The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-01-04
TAFTS GENERAL PLANS
HAVE NOT BEEN ALTERED
Railroad Men Object to Certain Re-
concentrations of the President
But He Will Let Congress
Handle the Matter.

washington, January 3.-Following a
conference with presidents of six of the
great railroads of the country, President
Taft this afternoon announced a change
in programme of sending of his message
dealing with Interstate commerce and
antitrust law amendments to congress.
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 the
interstate commerce law, in which the
roads are directly interested, will be de-
ferred until Friday noon. The presidents S
special message on the conservation of
natural resources is expected to be ready
for congress next Monday. 1t had been
his original intention to treat together
the two subjects of Interstate commerce
and antitrust amendments. 1t was said
late this afternoon that the message
would probably receive greater attention
If divided into two parts, neither of more
than 1000 words.
AS a result of the call of the railroad
presidents it was said that only few
verbal changes would be made in the
draft of the message dealing with the
interstate commerce law, and that these
would be only to the end of clarifying
the meaning of the recommendations.
Railroad Men Considerate.
President Taft found the railroad pres
idents most considerate In presenting
their views. While deprecating the idea
of any legislation at all at this time.
when. they declared conditions In the
railroad and Industrial worlds, are right
ing themselves after two years OF more
or less depression, they do not seek to
deter the president from sending in his
message They devoted themselves TO
more or less specific objections to the
bill prepared by Attorney General Wick
ersham which forms the text of the
message. The president, it is declared,
will not attempt to force the Wicker
sham or any other bill upon congress.
He will say in his message that such a
bill has been drafted and is at the dis
posal of the appropriate committees OF
the senate and house. The railroad pres
idents themselves admitted that their OBJ
iections to the proposed amendments to
the interstate commerce act were general
in their application to all of the amend
ments.
The president, however, had made his
position clear to j. Pierpont Morgan in
Friday morning. Mr.. Morgan, in turn,
arranged for todays conference and ad-
vised the railroad men to confine them
/ selves to suggestions of changes IN the
amendments rather than to attempt to
influence the president as to his general
Wants Law Changed.
Mr.. Taft has let it be known he not
onlv will make recommendations for
To- tl1o 1au h1t
congress to adopt the suggestions at this
session and thus carry out the promises
of the republican party as written in the
Chicago platform.
Those who attended the conference to-
day were Presidents McCrea of the Penn
sylvania Lovett of the Union Pacific and
other Hartman lines; Brown Of the New
York Central; Mellih of the New York.
New Haven and Hartford; Baer of the
Philadelphia and Reading, and Finley of
the Southern. The railroad presidents
brought Lewis Cass Ledyard of New
York with them as general counsel.
Attorney General Wickersham repre-
scented the legal department of the gov
ernment.
One of the changes which President
Taft agreed to make in his recommends
tions has to do with the language of the
proposed amendment, prohibiting rail-
road company from. acquiring stock in
any competing railroad after a given date.
Tt was claimed that the wording of this
! proposed amendment was such that 1t
might be held to apply to lines like the
New York Central and the West Shore.
The latter is and for many years has
been New York Central line. serving
virtually as an overflow trackage system
on the western shore of the Hudson
river.
Protection to Stockholders.
The law, as President Taft will suggest
It, will provide that where a railroad
owns 50 per cent or more Of the stock of
another, 1t may acquire the remainder.
This, 1t is said. would afford a measure
of protection to minority stockholders.
for II the railroad owning the majority
stock should be prohibited from acquiring
any more, the minority would lose their
only probable purchaser. Where a rail-
road holds less than the majority of stock
in another line, however, 1t will be pro-
vided that it can acquire no more.
Nothing In the Interstate commerce
amendments will be SO drawn as to legal
ize in any way the holding Of stock in
competing line where the holding of the
stock comes into violation of the anti.
trust law.
The railroad presidents were listened to
attentively by the President for more
than two hours. He practically informed
them that while their views would be
given every confederation in the final
! wording of the message. he could not al
ter his basic recommendations.
The proposed Interstate commerce court
Of hve members to consider appeals from
the Interstate Commerce commission,
with an appeal only to the supreme
court of the United States, was objected
to by the railroad representatives. They
declare that the court session would be-
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