Los Angeles herald., 1910-02-20
PLAN IS
CALLED A BLUFF
BILL so GRoTESoUE AS TO
LOOK LIKE JOKE
CAN COUNT ON BARELY SMALL
HANDFUL OF VOTES
Doubt Expressed in Washington That
the Measure VIII Be Consid-
cred at All This
Session

WASHINGTON. Feb. 19.-Is the fed
eral incorporation bill a campaign doc
ument, calculated to aid the Republl-
cans in the fight for control OF the
next house? Has it been stiffened up
and made drastic merely for the effect
it will have on the plain people before
they go to the polls next November?
These questions are being propouhdeo
in all seriousness by senators and rep
resentatives who have been looking
over the new measure in dazed sort
of way and pondering on the reasons
for its introduction. A large propor-
ton of the answers given privately are
in the affirmative.
There are few men in congress who
candidly favor the measure as drawn
The charge Is frequently made that At
torney General Wickersham is lncom-
petent or else has drafted measure
which he did not expect to become eI-
fective. It is admitted that the Dill is
full of teeth, but its enforcement is left
almost entirely to the commissioner OF
corporations, and he may determine to
take a mild view of it and permit It
to remain a virtual dead letter IL
placed on the statute books.
Under the situation as it exists the
federal incorporation bill is a joke. IL
Is acclaimed with derision. The first
draft was a nice, harmless affair, with
no forfeiture clause and seemingly
aimed to make the future bright ana
cheerful for the trusts. 1t was halieo
with praise by such legislators as are
reputed to have the interests or plg
concerns at heart. 1t was announced
that the corporations would be de-
lighted with the measure, and many OF
them seemed eager to take advantage
of its voluntary privileges to wipe on
the old slate and start anew under
government supervision.
Then Came the Reaction
The bill as then framed was satisfac-
tory to Senators Aldrich, Crane, Kean
and Elkins, to Representatives Payne
and Dalzell and to all the long list OF
those who do not want to inJure the
feelings of a monopoly. The leaders on
each side, including Speaker cannon,
assured President Taft that the Dill
could be slipped through congress With
out much delay or trouble.
And then came the reaction. Attor-
ney General Wickersham took several
weeks to frame UP new Dill, ana
when it appeared in the open last Mon
dav it contained forfeiture clause
and MANY other Objectionable features.
All those legislators having great cor
porate interests in their states We're
at first stunned, and then aroused SUI
f1ciently to intimate darllly that the
new bill must be given careful consld-
Grafton. All the leaders permitted the
prediction to become public that noth-
ing would be done.
There be those in the senate and
house who are willing to wager tnal
FN,
the incorporation bill as finally intro
duced last Monday. They declare that
he would never have given his per-
sonaI approval to such jumble OF
good and bad.
Conditions in the senate have turned
a complete somerSault. Before the IN
PRODUCTION of the bill the big bosses
promised to see that it went through'
The progressives were stlftenlns
their backbones to oppose it, because
IT did not even have forfeiture clause
and was otherwise objectionable. Now
the ten or twelve progressive Repubil-
cans are about the only active adVo-
Gates of the proposed enactment
Deemed UnenforceabIe
While the bill has not been fully
analyzed many members of congress
doubt whether the law could be put
into operation. There is general op-
nosition to the enormous powers given
the commissioner of corporations They
are so diverse that it seems Impossible
that one man could successfully uis-
charge all the burden of enforcing the
act. If the bill ever reaches the con-
sideration stage efforts will be maze
to distribute these powers ana lessen
the authority given one man.
Attempts will also be made TO lessen
the authority given the attorney gem
eral. AS framed he alone can bring
suits for forfeiture or to enforce other
features of the measure. There is a
general sentiment that the public
Should not depend entirely on the at
torney. general, but should be permitted
to go before any prosecuting oiflcer'
file information and have 1t MADE the
basis Of a suit for forfeiture.
There will also be more or less OF
a fight as to whether suits shall be
brought exclusively in federal courts,
as provided by the bill, or filed in state
courts when such action would be more
advantageous.
when it gets down to real wind
tanning, If that stage ever comes, the
question of constitutionality will be a
neyer-ending topic of debate. Legal
experts are divided on that point, al
though inclined to agree that II Volu-
tary incorporation is constitutional
conpulsory Incorporation would be
equally legitimate. A majority of the
law doctors unite in affirming that the
bill can be juggled around and made
to fit the constitution.
The judiciary committee of the SEN
ate has not yet taken up the bill. Bet
ting odds are offered that the measure
will never come out at this session.
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