The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-20
MT. Wickersham Makes the Most Radical Speech of
 His Career
LAW OF SUPPLY AND
 DEMAND IS IGNORED
Attorney General Declares Govern ment Commission to Regulate Great Industrial Organiza-
 tions Most Desirable


 
 Duluth, Minn., July 19.--After 2 day crowded with enjoyment for himself and for the delegates to the Minnesota State Bar association, of which body he was today's chief guest. Attorney General wickersham this evening at tended josh banquet given by the same association. There were no speeches at the banquet. Tomorrow Mir. Wickersham will leave for Hancock, Mich, where he will make an address Friday.
 MT. wickersham before the Minne- sota State Bar association here this aft ernoon, took an advanced stand on the further federal regulations of corpora lions and declared government com mission to regulate great industrial or eanizations in the same way that the interstate commerce commission regu- lates railroads was certainly most de- sirable and it might be absolutely nec- ] essary
 MT. wickershsms speech was little short of sensational in many of it's fea- tures He declared 1t was matter Of serious consideration whether 1t would be practical 10 give to the proposed interstate corporation commission the power to fix rates He said to do this would simply require an extension Of the principle by which the interstate commerce commission controls the rates on railroads.
 The law of supply and demand, MT. Nickersham said, no longer controls prices in the United States. For years, he declared, the prices in all the great staple industries have been fixed by an agreement between the principal pro- l ducers and not by a normal play of free competition. An interstate com mission, the Attorney General added, would prevent violations of the anti trust acts and aid business men to maintain continued status of harmony within the requirements of the law gl Many or MT. Wiekersham's decara tions were the most radical he has made since his entrance Into official life There was nothing in the speech, how ever, to indicate how far the Attorney General reflected the views of Presi- dent Taft On several occasions in the last year he has been regarded as the spokesman for the administrations
 A Great Problem
 The Attorney General discussed what further regulation of interstate com merce is necessary or desirable from broad point of view and said he had not attempted to express a conclusion but merely to state the elements of great problem
 That some further regulation of cor porations carrying on commerce among the states may be necessary" he said, tie nty,er No ,,,a ffnr .f at comment. It has been openly advocated quite recently by representatives of some of the larger combinations of cap ital, probably as a means of salvation and to, preserve, under government supervision, great organizations whose continued existence Is menaced by the recent interpretation of the sherman act. To such, it is case of any port in a storm Better, continued CO., operative life, even under a powerful master. than dissiminated properties and segregated activities without con stant governmental supervision But there are other reasons for such regulations. The federal department of Justice is not organized or equipped to maintain constant supervision and con- trol over business organizations. It deals only with cases of violation of the law The activities of an administrative board or commission would be directed to pre- venting such violations, and in aiding business men to maintain a continued status of harmony with the requirements of the law.
 whether or not such a federal indus trial commission should have power to regulate prices is, of course, matter for serious consideration. The interstate com merce law prescribes as 8 legislative rule that prices. for transportation by rail or wire, or pipe line. shall be reasonable and that no unjust discrimination shall lA da hntrs it,dt ttA, lc nr 1Oro tnc similarity situated. A similar rule might be declared by Congress with respect to the prices of commodities handled in in- terstate commerce.
 we have become accustomed to the regulation of rates of transportation, but the suggestion that prices of commodi- ties be regulated by Congress seems novel and radical .f,.tt ..-}i
 Principle of Regulation
 'Yet, the principle on which the reg ulation of transportation rates is based Is simply that when property is used in manner to make it of public conse- ouence and effect the community at large 1t becomes clothed with a public use and may be controlled by the public for the common good. ts 'The conduct of the great commerce in staple articles among the states Is becoming matter of public consequence and the courts have upheld legislation regulating It and prescrlDln8 SoIhe foL tne conditions under which it may be carried on. To require, as one of these condi- tions, that prices for commodities dealt in interstate commerce must be reason- able. only involves new application of the same principle. 6tst@ "The antitrust legislation of the United States and most of the separate states is based on the theory that. the natural price of an article Is that nxed by the operation of the natural law of supply and demand. working without artificial restraint ..ss-i-.,s. ts.siflss. i4stassstts. But the fact is that the law of supply and demand does not and has not for many years worked in this country in an unusual restrained and unfettered manner.Ffhe government in tho first instance interposes an artt- hcial restraint in the protective tariff on imports. True, the theory of this tariH to equalize conditions of com- / potion; to place as 1t were, handicap on the foreign competitor who has pro- duced his commodities under icondi- tions less burdensombe than those un- der which the American manufacturer produces his.s. But, in fact. the inequaI- : ities resulting from the method of tar fir legislation are very often impos- sible to justify on the theory of suf- 
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