The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1916-01-17

lions which. happily, are still honorous
but its failure creates q feeling OF die
coufagement bordering on pesslmtsm
which forms the most serious obsta'
Gle Of real improvements liz the adj
fnstnent Of governinentm methods to
new exigenciesg
5ustfee Hughess took up tour dnnl
tBysfemss or commerce regulattonW
sState ana FedaraI-which had enors
mouslySincreased, he said the dificulsi
Jtya and TimportanceIotStheE work Of the
courts az finterpretersfof HeEcited,
thefInterstateF Commercegact and sta
stute which with similar purpose and
Sthoroughness deal with transportation
that is interstate, conducted by the.
sameScarriers."
"our recent reports he said, "ab-
undantly show that question of the ut
most nicely are constantly being pre-
sented5 in the application Of new sta
ltutes, and evidence the extreme dill
Guilty Of the work OF carrying out the
will of Congress over the activities
within its control while at the same
time avoiding encroachments upon the
State field 1t is the problem Of many
governments inSone nation, dealing
with portions. of an activity which has
economic unity
It was necessary, he said, to pre-.
serve the essential elements Of both.
State and Federal governments, with
out permitting local autonomy to be
destroyed by the pnwarranted asser-
ton of Federal power, and without al
lowing state action to throw out of
gear the requisite machinery for un-
ity. Of control in national concerns.
ttThts," he said, demands far more
careful efforts. in cooperation than we
have hitherto put FORTH
The speaker then dwelt upon the
judicial function" in determining the
scope and validity of State and Fed
eral law and said that important as
this function was, sit should not be
oyerburdened, nor should work be ex-
pected Of It5,which should otherwise
be performed.
every often" he said. "the differ
ences that exist between State and
Federal law governing different phases
of the same general activity are u
more to accident or lack of forethough
than to difference in deliberate pur-
pose, We have had in our States too
little regard for, the remoter and IN
direct consequences of legislation.
There has been, perhaps, too much
thought of questions OF abstract pow
Ier rather than of its sagacious use by
those who after all must have made
a common prosperity or none at all.
Some progress, very gratifying a
meen made toward unifying our COM
mercial law by the enactment OF uni
forme acts in many States, relating
to negotiable Instruments, warehouse
receipts. bills of lading and sales. But
It should be possible to do far more
than has been done in the promotlon
of agreement rather than diversity, in
asmuch as u people are to a very
great extent inspired by the same
ideals. When Congress had legtslated
on a subject within its province vari-
'ations in statutes as to corresponding
activities in the local field may well be
examined to see whether such 1varia-
sttons are worth while or whether 1t
would be possible to secure harmony
without sacrifice of any real local in
tterest. The various administrative
commissions easily provide opportunt-
ties for deltberation and conference
which should be Of inestimahle Inn
portance in avoiding unfortunate diff
ferences, particularly when the legis-
Iatiye policies underlying admtnistra-
tive action appear TO be identical. IN
In most cases differences yield to q
complete understanding OF facts and
equipment for competent investiga-
tions should diminish the dangers OF
conflict. 1t will seem to be clear that
bodies Of intelligent men dealing as