The Washington herald., 1913-03-12
Local Commercial Leaders De.
clare Against Legislative
Tendencies.
PROSPERITY IS THE TEST
Existing Conditions Do Not Call for
Drastic So-ealled Pop
ular Laws.

of the District regarding the tendency Of
| Congress and the State Legislatures to
| seek to regulate business. the opinion was
| unanimously expressed by them yester-
| day in favor of leaving well enough alone
| and continuing in our present paths.
They feel that the business of this coun-
| try is so firmly established upon its pres
| ent basis that any changes Will have a
detrimental effect.
| The present great prosperity of the
| country, they feel. is due to present busi-
| ness conditions. and that prosperity will
| continue only as long as business Is left
| unmolested. They are wary OF reform
legislation, and think too much attention
is paid to a popular demand for changes
without proper investigation to determine
whether this or that measure will correct
supposed existing evil.
| Yesterday, several prominent business
men emphaticslly expressed themselves
| along these lines. Some admitted that
! few minor changes would remedy GER
| tain conditions. of which there is COM
plant, and others are opposed to any
| changes whatever.
Mr.. StrnsburEer Gives Views.
1--WE are waxing fat and yet we arc
| kicking"
This was the statement made last night
| by Joseph Strasburger. president OF the
I
| ed for an opinion regarding the large
number OF bills pending in Congress.
| seeking to regulate business.
This country at present said Mr..
| Strasburger, rs enjoying its greatest
| prosperity l. for one, am in favor of as
little legislation seeking to regulate priv
ate business as is possible. / can see
10 need for it. Too much attention is
paid to the clamor of the people for re-
spur Of the moment, rushed through
Congress without time being taken 90
consider whether they will remedy the
evil intended to or not. They are passed
merely TO quiet the people.
II do not think the banking system
OF this country is in need OF any radical
reform. There is but one change that
l would like to see and that is that the
national banks be given the right to ac-
cept real estate security. just as the
trust company has that right. The ma
ti0nal banks are handicapped in this
respect There is no reason why they
should not be permitted TO accept real
estate security just the same as the trust
company for both are under government
supervision and control.
The New York Stock Exchange,
think. is conducted on strictly sound
business principles. Any restrictive
measures passed to regulate its business
along certain lines will prove detrimental
to the business of the country. l be-
lieve that the great period of prosperity
which we are now enjoying will continue
indefinitely if we leave well enough
alone"
Radical Action Bad.
81 believe" said George E. Walker.
prominent lumberman. yesterday. in
speaking of the tendency to enact re-
OF he
legislation We have restricting business
the longer this country will enjoy its
present prosperity.
There are evils in the business of
our country which perhaps could be rem
edied by restrictive measures, but / am
not in favor of hasty legislation. Any
radical changes will have a bad effect
upon business. II any changes are made
| am in favor of their being made only
after a thorough investigation.
Il think that the banking system OF
this country is not as bad as the re-
formers would have us believe. l think
that if the national banks We're given
the right to accept real estate securities
the same as the trust companies have
a right to do. we would need no other
changes. The national banks are handi-
capped in this respect: they are standing
still, while the trust companies are grow
ing by leaps and bounds Real estate
securities are the safest in the world
and there is no reason why they should
not be accepted by national banks. Both
the trust companies and the national
banks are under government control and
supervision: what is fair for one is fair
for the other"
Others Expires. Opinions.
The subject is such broad one" said
Samuel Ross. that / hesitate to express
an opinion off hand. but 1 do think that
the New York Stock Exchange does dam
age on marginal sales This is very in
furious to legitimate business. 1 think
it would be better if this were elimi-
nated.'
Col. Robert y. Harper feels there are
certain reforms needed. He adds that
the government should be slow in enact
ing restraining legislation. He said:
Each proposition should be dealt with
according to the individual conditions. I
think there cannot be any hard and
fast general law laid down. The mere
fact that a certain industry has made
money one year is no sign that it should
be handicapped by legislation. My stand
is that the large business industries have
made the country what it is. They,
of course, should not be given privi-
leges unless they protect the people.
That is, il a street car company is given
franchise in city, it should be made
to give the service to which the people
are entitled
There is a necessity for banking re-
FORM said John Joy Edison, but 1t
should be national in character, and
should have in view the establishment
of a more uniform and elastic currency
system. Wherever there is a local propo-
sition with which We must deal-where
the practices of the local banks are not
consistent with good banking-that should
be attended to by the State Legislatures.
The currency is one of the live issues
of the day. 1t is co-equal with the tar
iff In fact, / think 1t is more impor-
tant than the tariff. Congress has been
working on the currency for years, and
as yet no definite legislation has taken