The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-04-12
Especial from United Press.)

Washington, April 12.-In a scorch-
 ing denunciation of the Taft admins tI ation, charging bad faith in the
 preparation of the Presidents rail-
 road bill and accusing Attorney
 Hitchcock of betraying public inter
 ests in abandoning Federal prosecu-
 ton of 6 great railroad merger in New England, Senator LaFollette
 paid his respects to the Taft-EIkins
 bill in the Senate today.
 '"This bill, MT President he said,
 ''is the bo1dest raid upon public right in the form of legislation upon this great subject that the higf1binders of
 big business have ever succeeded in having forced upon the serious con- sideration of Congress Never before has anyone undertaken seriously to put through Congress a charter for the monopOlization and oppression of the commerce of this country, such as is carried in the devious language and hidden purposes of this measure.
 Never before has it been attempt ed to foreclose the people of this country of their rights without 8 hearing and to fasten irrevocably up on the commerce of the country the burden of transportation to pay 1n- stocks and bonds which unrestrained corporate greed has set ahoat in the financial channels of this country.
 tYet, MT. President, if we pause to inquire, if we are not already con vinced beforehand to vote for and pass this legislation without investf- gation of the conditions with which it deals, without any knowledge of it's effect in application, without even being informed of the reasons which controlled in framing it, we are ac- cused of giving aid and comfort to the enemy and denounced by the att storney general as traitors to the Re- the displeasure of the administration MT. President, men who have grown gray fighting the battles of the Re- publican party are not obliged to have their Republicanism certified by an attorney general who until re- gently was known to the public chief ly as attorney for the big business
 'Nor will they be intimidated by him or his kind in their efforts to bring the Republican party in Con emong the people, back to the Re publicanism of Lincoln-to the ser vice of public interests and public in-
 La Toilette called attention to the fact that the bill as reported pro vided that the attorney general all the proceedings of the court of commerce and supreme court on ap- peal from the, court of commerce, that a railroad corporation owning not less than half the capital stock of another railroad might acquire the remainder of such stock and for con SOl1QdC1On OI IdITOdOS pAON4OAA45 kAAc@ such consolidation shall not. be con strued to be in violation of the Fed eral antitrust law.
 He said that in view of the large and exclusive power'' conferred upon the attorney general upon whom the protection of. the public interests in pendent, it was desirable to consider the construction likely to be placed by the attorney general on these sec tions.
 ed La Toilette then reviewed the his tory of the New York, New Haven SS Hartford merger with the Boston & Maine Railroad. He called attention to the fact that they were competing lines prior to the merger.
 s'Prior to 19o4,'' he said, '1The New the Federal antitrust law of 1890, the decision of the supreme court in the Northern Securities case and the over 800 miles of electric lines.
 ssIt controls also all the steamship lines running out of New England. A England, g. suit was instituted, and action was threatened by the 1egfs- lature affecting the action of the New Haven; President Mellen gave his electric lines should cease so action 1 against the company was suspend ed.
 After the legislature adjourned the l New Haven bought four electric lines | and forty per cent of the stock of l the Boston & Maine.
 stPresident Roosevelt caused suit to | be brought in 1908 charging the com | pany with violating the Sherman anti | Trust Act.
 sNTfhe proceedings were vigorously 1 prosecuted throughout President i Rooseve1t's administration said La | Toilette. "Enorts were made by the l New Haven company to delay adju- 1 dications. Owing to these delays no hearings on the merits Of the case were held before the close of the l Roosevelt administration. When Pres ident Taft was inaugurated March 4, | 1909, he found the New Haven Com pany holding the commerce of New l England by the throat
 .tSoon after the inauguration of Taft, the New Haven induced the legisla- ture to pass a holding company bill l designed to authorize the New Haven to acquire indirectly all the stock of | the Boston & Maine railroad.
 However, the people of Massachu- setts did not despair continued La the government at Washington and it's prosecution of the New Haven un- der the antitrust law.''
 While the holding law was pend ing the attorney of the New Haven held a conference with Wickersham the object of which, the latter said, was a speedy trial of the case or it's prompt discontinuance. The holding bill was passed by the Massachusetts legislature June IS, 1909. La Toilette quoted from interviews during the early part of that month to show that | no intimation as to a dismissal of the