The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1914-05-17
HOUSE IS READY
FOR TRUST BILLS
Debate on Administration
Measures to Begin on
Tuesday.
GIVEN RIGHT OF WAY
Discussion Is Limited. but There Is
No Bar to Amendments-To
Reach Senate June |.

Debate will be begun in the House on
Tuesday on the three administration
antitrust bills An agreement to this
effect was reached yesterday. The bills
will be given the right-of-way and the
House kept at work on them until they
are passed. The leaders expect to trans
fer all of these bills to the Senate by
June /. at the latest.
Tho bills will be taken up in the House
under rule that will be reported by the
Committee on Rules. There will be limi.
tation on debate. but no bar to amend
ments. Six hours debate will be al
lowed on the interstate trade commits
sion bill. eighteen hours on the Clayton
bill, and eight hours on the bill giving
the Interstate Commerce Commission
supervision over the issuance of railway
stocks and bonds. The bills will be
passed in the order named.
It ie the understanding that important
changes will be made in the railway cap
italization bill and in the Clayton bill.
The price-cutting sections of the latter
measure. regarded as drastic in the en-
treme, are to be toned down. The rail-
way capitalization bill is admittedly
faulty in a number of respects and will
be perfected. That its rigorous reguIa-
tons will be modified when the bill Is
fully explained in debate is predicted by
Republican critics of the measure.
May Pass rs Reported.
The Interstate trade commission bill
is likely to be passed just as it was re-
ported.
The report on the stock and bond bill
was filed with the House yesterday. An
indirect reference is made to the affairs
of the New Haven The report says. in
part:
The committee has seen proper to re-
port a provision in the bill prohibiting
common or interlocking directorates or
management. When we learned that the
judiciary Committee was not undertake
ing to deal with the directorates of rail-
road companies, we then needed what ap-
pears to be a public and almost uni
versal demand to prohibit interlocking d.
rectorates of carriers Whether the
necessity for this provision is so great
as represented or not, and whether the
anticipated provision benefits are exag-
gerated or not, there Is a general i'm
preston that most of the wreck and
ruin Of railroads, and consequent DAM
age to public service and the public in
terest has been due to the Vaccinations
Of men who managed different corpora
tons, and by the policies adopted for the
different corporations constituting a sys.
tenn, or about to be consolidated into a
system. wrought ruin to some or all OF
the carriers involved.
Tt has been represented to US that that
practice has ceased: that railroad men
are no longer dishonest or incompetent:
that 1t Is matter Of convenience for the
same men to handle different enterprises
without having to consult 50 many Diff
ferent people, but our observation is that
there are good enough men In the world
to iii every responsible position and then
not enough position to go around. And,
We observe. in answer to the suggestion
that II the practice has ceased the pro-
vision In the law will not hurt, anybody.
for no man viii be punished unless he is
guilty.
'4f any rash ran should decide In the
future to break out and initiate some Of
the disastrous eecapades OF. the past, the
law would be here to give him justice for
his misdeeds. 1t has further been Urged
that In the case of large systems, FORM
ed by the. consolidation OF many smaller
corporations, II Is not necessary to have
different directors for all the minor cor
porations We answer that II is not
necessary to have these consultations,
and she most vicious thing about ali
combinations In Transportation. and all
other kinds of buainess, in that while 1t
multiplies the benefits of the few men re-
tained, II dispenses with the services OF
so many men. both competent to oil
the positions and entitled to tie fair
emolum>nts thereof