Bisbee daily review., 1911-05-17

| Uiunl Dt nidUG LV uE0eISidHl
 that the great powers loaned then
 by the policy Of the law are commit
 ted to them In trust, on the condI
 ton that they are to be fair and | honest and serviceable.
 Public service corporations. sacr
 as railroads, street railways. gas 1 companies and companies which
 supply eiectric light and rover. are
 in a sffli larger sense public instru
 mentalities. Hesi6es having the arIf
 ciai advantages and powers confer red uron the ordinary co~poration | doing what we call private business they are in partnership with the gov | ernment in the laying of rails. t1e r erection of roles and wires. and the | laying or conduits as the means of ! uansmiuung Uneir service. They ! have had deleeatea to them the 1 sovernments right of eminent do main. the risht 10 make uartial use l e 7ualc hiahwsss. to con%e'rn rights. .of-way across pieces of private property.
 Are Monopolies.
 N.orecear. .fep gre iu very in te~estinr sense natural uonorolies, They reneraUv use the rieces e land most convenient to their nur poses. and most direot for effe~tin' the communication which thev wish to effect: anf tt Is neTfertlv o6~'o'i, that if other conTaines are ailo"e' n .ornrere- vlrh the-1 there fs 9 very wastefui durlication in o1tla' and enuipnoent. So that convection seneraIiy resvits in an eventual cor ninstion of the comUetiug companies and the necessity to charge a price on what they supply that will a interest on twice as great an in vestment as was really necessary for the service.
 More than that, they render distinc.iv public service. Railroads and trolley lines and light and power companfes are not mere convenienc es rrne, const,ufte the basis ot our modern life. Other communities ,oufd not live without then. Onr communities could rot have built m, without the-r. They are common necessity. and therefore, very mleh r,o-., thar, g ecrnon convenience. Tha lie of a whole connounity can ee al tered and neither facilitated or ham pered hy the way in which they are administered.
 The fact is. therefore. that putlc service cor~orstions are public in- strurnentalities. and that in less ,jegree but no Tess truly, all cornor- atioas are nublic instrumentahtes' rhsv facilitate the general partici- ration of cor1nlrnities in e@o7o-'''e ,,ndertakings. They are, therefore. rnapifestiv Iegitimate subjects O control We nead rot fe afra'd n' vjo1ating an, princirle of justice in controlling them. Of course we may cnntrot them wisely or uuwiselv. as on, means and mett-o1s of control are well or i1i considered.
 Publicity Essential.
 This is what we call the corpora t;on rrobler,. and there are ce~tain nrlncir1es which we could lav down with a good deal Of confidence wlth regard to the methods Of controllng these istrumentalities- In the 'rst rlace it is plain that the hest tonic for them is publicity The rowers of communities are loaned to them They are instrumentalities for every hody. Every man is. by possibility. at an rate, a partner in them: ana every nan, as a constituent oF the lawmakers, has a part in lendins them tFe extraordinary powers which they exercise. Publicity. therefore, should be the law of hfe for them. Since what they Go Is or common coucern, 1t shoulG be or common knowledge. Since what they are is the basis of public credit Tor them. it should be fully disclosed at avery turn Of the business.
 Moreover, it should be recognized as fundamental princirle Of our law in iealing with them. that trough we call them artificial per sons, the only persons we are really going to deal with in imposing the penalties of the law are the persons who constitute thei.. directors and officers. There is no mystery about them: these are the persons they as a matter of fact consist or. we We ought by this time to have seen the futility-I might even say the sflIiness-of trying to punish Illegal action by penalizing corporations as such. Fines punish the stockholder; forfeitures of charter and Of the franchises which they are exercising raraIyzes industry and confusss bus mess. Men do not cease to be lndi- viduals ny becoming the officers or 1 corporations: and, as their officers, | they control and use them, and are i masters of them. They exercise their ! individual wills when they deteTm- i inc what the policy Of corporation ! shall te. The responsibility for vio- ] iatfng the law, or for neglecting | public interests. ought to fall uron ] them as individuals. Every corpora- ! ton ought to be obliged to disclose to the proper officers of the law it's organizatin, with such explicitness : that it will be possible to determine ] from it's own sworn analysis to ! which particular officer or board or | committee each act of the corpora I tion is traceatle: and the law should ! impose it's penalties upon the mem ters of that board or of that com mittee or upon that officer. They should be punished individually, as other violators of the law are pun ished. In short, the law should be Al Fv.r- eA~.F &hn-