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Show LEADS WAR ON TRUSTS HERBERT KNOX SMITH DOING IMPORTANT WORK. Commissioner of Corporations a Native Na-tive of Massachusetts and Only 38 Years Old His Assistants Assist-ants All Under 50. lloston. President Koosovelt has a happy faculty of putting Into Import-Hit Import-Hit posts men with us grent capacity 'or work ns himself. Ho has gono outside political ruts '.or his ulds, nnd hns sought capacity fjrst, wherovcr It was to ho found. He ins favored young men, new to public tiro, nnd several of tho best workers In the great government mill ut Wash-'ngton Wash-'ngton ho has chosen from Now England. Eng-land. One of his busiest nsslstnnts In tho orusado ngalnst trusts, which at pros-snt pros-snt overshadows all other activities of the administration, Is Herbert Knox Smith, n native of Chester, Mass., who holds tho responsible post of commissioner commis-sioner of corporations. Mr. Smith Is tho son of u Congregational Congrega-tional minister, and n graduate of Yale, class of 1801, nnd of Yale law school, 1S05. Ills early education was obtained at Farmlngton, Conn., nnd Lnwroncovllle. Ho entered public llfo at Hartford, Conn,, where ho was a member of tho common council In 1 000. Then ho bo-camo bo-camo representative In the Connecticut Connecti-cut legislature from Hartford for two terms. Ho was appointed deputy commissioner com-missioner of corporations hy President Hoosovolt August 15, 1003. under James It. Gnrlleld, and when Mr. (inr-Held (inr-Held was appointed secretary of tho Interior In March B, 1007, Mr. Smith waa promoted to l commissioner of corporations In tho department of commerce nnd labor nt a salary of $5,000 per year. Tho corpoiatlons bureau, of which the commissioner In the head, Is little more than four years .old, having been crented simultaneously with tho organization or-ganization of the department of commerce com-merce mid labor, of which it is a most Important branch. Tho law gives the commissioner of corporations power nnd authority to make diligent investigation Into the organization, conduct nnd management of the business of nny corporation, Joint slock company or corporato combination com-bination engaged In commerce among tho several stntes, nnd with foreign nations, excepting the railroads and such common carriers ns come under tho jurisdiction of the interstate commerce com-merce commission. Tho work of the corporations bu-reau bu-reau is not only Intricate and far-reaching, far-reaching, but nlso delicate, slnco it must of necessity make extensive Investigations In-vestigations into tho private affairs of citizens. When It wns first established many men of affairs resented Its curiosity emphatically, but most of them have hy this time concluded that the situation situa-tion Is not ns had as they feared, or else have submitted to tho Inevitable. The bureau has never been more crowded with work than at present. One of Its conspicuous products Is tho recently Issued reports on tlio Standard Oil company. Tlio bureau Is also Investigating tlio bteel trust, the lumber trust und tho toharco trust, and It Is expected thnt tho disclosures regarding these giants of the Industrial world will prove well nigh us sensational as tho inside Information In-formation bearing upon tho oil monopoly. mo-nopoly. Tlio bureau is also turning Us searchlight upon the conditions of i.i in i HERBERT KNOX SMITH. (Commissioner of Corporations Who Is Leading Crusade Against Trusts.) water transportation, particularly on the inland lakes and the rivers of tho country. Tho bureau started out with less than hnlf a dozen employes, but thero nro now 100 porsons engaged In this division of tho public service. Thoro Is a greater percentage of College graduates grad-uates among the rnuk nnd lllo than can be found In nny other branch of tho government, ami not n man ovicr 50 Is on the roster, while most of tlio workers nro under 10. Many a government ofllco Is burdened bur-dened with clumsy, cumbersome business busi-ness methods and handicapped by superfluous "red tape," hut tho yoiing men who arc at the head of things In the bureau of corporations disregarded precedent, nnd evolved n business System Sys-tem planned on tho lines of those in vogue In tho offices of tho country's most progressive railroads. |
