Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1915-01-29
With the Editors
THE LA TOILETTE IDEA.
EDITORIAL in the New York Time

Inc result OL tue WlSCOAISIu cleC'
ton Is ample evidence that Wisc0n.
sin has had a sufficiency for the pres,
ent of the Wisconsin idea. Senator
LaFollette wants the United States
to have TOO much of it. He has NOV
ed the senate to annul the advance of
rates granted to the railways by the
interstate commerce commission on
the ground that the commission ex-
ceeded it's powers under the law. 1t
is not to be supposed that the senate
will pass the resolution, first, be-
cause the senate is not a judicial
BODY, and will not assume to inter,
pref the law for the supreme court;
and, second, because the subject has
been intrusted to che commission,
and therefore is outside the action Of
congress except by the passage of an
other law. Yet the senator's resolu-
ton is interesting as showing the
defect of regulation of the LaFollette
sort. So long. as the regulation of
rates was downward it was allowed
to proceed, but at the first step to.
ward regulation upward it is propos-
ed to take power away from the body
%intrusted with it, and supposedly bet.
ter informed about it now than con.
gress itself. The rule of regulation is
good only so long as it works one
way, in the LaFollette philosophy.
The c~ountry-and the senate; pre-
sumably-thinks that + is a poor rule
which does not work both ways, ana
in the interest of both the railways
and the country.
In the words of the senator, the
advance was granted "solely upon
the grounds and for the reason that
in the opinion of the commission the
railways are in need of money" The
senator would have been more near.
ly right if he had said that the ad.
vance was granted because the coun-
try needs railway facilities, and the
commission saw that railways could
not supply the need without money.
The railways keep nothing for them.
selves. All the money the railways
take in is paid out, either for labor,
The railways retain nothing but a
surplus, or a sort of financial hy-
wheel, to keep the machine from
stalling on a dead point dcn as &C.
casionally comes.
The railways have no interests an
tagcnistic to the country's. They are
a part of the country. Their owners,
employees and customers are a large
part of the community. To fatten the
railways purse is only to enable
them to spend freely. 1T is necessary
Ia oc1| norpoicci1r hooore1 fh@ uoSS
ways alone are not able to share the
community's prosperity. Their rates
and their costs are fixed in a manner
not true of any other interest. Rail
way rates did not rise with other
prices, although their costs did rise.
The commission made a virtue or
holding rates down, and now sees
that it did more harm than good in
refusing to allow rates to keep COM
pany with other prices. The commits.
sion has learned that there is an un.
written law superior to the statute
under which it acts, and that the
real power controlling rates is the
power Of investors to deprive the
country of railway facilities if dhe
of rates is disapproved,
Senator LaFollette has not learned
this yet, and it is not worth while to
teach him. Last May he inflicted
upon the senate a thousand pages of
inconsequeatial matter upon this sub
ject, without influencing the opinion
of a soul. 1t was said to be his swan,
song, and the Wisconsin elections
confirmed the relief promised by the
end of his term. His IT,
tie to fame rests securely upon his
thousand unread pages, and he is not
entitled to a second monument
New York Times. "..
Mr.. THAW's ROYAL PROGRESS.
The journey of MIR. Harry X. Thaw
from Concord, N. H., t. the Tombs
in New York bore semblance
to a royal progress. With true king
ly tact he issued a proclamation,
coucheG in the most gracious terms,
IN which he thanked the citizens Of
New Hampshire for their great kind
ness to himself and his mother, and
expressing surprised regret that the
supreme court had not permitted him
to go to Pittsburg instead of sending
him back to New York.
His arrival in Boston aroused the
New England conscience as it has
not been aroused since Webster's 9TH
of March speech. Cameras clicked,
flashlights 'blazed, reporters inter-
and thousands cheered as the
hero of the hour vas led through the
railroad station and borne thence in
taxicab to a hotel. Men tried to
shake his hand and women begged
the privilege of a kiss. In the days
Of their might Ralph Waldo Emerson,
James Russell Lowell, Oliver Wendell
Holmes and " John l.. Sullivan
have entered and departed from Bos-
without awakening any outburst
Of popular enthusiasm, but not one
If these could boast of such fame as
Thaw's. That a scant 200 shivering
citizens gathered in the Grand Cen
trail station to watch the beginning
Of the final stage of the royal prog
ress is an indication that hero wor-
does not flourish here as in the
of America.
IN all these expressions of sympa-
for Harry K. Thaw there spoke
voice OF the mob. 1t breathes a
spirit that demagogues, both ignor-
INT and educated, are only too fond
" arousing.-New York Herald.
PRAISE GERMAN BRAVERY.
London, Jan. 2S.-British troops at
he front are growing free with their
raise of Individual acts Of bravery