Tombstone epitaph., 1916-12-10

| | utiltNts to tNNu>t lt act upon these grave matters or any unnecessary pOstponement of action upon them.
 Not only does the interstate com merce commission now find 1t practi- cally impossible. with its present mem bership and organization. to perform Its great functions promptly and thor oughly, but it Is not unlikely that it may presently be found advisable to add to its duties still others equally heavy and exacting. It must first be perfected as an administrative instru- ment.
 The country cannot and should not consent to remain any longer exposed to profound industrial disturbances for lack of additional means of arbitra- ton and conciliation which the con gress can easily and promptly supply. And all will agree that there must be no doubt as to the power of the eNecu- tive to make immediate and uninter- rupted use of the railroads for the con centration of the military forces of the nation wherever they are needed and whenever they are needed.
 This is a program of regulation. pre- vention and administrative efficiency which argues its own case in the mere statement of it. With regard to one of its items. the increase in the eff ciency of the interstate commerce com mission, the house of representatives has already acted; its action needs l only the concurrence of the senate.
 For Control and Operation.
 l would hesitate to recommend. and I dare say the congress would hesitate to act upon the suggestion should l make it, that any man in any occupa- ton should be obliged by law to con tinue in an employment which he de- sired 10 leave. To pass law which forbade or prevented the individual workman to leave his work before re- ceiving the approval of society in do- ing so would be to adopt a new prin- ciple into our jurisprudence which l take 1t for granted we are not prepared to introduce. But the proposal that the operation of the railways of the country shall not be stopped or inter rupIed by the concerted action of or I | investigation shall have been instituted which shall make the whole question at issue plain for the judgment of the | opinion of the nation is not to propose any such principle. It Is based upon the very different principle that the con 1 certed action of powerful bodies of men | shall not be permitted to stop the in- | duStrial processes of the nation, at any rate before the nation shall have had an opportunity to acQuaint itself with the merits of the case as between en- ployee and employer, time to form its | opinion upon an impartial statement of the merits, and opportunity to con | sider all practicable means of cOncilia- l ton or arbitration.
 l l can see nothing in that proposition but the justifiable safeguarding by so- l ciety of the necessary processes of its very life. There is nothing arbi- trary or unjust in it unless it be arbi- trarily and unjustly done. It can and should be done with full and scrupu- lous regard for the interests and liber- ties of all concerned as well as for the permanent interests of society itself. Other Legislation Urged.
 Three matters of capital importance await the action of the senate which have already been acted upon by the house of representatives the bill which seeks to extend greater freedom Of combination to those engaged in pro- noting the foreign commerce of the country than is now thought by some to be legal under the terms of the laws against monopoly; the bill amending the present organic law of Porto Rico; and the bill proposing a more thor ough and systematic regulation of the expenditure of money in elections, com monly called the Corrupt Practices Act. I need not labor my advice that these measures be enacted into law. Their urgency lies in the manifest circum- stances which render their adoption at this time not only opportune but neces- sary. Even delay would seriously | leopard the interests of the country and of the government.
 Immediate passage of the bill to reg ulate the expenditure of money in cleo tions may seem to be less necessary than the immediate enactment of the other measures to which I refer; be- cause at least two years will elapse before another election in which fed eral offices are to be filled but it would greatly relieve the public mind if this important matter were dealt with while the circumstances and the dan gers to the public morals of the pres ent method of obtaining and spending campaign funds stand clear under re- cent observation and the methods of expenditure can be frankly studied in the light of present experience; and a delay would have the further very se- rfous disadvantage of postponing ac- tion until another election was at hand and some special object connected with 1t might be thought to be in the mind of those who urged it. Action can be taken now with facts for guidance and without suspicion of partisan purpose I shall not argue at length the desir- ability of giving a freer hand in the mntter of combined and concerted ef | fort to those who shall undertake the