New Britain herald., 1915-08-19
ONE LAW FOR ALL.

SooiItIS 10 lIlc lOoLl1lS VI lam oe>"N
Evidence of this has been manifested
by the wrecking of some of the great
est railroad properties by directors
whose consciences were as hard ae
the steel rails of their roads lhe
heavy work done b. the men IN coh-
troll of the New York. New Haven anu
Hartford road at a time when it was
'on the verge of its greatest pros
perity will never be forgotten by
trusting public 1t was perfect Joo'
one we'll worthy of the financial
geniuses who sat around the couhcil
board and gathered in twenty dollar
gold nieces for attending directors
meetings the sole object of which were
to make millions vanish Into thin
air" Bv neat process of throwing
books into the flames all evidence that
might convict these men was care
fulIv covered up and, as result,
scoundrels who should now be wither-
ing behind steel bars are allowed to
lumber through the streets of great
cities in their automobiles while lesser
thieves, men who stole bread and the
like, are serving time in jails.
With all the Investigations into the
maze of crooked work done by certain
men high in the councils of wrecked
railroads, the evidence put forward ny
the Interstate Commerce Commission
has never yet been used to CONVEY
anyone. This is not attributed to the
weakness of the Interstate Commerce
Commissions work as much as IL Has
been laid to the door of the Depart
ment of Justice. Tt will De reilleli
bered that when McReynolds was A.
torney General, he was severely a.
raiened on this subject by those VINO
accused him of not wanting 10 prose-
cute these men. Former Go'erno'
Folk, Of Missouri, chief counsel ol 'lle
Interstate Commerce Commission az
the time of the New Haven lnVest1ga-
ton brought out some startling 1ac's
during his cross examinat ton OF W.T. !,
nesses facts which were strong |
enough to send any man to the peni-
Tertiary were they proved; and, for |
the most part, they were proven.
Now the Rock Island Railroad is |
in the limelight, much in the same
fashion as the New Haven road was
a year or so ago. The Interstate
Commerce Commission has Investigate
ed this looting, too; but burned books |
have figured in the case just as they
did in the New Haevn scandal. Ever
month regularly books were burned |
and. as a consequence, no one with
ever know just how much was garner
ed by the looters.>ss AS in the New |
Haven it has been brought to light |
that a large number of the directors |!
were totally in the dark anent the |
various shady transactions. But there !,
were. a few directing heads" who did !
the manipulating From past history |
it is seen that there are always e.
few men who would break any COR
poration for their own selfish interest
and after the work has been done.
and the books properly and promptly
burned, nothing ever happens to these
fortunate few. Because no one can
point the finger of accusation at any
one party the law is never brought
to play. 1t would seem that it is
time for something to be done in this
direction. A few of these financial
geniuses lodged behind prison walls
would restore a lot Of lost confidence
to stockholders and others interested
In justice to the honest men in the
railroad business the dishonest ones
should be placed out of temptations
way. Is the Depa rtment of Justice
going to- sleep. on the job, or is the
Clayton law not strong enough?
There should be either an awakening
or more stringent statute drafted
vesting in the courts greater power.