Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1910-07-24

| mand for the passage of law that
would permit this. Cannon, Payne
and Dalzell in the house and Aldrich
and Hale in the senate were the lead
ing spirits that prevented the law
passing. until the session of 1904.
Then the voice of the American
people became so strong that they
could no longer ignore it, and they
were forced TO admit that the law
needed strengthening. bill was
passed as harmless to the railroads as
il was possible to make II. Cannon
and Aldrich never helped in the pass
age of that bill, and they opposed it
with all their power The question
that Aldrich and Cannon always
seem to ask when railroad measure
is up is VIII it hurt the railroads.
If it seems that the law will hurt
these men oppose it, honestly maybe,
roads are to be exalted rather than
regulated and controlled.
The republican platform of 1908
declared for more amendments to the
railroad bill. The platform declared
in favor of traffic agreements by the
railroads after properly safeguarded
and with the approval of the inter-
state commerce commission
"When congress met bill came
from the attorney general. ! regret
to say that the attorney general for
got that he was attorney for ninety
million people. But he remembered
his long law practice in New York
when his chief business was to tell
the corporations how to evade the
law. This bill provided for the re-
peal of the antitrust law under which
the traffic association We're broken
up, and allowed all agreements to go
into effect at once and then the in
terstate commerce commission should
investigate the rates while the
charges We're being made.
This was a plain repudiation Of
the republican platform. Aldrich in
the committee room said the bill
should pass without the change of
letter or dotting of an Il His pre-
diction came true as far as the COM
mittee was concerned, but as the bill
passed the senate its own mother
would not recognize it. If it had moi
been for men like Bristow the bill as
IL came from the committee would
have passed the senate.
There was a portion of the bill
providing that rates could be suspend
ed for sixty days pending an investi-
cation into their reasona bleness. /
an amendment providing
that no increase of rates could be
made without the approval of the in
terstate commerce commission, also
a pledge Of the republican platform.
The coterie of men who had always
opposed railway legislation stood like
adamant against the provision until
they found they could not break il
entirely, so they consented to a sus-
pension of the rates for six months
during Investigation, The pledge Of
the party was violated here.
The bill also provided for the re-
peal OF the antitrust law that would
permit the consolidation OF competing
lines II was the most selfish and
niquitous provision that was ever at
tempted to be forced through con-
gress. Aldrich tried his best to keep
his in the bill for Bristow La Fol- !
ette, Beveridge and others, with fire /
and logic and reason submerged this /
provision so that so good an angel as /
Senator Aldrich can rever bring it to /
life again. This has been a real ad /
vance in railroad legislation. but it |
,nly fulfills the pledges of the repub- /
lean party