The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1911-05-04
00U OUHTTUV IHUO
URGING REGULATION
WITH PROCRESS|VES
In Interviews Say Pub
lie Service Utilities
Need Control.
MELLEN IN SPEECH
MELLEN in SPEECH
Conservative Head of Great
New Haven System Fa-
vors Municipal Harbor.

Washington, d. C.-The "let the
corporations alone" arguments of
the "standpatters" are being riddl-
ed from unexpected quarters. by fir
ing from the ear. Some of the
heads of big corporations themselves
recently have astounded the politi-
clans who Off years have blindly
fought the corporations battle, as
they supposed. They are wondering
what has happened.
New England, the stronghold of
conservation, is turning its guns on
the s~tandpatters and beginning to
take sides with the West on the plat
|ofmr that the people are the partners
and not the prey of the great corpo-
rations, and that there should be
public supervision and control to
protect the public from corporation
abuses.
The standpatters have been fight
ing the p%rogressives along this line
for years, with varying success.
When, however, we'll aimed shots be-
gin to come from the ranks of the
corporations the old leaders real
|ize it is time to rush their reserves
to the front.
When Theodore N. Vail of Boston,
president of the Bell telephone sys-
TEN, in his annual report, advocated
control and regulation of public SER
vice corporations by permanent COM
missions, the "standpat" leaders
smiled.
"Just a sop to the stockholders to
keep them in good humor," they said,
"and to the public to keep them from
keeping up their fire."
When George NJ. Reynolds, presi-
dent of the Continental and CONNER
cial National Bank of Chicago, the
second largest in the country, fired
a second shot and declared that ma
tional supervision 'is inevitable and
necessary" that if the big interests
have abused the public's confidence,
such practices must be stopped, the
smiles were not quite SO confident.
Fish and Nudge Also.
Then followed in quick succession,
similar statements by S%tuyvesant
Fish of New York, and Henry U.
Nudge, president of the Rock Is
land railway lines. The smiles had
changed to sickly grins by then, but
the "old guard" tried to comfort
themselves by saying,
"Fish is disgruntled because he
was forced out of the presidency of
the Illinois Central, and Nudge is
simply making a play to keep the
people of the West friendly towards
his road"
Then came another cannon shot
from conservative New England.
Charles e. Mellen, president of the
New York, New Haven & Hartford
railway system, speaking before the
boston Chamber of Commerce, indi-
lcated plainly that he considered the
business of a big corporation as a
semi-partnership affair with the peo-
pie. Advocating a municipality own
led and operated harbor for Boston
he said:
This is all in accordance with
modern thought and practice"
The concern of which Mellen is
the head, operates many steamers,
freight and passenger, and owns
some of it's docks. For years it has
steadily pursued the policy of con-
trolling everything in which it is
interested.
The old leaders are beginning to
wonder whether Wall street is about
to desert to the enemy and ask I'm
lcle Sam to regulate it.
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