The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1911-04-13
ORPUbuC CONTROL
VAIL FoR REGULATION 40 WELL
a. 0UOlIcIVv.
SAYS O01u kRe TO STAY
Freak aseeeRleSsa - pvkiis ai0sts
~ t1se preei6sae - Wsstes~
Oalea sA1 YeIeeAens
cSanoo~iss.

Public regulatioa sf public service
eorporatioas has cone to stay i
sseht to have come sad It ought to
stay. That 10 the Fat aad s.eauivocal
asaertioa Of Theodore N. Vail. prssi-
1sat Of beth the Aaericaa Tslsphoas
aAA Telegraph company and the
Weetsrn Unioa Telegraph company.
II cane In the form of his annual re-
Port to the ssvsaty thousand stock
boa1srs q ths tvo great corporations.
Although Mr.. Wallis advocacy Of full
publicity IL coansetioa With The a4airs
a such c0aceFns Was we'll uaAsS
stood. nobody In financial circles had
anticipated 20 trunk ~ avowaI OF
full public rights IN the shaping Of
their general conduct. 1t came conse-
auently - . surprise. not only be-
cause Of its novelty and squarsnsss.
but also On account Of the unqualified
acquiescence Of . board Of directors
comprising such eminent and conserv-
ative Anancisrs - Robert Wins0n Of
Kidder. Peabody 4 Co.. and Heary L.
Higginson Of Boston. Hsary p. Davi-
$50 Of J. P. Morgan Z Co.: Senator
". Murray Crane. George r. Baer. T.
JeRerson Coolidge Jr.. Norman W.
Harris. John I. Waterbury and others.
President Wallis declaration 10 her
aided - the hrst recognition by those
In high corporate authority of the Jus.
tice Of the demand that tho public
BE- regarded a. virtual partners in all
matters that pertain to the common
welfare. He goes directly to the
point.
Public control or regulation Of
public service corporations by perma-
nent cpmmissions." he says. has
come and come to stay. Control. or
regulation. to be effective means pub,
licity: it means semi-public discus
sion and consideration before action;
It means everything which is the on.
posite Of and inconsistent with effec-
tive competition. Compet;tion-ag-
gressive, effective competition-means
strife. industrial warfare; 1t means
contention: 1t oftentimes means TAX
ing advantage Of or resorting to any
means that the conscience of the con
testants or the degree Of the enforce
ment Of the laws will permit.
Aggressive competition means
duplication Of plant and investment
The ultimate object of such competi-
ton II the possession Of the field
wholly or partially; therefore 1t
means either ultimate combination on
such basis and with such prices %
will cover past losses. or 1t means
loss of return on Investment, and
eventual loss Of capital However It
results. all costs Of aggressive, un-
controlled competition are eventually
borne. directly or indirectly. by the
public. Competition which is not a.
gressive. presupposes cooperative &C.
ton. understandings. agreements.
which result In general uniformity or
harmony Of action, which. in fact, II
not competition but 10 combination,
unstable. but for the time effective.
When thoroughly understood 1t will
be found that control" will give
more Of the benefits and public ad-
vantages, which are expected to be
obtained through such ownership. and
will obtain them without the public
burden Of either the public ONCE
holder or public debt or operating
deficit.
When through wise and Judi
cious state control and regulation all
the advantages without any Of the
DISADVANTAGES of state Ownershin
are secured. state . ownership IL
doomed"
''If Mr.. Vail il right" says Harper's
Weekly, In . concise summing-up,
then 1t seems pretty plain that we
are entered upon a new era in both
economics and politics. And 1t is high
time we did II evolution 10 to SUP
plant revolution as an efiicient force
In the development Of civilization"