Philip weekly review. [volume] (Philip, Stanley County, S.D.) 1907-1912, 1911-04-27
PUBLIC CONTROL NECESSARY
Hill Sees In Intelligent Control
Solution Of Present
Depression

depression
st Paul, MINI. April 26.-.James
j. Hill, the Great Northern-Nor-
thern Pacific railroad magnate,
sees in publicity of corporation
matters and intelligent public con-
troll of the corporations themselves,
long step towards the solution of
the present era of business stag
nation.
And the United States needs a
Saviour" says Mr.. Hill. The
people have demanded not only
the best but an improvement on
the best, and they will now have
to pay accordingly. If they don't
pay in money, they must pay in
prosperity. The business of the
country increases fifteen per cent
every year; the facilities for handl-
lug this new business increase only
one sixth of that. The difference
in the ratio is too great and a bal
ance must be struck, sometime,
else there will be complete
breakdown of service or prosperity.
"Why don't the facilities for
handling business increase more
rapidly9 Because the men behind
those facilities are afraid to spend
their money for extensions and
improvements"
Mr.. Hill has long been an ex-
ponent of publicity of corporation
affairs and looks upon that as one
of the means of bringing corpora
tion and public together.
''The people are entitled to know
what the public service corpora
tions are doing and the conditions
under which they transact busi-
ness, he says. II have believed
in, and have advocated, publicity
of corporation reports for many
years. When the public becomes
conversant with corporation affairs
and is convinced that it is seeing
from the inside, much of the feel
ing against the great business
concerns will pass away. That
will be one of the effects of pub
licjty."
In the matter of public control
of quasi-public concerns, Mr..
Hill is Arm advocate, but he
wants that control to be intclli-
gent; he wants only trained men
in the places of control.
"A corporation is a piece Of
paper bearing the stamp and seal
of the state", he says. Its life is
created by the people and naturally
the people should have some word
in making the rules under which
it transacts business. That pro-
position is one l have preached for
years and now l am glad to see it
making headway among common
carrier corporations. Last week
President Nudge, of Rock Island
railroad, declared for public control
of railroads; George NJ. Reynolds,
president Continental and Com
mercial National bank of Chicago,
did the same thing the week before;
I. N. Vail, president American
Telephone and Telegraph, recently
made an official report to his board
of directors in which he took a
firm stand for both publicity and
public control.
but that control must be intelli-
gently administered. Public con-
troll simply because it is a control
by the public, is not all. 1t must
be intelligent, as l have always
contended. Intelligent people will
ask and expect nothing more.
Vail, Reynolds and the others are
right in advocating publicity and
public control. Both are things
which eventually will 60 far
towards making a good feeling
between the corporations and the
people, and will assist in settling
much of the antagonism which
now seems to prevail" :"