Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1910-08-04

. w. .T
some better way must be found thar
we now have of securing information
as to cost here and abroad: and sec
ond, that we must amend the SEIZED
ules separately. AS to the first, the
way will be found in the creation of al
independent, nonpartisan tariff com
mission, not to change the law, fol
that is, and must remain the work OF
congress; but to collect and lay be
fore congress and before the people
the facts.
When this is done there will be
neither high tariff man nor low tarin
man who will venture to disregard
his duty. Fortunately. the demand
for such commission has become
almost unanimous among republicans
and the few who still oppose 1t Will
soon disappear from public life.
We have already made a good be-
ginning, for under the strong and per
sistent recommendation of the presi'
dent. congress gave him an appropria'
ton which he will use insofar as he
has the power to do 1t, to get the In
formation so necessary to proper
understanding Of the subject. The
provision is inadequate; but 1T gives
us hope that before long we will be
able to establish commission with
full powers and complete equipment
AS to the second, we must insist
upon a law. or rule OF congress that
will allow one schedule to be amended
or revised without going over the
whole range of the tariff. We must
exclude the opportunity for the trades
and combinations which now dis
honor tariff legislation. We must
make it impossible to coerce or bride
a member of congress inro voting for
what he knows to be wrong, In ORDER
to get what he believes to be right.
Happily. the movement for such
rule or law is steadily advancing, and
it will not be long until it, TOO, will
embrace every republican in the land.
These evidences of progress cheer the
heart of every patriot. We may stand
fast for 2 principle but we cannot
stand still in applying it to the a1alrs
o, mankind We, are sweeping. along
at a pace that is not only exnilaration
but insp,r The optimist is win
ming in every race, and in the near
future we will see progressive pro-
tective tariff that will safeguard the
interests O. the producer, shield the
rights of the consumer, insure the high
privileges of labor and content the
reasonable demand Of capital
Railroad Regulations.
The most important legislation OF
the last session of congress was the
to the interstate commerce
law. The regulation of common car
riers is altogether the most difficult
upon which the govern
ment has entered, and it will require
all the independence which a popular
selection of law makers can supply;
all the intelligence which general ed
ucation and specific study can con-
tribute, and all the courage which the
highest type of patriotism can create
to carry the government to safe and
Just conclusion.
1t would be an intricate and trying
problem even if the railway corpora
lions would cooperate with congress IN
the effort to enact the proper legisla-
ton, but their cooperation is not to be
expected. They will in the future as
they have in the past, resist every pro
posal to increase the efficiency of the
regulation and control already in our
statutes. Their influence exerted IN
thousand ways and flowing IN a thous-
and channels, is oftentimes hard 70
discover. and always hard to over
come. 7 realize that in the acrimony OF
the struggle which occurs whenever
further regulation is suggested there
is danger of reprisals. 1t is to De
hoped. however, that we will go calmly
and deliberately forward to the right
Point, undeterred by their position, and
unmoved by prejudice and revenge.
We must do nothing that will with
hold from these mighty factors in our
Industrial life revenues that will be
sufficient to bring them to and main
tain them at the highest standard Of
efficiency, and that will reward the
copital invested in them fairly and
reasonably: but we must not forget
that it is the business of the govern
ment to see that they exact unjust toll
from no man: that they practice no
and that there is
neither favor nor disfavor in the serv-
ice which they render to the seVeral
communities which make up our com
mercal union.
Although the law was greatly
strengthened in 1906 under the puls-
SAINT and patriotic leadership of Theo-
dore Roosevelt, the experience OF four.
years demonstrated that the power OF
the interstate commerce commission
should be materially enlarged. and we
of the west. at any rate, felt that there
should be some restriction upon COM
mon carrier corporations engaged in
interstate traffic with respect to issu-
ance of stocks and bonds.
The history of the previous decade
in this respect had been so lamentable
that our national platform in 1908
made emphatic references to this
phase Of the subject. The president as
sumed the initiative, but unfortunately,
as view it. he delegated to the attor-
ney general the task of preparing
bill to be laid before congress. have
no reason to doubt the honesty Of the
attorney general, but he had just come
from long professional training and
- 70 Inot