The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1910-01-13
CHECK ON SECURITY ISSUES.
Legislation Is Asked to Prevent Wa
tering of Stocks and Other
Kindred Evils.
WOULD RETAIN SHERMAN LAW.
Aims TO Foster .sEcOnOmizing'' Fea-
tures of Combinations and End
"MonOpoIizing'' Evils.

President Taft has sent to Congress
his long delayed and much discussed
message on interstate commerce ana
antitrust legislation
In it he strikes at the existence o.
holding corporations by which major
trusts control their subsidiaries and
at the watering of corporation stock.
To insure the more complete control
of railroads by the government he de
mands the formation Of a Court OF
Commerce, to comprise five judges,
having power to act as court of APP
peals from the ruling of the Inter
state Commerce Commission. The
President dips into railway employees
safety also, urging new features of
the liability Law.
State control of corporations is Wig
crously attacked; the President
charges it with the responsibility for
many corporation abuses, and he takes
a firm stand for centralized power.
He demands that railroads be for
hidden to control their competitors and
would give the Interstate Commission
sweeping increases in power
Declaring distinction between good
and bad trusts to be impossible. the
President says emphatically that if the
trusts are to be kept within the law
new legislation creating national cor
porations under charter is urgently
needed. This, the main provision of
the antitrust section, was announced
sometime ago, as were many of the
other terms of the message.
Such a move, the President points
out, is not to afford the trust a refuge
as the Sherman laws repeal is not
contemplated
The proposed statute, according 70
the message, is not to be framed SO
as to permit the doing of the wrongs
which ii is the purpose of that (the
Sherman) law to prevent, but only to
foster a continuance and advance of
the highest industrial efficiency with
out permitting industrial abuses"
The President also includes a Wig
orous promise that the United States
prosecution of trusts will be continued
unremittingly.
President Taft's Message.
To the Senate and House of Representa-
tives:
What is of supreme Importance is that
a uniformity of decision be secured Sc
hiring a m ffrvn
attic and scientific enforcement of the
commerce law, rather than conflicting de-
cisions and uncertainty of final result .
For this purpose l recommend the es-
tablishment of court of the United
States composed of five judges designated
for such purpose from among the Circuit
Judges of the United States, to be known
as the United States Court of Com.
merce," which court shall be clothed
with exclusive original jurisdiction over
the following classes of cases:
CD All cases for the enforcement
otherwise than by adjudication and col
lection, of a forfeiture or penalty, or by
infiiction of criminal punishment Of any
order of the Interstate Commerce Com
mission other than for the payn ent OF
money.
CD All cases brought to enjoin. SET
aside, annul or suspend any order or re-
quirement of the Interstate Commerce
Commission.
90 A. such cases as under section
of the act Of Feb 10, 1908, known as the
"Elkins act are authorized to be main
tanned in a Circuit Court of the United
States
(D All such mandamus proceedings
as under the provisions of section 20 OF
section % of the Interstate commerce
law are authorized to be maintained in
q Circuit Court of the United States
In my opinion all litigation affecting
the government should be under the di-
rect control of the Department OF Justice
and L therefore recommend that all pro-
ceedings affecting orders and DEGREES OF
the Interstate Commerce Commission be
brought by or against the United States
ct nomine, and be placed in charge cd
an assistant attorney general acting un-
der the direction of the attorney general
L see reason why the commission
should not be authorized TO act on its
own initiative as well as upon the com
plant of an individual In investigating
the fairness of any existing rate or prac.
tice and / recommend the amendment OF
the law to so provide and also that the
commission shall be fully empowered, be-
yond any question. to pass upon the
classifcations of commodities for purpose
of fixing rates. in like manner as il may
now do with respect to the maximum
rate applicable to any transportation.
End Rail Combines.
recommend that the law shall be-
amended SO to provide that from and
after the date of its passage no railroad
company subject TO the interstate com
merce act shall. directly or indirectly. &C.
quire any interests of any kind in capita
stock or purchase or lease any railroad
of any other corporation which compete.
with it respecting business 10 which the
interstate commerce act applies.
But especially for the protection of the
minority stockholders in securing to then
the best market for their stock, I recon.
mend that such prohibition be coupled
with proviso that it shall not operate
to prevent any corporation, which at the
date of passage of such act shall owr
not less than one-half of the entire ISSUED
and outstanding capital stock of an,
other railroad company, from ACQUIRING
all or the remainder of such stock.
l recommend the enactment of a law
providing that no railroad corporation