Norwich bulletin., 1910-01-04

noon GQn1eTcnC6 WlIA the pIOSAuGl1NS OA six of the great railroad presidents ot the country, President Taft announced late today change of programme In Ihe sending to congress of his message dealing with interstate commerce and antitrust law amendments.
 Message in Two Sections.
 The message will be split into two parts. The section dealing with the trusts will be sent to congress at noon Thursday. The section dealing with inc interstate commerce law, in which the rafl1 cads are directly interested, zvill be deferred until Friday noon. The presidents special message on the con- servation of natural resources is ex- pected to be ready for congress next Monday.
 shortly after the railroad presidents left the White House 1t was announced that the president still hoped to have his message ready for congress on Wednesday. It had been his original intention to treat together the two sub trust amend1n ents But 1t was expalin- ed late today that the message would probably receive greater attention if divided into two parts. neither more than 1000 words long
 Few Verbal Changes Made.
 As result of the call of the railroad presidents, 1t was said that only a few verbal changes would be made in the draft of the message dealing with the Inaerstate commerce law, and that these would be such only as to clarify the meaning of the recommendations. Railroad Men Deprecate Any LegisIa-
 ton Now.
 President Taft found the railroad men most congiderate in presenting their views. While they deprecated any legislation at all now, when, they declared, conditions in the railroad and industrial worlds are righting themselves after two years of more or less depression. they did not seek to z hn 7oF14 S-, Yz{~ Enesage- They devoted themselves to more or less specific objections to the bill prepared by Attorney General Wickersharn, which forms the text for rFared, will not attempt to force the WickeTsharn or any other bill upon congress. He will say in his message that such a bill has been drafted and committees of the senate and house. The railroad presidents admitted that their objections to the proposed amendments to the interstate com klerce act were applied. generally speaking. to all of the amendments.
 Presidents Position Made Clear.
 The president, however, had made his position clear to J. Pierpont Nor gan in a brief interview before break fast last Friday morning. Mr. Morgan afterwards arranged for today's con ference. and advised the railroad men to confine themselves to suggestions or cndnScS III the a1nenQrnGnIS TaCn6T than to attempt to influence the presi- dent as to his general course. MT. Taft has let it be known that he will not only recommend changes in the law, but that he expects congress to adopt the suggestions at this session, and thus carry out the promises of the republican party as written in the Chi cago platform.
 Railroad Men at the Conference.
 The railroad men who attended the %r1r4a LO,-az 11-, Crea of the Pennsylvania, Lovett of the Union Pacific and other Hartman lines, Brown of the New York Central, Ne1len of the New York New Haven and Reading, and Finley OF the South Ern- They brought Lewis Cass Led yard of New York with them as gen. eraI counsel. Attorney General Wick l ersham represented the legal depart l nent of the government. One Change the President Agres to
 Make.
 One of the changes which President | Taft agreed to make in his recomrsen- | tlations has to do with the language of 6 railroad company from acquiring l stock in any competing railroad in the 1 future. or from holding stock in a com l peting railroad after a given date. It is claimed that the wording of this | proposed amendment was such that 1t | might be held to apply to lines like l fhe New York Central and West Shore. l The latter is and for many years has | been a New York Central fine, serving 1 virtually as an overflow trackage sys- 1 fem on the western shore of the Hud- 1 son river. The Law as the President Will Suq- |
 gest It. The law, as President Taft will sus- l Eest it. will provide that where a | railroad owns fifty per cent. or more | of the stock of another it may acquire l the remainder. This, it is said, would | afford a measure of protection to mi l owning the majority stock should be | prohibited from acquiring any more, | the minority would lose their only | probable purchaser. But where a rail- | road holds less than the majority of | stock in another line, it will be pro- Fided that it can acquire no more.
 Nothing in the interstate commerce l amendments will be so drawn as to 1 Aegalize in any way holding stock in l q competing line where holding such stock violates the antitrust law. listened to Railroad Men for Two |
 Hours. The railroad presidents were lis- | tened to attentiveiy by the president informed in advance of many objec- lions and had taken for granted other objections that they would make and he practically informed them that | while their views would be given every consideration in the final wording of fhe message, he could not alter his basic recommendations.
 Strong Objections from the Visitors.
 The proposed interstate commerce court of five members to consider ap- peals from the interstate commerce commission with an appeal only to the supreme court of the United States, Hae particularly objected to by the 1 railroad representatives. They de- c1ared that the court would soon be- come nothing more than a second eomIni ssion They prefer appeals di- rect from the commission to the fed era1 courts The recommendation for l a court, however will remain in the ] message.
 The railroad presidents objected greatly also to ths proposed rAstrie-