Show PRESIDENT OUTLINES ISSUES OF THE DAY important recommendations as to legislation made in annual message to congress large part of document devoted to corporations and railroad rate legislation relations of labor and capital dealt with fully the message of president roose velt read at the first sees on of the fifty ninth congress congratulates the people on the cont aued prosper the nation the close relation chip and mutual dependence upon each other of capital and labor are pointed it and the message con finues corporations yet while not merely admitting but in dating upon this it s also t ue that wh re there Is no go e cestra nt r super s on some of the except onal len use the r ene agles not n was that e tor the common good but in ways h ah tel against th rimon good 0 fortunes an assed th ough corporate jp anicat on are now so la ge and vest ft h power in those hit wed them as to make it a mitter of nece s ty to gl e to the so ere agn that is to he go ern anent which re e ants the people as a whole some effect e lower of su pervis ion over th r po a e se in der to insure a hea hy so al an 1 al life every b g corpo a on shou d be he d re bv and be a e to some sovereign strong e auh to cort ol 01 its conduct I 1 an n s nse hos ie to cor po rations th s a a age of combi at on and any effort to i re ent a 1 comb na alon wl 1 be not only use ess but n the end vicious be au e of the contempt tor law which the ta ure to enforce law in evitable evit ably p doduc s we shou d moreover recognize in d a and ami e fash on the immense good ed by po ate agencies in a cou such as ours and the wealth of in ellece energy and fidel ity de doted to t el se ce and there lore normal to he se ce ot the by their office s ind d actors the cor De ration has ome to stay just as the trade union has ome to s ay each can do and has done g eat good each should be favored so lo 10 g it does good but each shou d be sha ply checked where it acts against law and c the president shoes the of the nd vidual states deal ing successfully with corporation greed and the necessity of confarr ng power upon the general government even to the extent of a proper amend ment to the constitution he says it has been a rn sf that the national laws on th b act have h ther to been of a nea e p oh b alve rather than an affa affi n at e k nd a d sti 1 more that they ha e part dougl t to pro albit what could not be effect ey pro and hive in part in their pro confounded what shou 1 be allowed and wh shou d not oe al owed it is gene al useless to try to aroh b t all cestra nt on compel t on whether this restraint be creaso able or asonat e and e it i not useless it is genera ly hurtful E ants have shown hat it ot po s b e adequate to secure the enforcement of an law of this and by nee nt the courts the depar rn nt of ju ce 1 as tor the ast tour sea s de doted mo e a 0 o the effo cemen of he ant t leg s atlon than to in hi g e se much hed r cu arly marked las been the mo al effect of the alons but t is inc eis ng e ident that there will be a e ent beneficial result in the way of economic change the successful prosecution of one de ice 0 o evade the law dimmed abely deve aps ops mother de ce to sh the same purpose wl at Is needed is not sweep ng prohibition of e e arrangement good or sad which may tend to res ct compete ion but such adelua e sui e vision and regulation as w 1 ent any res rl tion of competition from be ng to the detri ment of the is well as uch supervision and regu a ion as wl 1 pre vent othe abuses n no dav connected with restriction of compete of t ese abuses perhaps tl e ef a though by no means the only one s e cap al za alon gene a 1 se f the es it of d s honest promotion because of the ivr ad evils it bi n 1 s train for such er on otte means an that invites bus ne s pa ic it a ways con ceals the true re a on of the profit earned to the ac ual cap al invested and it creates a bu den of inte est payments h is a te t cause of marope re or in 1 mita on of wages it damages the sma in stor discourages thrift and encourages gambling and spec e per s wo st of a 1 Is the trickiness and dishonesty which it imp es for harm to mo a s a d w orse than any possible harm to ma e al inte ests and the debauche of politics and business by great d corporations is far worse than any ac ual mate la ev 1 they do the public 1 the na onal govern blent obtains in some manner which the wisdom of the congress may suggest proper control over the big corporations engaged in in commerce that is over the great ot the b g cor po rations it wil be impossible to deal adequately with these e Is I 1 am well awa e of ane d of the legislation that I 1 am suggesting and of the need 0 temperate and cautious action in securing it Is emphatic ally protest against improper radical or hasty act on the first th ng to do Is to deal with the great ons en in the business of ers ate trails port atlon As I 1 said in my message of dec 6 last the and most pressing need so far as legislation Is concerned Is the enactment into aw of some scheme to secure to the agents of the government such supervision and regulation of the ra es cha ged by the railroads of the countr engaged in inter detate traffic as st all s amar ly and effectively pre ent the apos alon of un or unreason ab e rates it must in putt ng a comp ete s op to rebates in every sha e and form this power to regulate lates ke all simi ar powers over the bus ness world should be exer sided with mode at on cau on and se f es but it should exist so that it be effectively exercised when the need arises the first consloe atlon to be kept in mind la that the power should be affirm itlie and should be gi en to some ad body bated by the congress f given to the p ese t interstate coin nerce comm ss on or to a reorganized interstate commerce commission such sho id e made unequivocally e I 1 do not believe in the 0 eminent interfering w th ate busl less more tha is necessary I 1 do not 11 in tl e government undertaking my work wh ch can w th propriety be eft in a e hands but nei her do I 1 in the go ern nent flinching f om er seeing any wo k when it becomes aident that abuses are sure to obtain herein unless there is governmental cuper islon it Is not my province to indicate the exact term of the law which should be enacted but I 1 cal the on rf the cong ess to certa n existing con lotions with which t s des rab e to deal my judgment he mos important p cislon which such law should conta n s that confer ing upon some competent e body the power to decide apon the case be ng brought before it nether a gl en rate hresc abed by a rail oad Is reasonable and and it it I 1 aund to be un e and unjust hen after full in es gallon of the corn ilaine to hresc be the limit of rate eyona h it sha 1 not be lawful to go the maximan e rate as it Is commonly omm only cal ed th s decision to go into fleet within a creaso able time and to obtain from thence onward subject to aview by the courts it sometimes nap lens at present not that a rate Is too ligh but that a fa orad shipper Is given oo 00 low a rate in such case the commis lion would ha e the right to fix this already shed minimum rate as he maximum and it would need one or t vo such decisions iv the commissio commis to cure railroad corn canles of the practice of gl ing improper rates I 1 call your attention to 1 e fact that my proposal Is not to give he commission owe to initiate or ra es gene ally but to regulate i rate a ready faxe 1 or g bated by the oads upon compla nt nd after invests atlon A hea penalty shou d be ex acted from any corporation which fall respect an der of the comm aslon I 1 gard this power establish a maximum ate as beant essen lal to any scheme of eal reform in the matter of ral way emulation the first necessity is to se anre it and unless it Is granted to the there is little use in touch ng the subject at all continuing the president earnestly any spirit of hostility to he railroads pointing out the bene its to be derived by the fair dealing oads in the evell added adminis tra ion of in this both the hon est railroad man and the honest ship per al le would be benefited ending the subject the pres dent says all ate caf ines indest lal roads refrigerator charges and the 1 ke should be expressly put under the supera on of the inte state con merce comm ss or son e sim lar bod so far as rates and s bract ca ly affect ng rates are concerned the p I 1 a e car owne s a d the owne s of adus al ra roads are entitled a fair and ea bonab e campen bation on their n estment but ne her pr ate cars nor dus a ra 1 oada nor spur t acla shou d be ut zed as devices for securing arefe ent al A rebate n ic ng charges or in m eige or n a d s on of the a e tor ge a ng cha is jus as ous as a rebate in any oti er way no ower rate should apply goods impo ted nan actual obtains to dome t goods t om the amer can s aboa d to de ti at on except in cases where water compete ion Is the contro ng influence there should be city of the accounts of common car e no common ca rier engaged in in e state b sine sl keep any books or memoranda other than those reported pu to aw or regu atlon and these books or memo and should be open to the inspection of the go only in th s way can olat ons or evas ons 0 the law be sure detec ed A system of examination of ra road accounts should be pro aided s m lar to that now conducted into the nat ona banks by the bank examiners a few first class ra broad ac coun tants it they 1 ad proper direction and proper autho ty to inspect books and pipers could sh much in prevent ng wi ful of the aw it aou d not be for them to exam ne into the accounts of any ra broad unless fo good eamons they were d to do so by the interstate commerce commiss on it Is greatly to be desired that some way m be found by wh ch an ag cement as to transportation with n a state intended to operate as a fraud upon the federal interstate commerce laws could be brought under the juris d atlon of the fede al authora lea at p besent t occurs that large sh prents of interstate traffic are control ed by con cess ons on pu ely state tius ness wh ch of course amounts to an e as on of the law the comm aslon shou d 1 ave power to enforce fa r treatment by the great trunk ines of lateral and b anch lines I 1 urge upon the cong e the need for lous action by the interstate corn merce commission in a 1 t ese matters her in regulating rates for tran tation or for sto ng or tor hand ng property or commodities in transit fhe history of the cases 1 under the present commerce act shows that its effic ency has been to a great degree destroyed by the weapon of delay almost tl e most formidable weapon in the ha ds of those whose purpose it Is to violate the law the question of transportation lies at the root of a 1 industrial success and the re alution n at on which has taken place dur g the last half century has been the most important fac or in the growth of the new industrial conditions most ca ly we do not wish to see the man of g ea talen s refused the re ward for h s tal ants st 1 less do we wish to see h m penal zed bu we do desire to see the ss em of ra road tation so hand ed that tl e st ong man sl a 1 be given no ad aniag er the weak man we w sh to insure as fa r treatment for the sma 1 town as for the big city for the small shipper as tor the b g shipper in the old days the highway of commerce whether by water or by a road on land was open to al it be longed to the and the traffic a ong t was free at present the railway s th s h and we must do our best to see that it is kept open to a 1 on alual te ms ke t e old highway it is a very d t and complex h ng to n anage and it Is fa better that it hou d be managed by p 1 ate ind ideals than by the go ern ment but t can only be so managed on condition that j st ce Is done the it s because n my judgment pub ic owne sh i of railroads Is high andes r able and would pro ably in th s country entail tar reach ng d that I 1 wish to see such supe v slon and regula ion of them in the ante est of the as wl 1 make it e dent that here Is no need for pub p the opponents of government regu atlon dwell upon the d to be encountered and the intricate and involved nature of the lem their contention s true it is a comp and de cate em and all kinds of d t es are sure to arise in connection with any pan of so ution while no plan will bring a 1 the benefi s hoped to by its mo e optimistic abher ants moreo er under any healthy p a the benefits wll de elop fradua and not rapidly final we must clearly under stand that the s who are to do this becu a ly re pons ble and del cate work must thease ves be of the highest ape both as regards ty and efficiency they must be we 1 pad or otherwise able men can not in the long run be secured and they must possess a lofty ty which w revo t as QU ck ly at the though of pandering to any gust of popular ce against rich men as the thought of anthne e en remotely resembling to ch men but wh e I 1 lui adm t the d fal cu t in the way I 1 do not fo a moment admit hat these les warrant us in stopp ng n our effort to secure a wise and just system tl ey shou d have no other effect than to spur us on to the exercise of the on the even hand ed just ce and the fert lity of resource which we ike to think of as american and wh ch wl 1 in the end ach eve good results in this as in other fields of activity the task is a g eat one and underlies the task of deal ng with the whole industrial em but the fact that it s a great problem does not warrant us in shrink ng from the attempt to sol e it at present we face such utter lack of super s on such freedom from the cestra ants of law that axce lent men 1 ave often been 1 te a ly forced into do ng what they deplored because hedw se they were left at the mercy of unscrupulous competitors to rail at and assa 1 the men who have done as tl ey best could under the cond t ons ashes little what we need to do Is to de e op an derly system and such a system can only come through the gradual increased exe else of the right of effic ent government control the necessity for safety appliances on railroads recommended in the president s message to the last con gregs is emphasized together wih the necessity for a law regulating the hours of labor of railroad men on the labor question the mes sage sas there has been demand for depriving courts of the power to assue injunctions in labor d shutes such spec al 1 m tation of the ty powers of our courts aou d be most se I 1 is t ue that some judges ha e misused th s power but this does not just fy a den a of the power mo e than an improper exert se ot the power to call a st ke by a labor leader aou d just fy the den al of the r to s ke the remedy s to regu ate the procedure by requiring the jude to give due notice to the ad erse pa es bafo e granting the writ the hea ing to be ex arte it the ad erse pa does not ap 1 ear at the t me and p ace ordered W hat is due notice must depend upon the facts of the case if should not be used aa a pretext to permit violation of law W the jeoma dazing of 1 fe or prope ty at course this would not author ze the iss 1 g of a cestra ning order or t on in any case in wh ch it s not a ready auti by exist n law I 1 renew the recommendation I 1 made in my last ann a message for an in estigo ion by t e depa ament of commerce an labor of gene al labor dl ons espee attention to be pa d to the cond alons of ch id labo and achl d labor eg u at on in the several states such an in est gat on should take into account the va lous ems with which the quest on of cl d labor is connected it s true that these p can be actual v met in mo t cases only by the states themselves but it would lie wel for the nit on to endear or to acure and publish comprehend compre hens ve informs ion as to he cond t ons of the labor of children in the d terent sta es so as to spur up those that are behind hand and to becu e uni fo m leg s aaion of a h gh character char acte among the severa states in such a ke u I 1 |