made that the
present system OF dealing With the cor
porations subject to regularly laws ia un-
Wieldly, resulting in an overlapping of
work that has frequently tended to confu-
sion and in some instances to delay in the
prosecution of cases instituted by one or
The other OF the three branches OF the
Government which had jurisdiction.
While officials here are divided on this
point, the view held by many is that the
recent decision of the United States su-
preme Court in the Hartman case further
the situation.
Some express the beliefthat the decision
viii prove far.reaching in its effectsj that
i not only seriously curtailed the power
of the Interstate Commerce Commission
10 make inquiries such as was made in
The case of the Hartman lines but that il
places Limitation on the power of the
commissioner OF corporations in bis rela.
lions with industrial corporations. This
difference, it is held, merely emphasizes
The necessity forsuch changes in the law
aa viii clearly define the powers Of the In
Eststate Commerce Commission, the
bureau OF corporations and the Depart.
ment OF Justice in their relations to corr
porations doing an interstate business.
The Hartman case, which came to the
supreme Court on appeal from a decision
of the Circuit Court for the Southern Dis.
trics'of New York, involved the right Of
Ihe commission to institute proceedings Of
It's own volition and without complaint
The Supreme Court held that The COM
mission bad no right to undertake any
such investigation as that Of The so-ealled
Alton deal in the absence Of formal com-
plaint by party in interest. Harriman'a
refusal therefore 10 answer questions pdt
to him relating to transfers Of stock Of
various railroads was upheld
While the members Of the Tnlerstal
Commercs Gohnmiseion are unwilling u
Ihis time TO diacusa she effect of the deel.
non q sEss eonss Fl The Hartman case
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