Show IF aw M M n F b 9 S I 1 1 I 1 Z it ff E I 1 I 1 d a I 1 11 of till 0 11 a N V E a E I 1 N t manufacturers are assured that the chief magistrate has not changed chan ged his program in the least overcapitalization over capitalization I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 14 I 1 is to receive attention ion I 1 washington D C april 1 I president roosevelt has ha decided not to accept the invitation of the illinois manufacturers association to deliver a bleech at springfield ill on the railroad situation he addressed a letter yesterday to C 11 smith president of the association stating that it would be impossible for him to accept their invitation extended last week because he did not feel that he had anything to say at this time in a special address on this special subject the president has bar received a great number of off requests for a statement by him or a speech to be made by him in connection with the railway situation he lie has given these requests the utmost weight and most moat careful consideration after fully looking into the matter the president informed his advisers advis era that he had come to tholon the conclusion that there was nothing ow further lie had to say at this moment on the railway situation that bo he did not deem it either wise or p proper roper to say anything with a view to any immediate situation in wall street and that hag has he could only give expression to the definite and settled policy to be carried out wholly without re gard to the exigencies of the momen moment and as his views on the policy in question were already a matter ot record it did not seem necessary at this time to repeat them to the different men friendly and unfriendly who have visited him or Nv written ritten to him he has answered verbally or in writing that his words and acts nets spoke for themselves and needed no explanations whatever and that he would not tn in his future course deviate one hairs breadth from the course he has pursued in the past and was now pursuing the statement was made from ain an authoritative source today that even a most examination of what whal the president has repeatedly said itt la speeches and in message will show tho the utter nonsense of supposing the government has the slightest intention to take any action which would envall invalidate the safety and stability of the railway securities now issued the I 1 whole legislative program ot of the president having been proclaimed again and again Is one to insure the future I 1 against the mistakes and of the past the president holds that every executive action taken under I 1 his administration whether by the department part ment of justice or by the interstate commerce commission has furnished ita its own ample justification it was pointed out today in administrative istra tive circles that the president has made no references in his speeches or messages to the question of the I 1 physical valuation of railroads this 5 position it was said is that the roada themselves will workout work out this pr problem ob jm as an item ot of bookkeeping and reference was made to the fact that two roads toads the northern pacific and tho great northern already have submitted I 1 figures as to their physical yat bation it can be stated on authority that the president will again ask congress at its next session for power to deal with the question of over capitalize tion of railroads A similar request waa was made at the last list session but favorable I 1 action was not taken upon it I 1 in hla his letter to mr air smith the president ident enclosed copies of tho the I 1 speech be lie made N X C I 1 october 19 1905 and the one ho he delivered before a delegation of railway 2 employed emp loyes in this citron city on november 14 1905 together with his last message 1 l to con congress gresa at the beginning of tho the 1 1 first and second sessions of the last cou congress gress the president concludes conclude 1 1 his letter to mr smith as follows v you will seeba see ln the two speeches peeCheS ft and aud the two messages that I 1 have bave said bala about all that I 1 would say it I 1 J spoke now As I 1 said to your bod body 1 1 the other day I 1 have already express jr ed again and again my carefully 41 thought out beliefs I 1 am more firmly i y than over evor convinced that these beliefs va 1 I sae ate wise wine and that the policy I 1 becom 10 mended in my message at the open ir D ing of each or of the last regular sea ses 0 t along sim of congress must be carried 0 out just at the moment I 1 do not 0 1 I see that I 1 have much to add to I 1 what I 1 have already said and aad I 1 think e that what has occurred since I 1 wrote te J the two messages in question merely jr W t illustrates sacs in striking fashion the de 0 J of the course I 1 therein out lined v 14 theio these portions of his speeches clies arif f messages rues sages which the marked 10 are a as follows 0 py in his address at raleigh the pre st d 1 I 1 it il a 1 I 1 0 do o not believe in government 1 1 t of anything which can with I 1 0 propriety be lett left in private hands and in particular pAHl cular I 1 should most astrea 41 f bously object to government ownership 4 bof y ot but I 1 believe with equal 1 th that at lt it Is out of the ques ad ution s on flythe 1 government not to exor ta d I 1 dee ise 4 1 supervisory and regulatory 30 f t over the c railroads for it is iea I 1 N the well being of the publia that thy should be managed in a 01 rf VIM ot of fairness and justice toward sy the e public actual experience has I 1 1 tm that it Is not possible to leave ftp its if ll 11 T railroads allro arta uncontrolled such a 1 Bt eln or rather such a lack ot of st 1 l fertile in abuses of every everk D i ri am Jd la 11 puts a premium upon un arvul tt I 1 wa rud ruthless cunning in n atik ali a it management for there abero arc aro 10 SK big WK shippers pers and some railroad ao 50 1 7 1 are always willing to rf t uke take unfair advantage of their wea v v wo 1 I 1 1 er competitors and they thereby force other big shippers and big railroad men who would like to do decently into similar acts of wrong and injustice under penalty of being left behind in the race for success government supervision is needed quite as much in the interest of the big shipper and of the railroad manager who wants jo 10 do lo right as in the interest of the small shipper and the consumer experience hag has shown that the present laws are defective and need amendment the effort to prohibit all restraint of competition whether reas chable or unreasonable is unwise what we need is to to have some adman admin Istia tive body with ample power to orbid forbid combination that is hurtful to the he public and to prevent favoritism to one individual at the expense of another in other words we want an administrative body with tho the power to secure fair and just treatment as among all shippers who use the railroads and all shippers have a right to use them in my judgment the e most important an thing to do Is to give to this administrative body power to make its findings effective and this can bo be done only by giving it power when complaint is made of a a given rate as aa being unjust or unreasonable it li it finds tho the complaint proper then itself to fix a maximum rate which it rega regards as just and reasonable this rate to go into effect practically at once that Is within a reasonable time and to atay stay in 14 effect unless reversed by the courts I 1 earnestly hope that we shall see a law giving ahli abl i power passed by congress it if there is in the minds of the commission any suspicion that a ce certain railroad Is in any shape or way giving rebates or behaving improperly I 1 wish the commission to hay power as a matt matter arof of aright agnit not asa matter of favor to make biake a full and exhaustive investigation of the rates and expenditures of the railroad so that any evasion of the law may be detected this is not a revolutionary revolution arl proposal on my part for I 1 only wish the same saine power given kiven in reference rete renco to railroads that is now exercised ad a matter of course by the national natiOn 11 bank examiners as regards national hanks banks my lily object in giving these additional dit ional powers to tho the administrative body representing the government the interstate commerce commission or whatever it may be Is primarily to secure a real and not a sham control by the government representatives the american people abhor a sham and with this abhorrence I 1 cordially sympathize nothing is moie injurious from every standpoint than a law which ia Is merely sound and fury merely pretense and not capable of working out tangible re results I 1 hope to see all the power that I 1 think it ought to have granted to the gover government dment but I 1 would woula far rather see only some of it granted grante I 1 but really granted than seo see a pr pro e tonee tense of granting all in la some shape that really amounts to nothing it must be understood as a 0 matter ot of course that it if this power is 13 granted it la Is to be exercised with wisdom and caution and self tion the interstate commerce commissioner or other government official who tails falls to protect a railroad that i was in the right against any clamor no matter how violent on the part of 0 the public would be guilty of as gross a wrong as if he corruptly rendered an improper service to the railroad at I 1 the expense ot of the public further 1 aay say a square deal eal I 1 mean a square deal exactly as much as a square deal for the rich man as for or the poor man but no more let each one on his merits receive what Is due him and be judged according to his deserts in his address to tb rall railroad road employed emp loyes in this city november 14 1906 1905 the president said sald there has been comparatively little complaint to me of the railroads being aa as a whole too high the most serious complaints that have been made to me have been of improper discrimination in railroad rates tates fo instance in two recent cases affecting great corporations the complaints tha that have been made to me have been that they are too low ae as regards big shippers the complaint ija in both these cases Is to about the differential the difference of treatment of two sets of or biers users of the railways the difference in favor of one set of shippers as against another set of shippers if 1 yon I will look at my raleigh speech and my ny other recent utterances you will see my principles clearly set forth I 1 have said again agala and again that I 1 would not tolerate for or ono one moment any injustice to A I 1 would tolerate railroad any more than any injustice by a railroad I 1 have said again and again that I 1 official who would remove a public improperly yielded to any mcclam ic clam or against a railroad no matter how popular that clamor might be just as quickly as I 1 would remove a public ic 0 official metal who rendered an improper service to the railroad at the expense of the PU public alic but I 1 am con convinced vincel that there must be an increased reg ill aLory and supervisory power exer ased by the government over the rail rall ays indeed I 1 would like it exercised to a much greater extent than I 1 have any idea of pressing at this moment for ansta instance nee I 1 would greatly jike to have it exercised in the matter capitalization I 1 am convinced of over that tho the wages fund woul boull 1 abo be larger if there wag was no fictitious capital upon which dividends had to be paid I 1 need hardly say that this does not mean hostility to wealth it if you gentlemen here in whom I 1 bo be lieve BO so stron strongly gly were all a unit in demanding that some improper action should be taken against certain men of wealth then no matter whether I 1 did or did not like those same men of wealth I 1 would defend them against t whom no matter how much I 1 cared for you and in eo fo doing I 1 would really be acting in your interest I 1 would be false to your interest it if I 1 failed to do justice to the capitalist capital idt as much as to the wage worker but I 1 shall act against the abuses of wealth just as against all other abuses all I 1 want in any rate legislate leg legislation islat joa Is to give the government an efficient supervisory power which shall be exercised as scrupulously and to prevent injustice to the railroads 1 Is to prevent their doing injustice to the public IF ar our ende endeavor avoe is to see that those thos e continued on page four PRESIDENT ROOSEVEL TS VIEW OF THE RAILROAD SITUATION continued from page one big railroad men and big shipper who are not responsible to the demands of justice are required to do what their fellows follows who are responsible to the demands of justice would be 91 gad aad to do of their own accord in his message to congress at the beginning of the first session of the fifty r ninth congress december let 1006 1005 the president said the people of this country continue continuo to enjoy great prosperity undoubtedly there will be ebb and flow in such prosperity ana ania this ebb and flow will be felt more or lees less by all members of the community both by the deserving and the undeserving A panic brought on by the speculative folly of part of the business community would hurt the whole business community but such stoppage of though it might bo be severe evero would not be lasting something can be done by legislation to help the general prosperity but no such help of a permanently beneficial character can be given to the less able and less fortunate save as the results of a policy which shall ijuro ibur 3 to the advantage of all ind industrious ur triou and efficient people who act decently and this Is ir only another way of 0 saying that any any benefit which comes to the less able alele and legs less fortunate must of necessity come oven even more morg to the more able and more fortu fortunate n if therefore the less fortunate man Is moved by envy of his hig more fortunate brotherto strike at the conditions under which they have both though unequally prospered the result will assuredly be while damage may come conle to the one struck at atit it will visit with an even hea heavier vier load the one who strikes tes the blow taken as a whole we must all go up or go down together yet while not merely admitting but insisting lusi stin upon this it Is also true that where there is no governmental restraint or supervision somo of the exceptional men use their energies not in ways that are tor for the common good but in ways which tell this common good the fortunes tiles amassed through corporate organization are now so large and vest such power in those that videla them as to make it a matter of necessity to give to the sovereign that Is to the government which represents the people as a whole some effective power of supervision over their corporate use in order to ensure a healthy social and industrial life every big corporation should be held hold responsible by and be accountable to some sovereign strong enough to control its conduct I 1 am in no sense hostile to corporations this is an ago ag of combinations and any effort to prevent all combination will not be only useless but in the end vicious because of the contempt for law which the failure to enforce law inevitably produces we moreover recognize 0 in cordial and ample fashion the immense good effect by corporate agencies in a country such as ours land and the wealth of intellect energy and fidelity devoted to their service and therefore normally to the service pervice of the public by their officers and directors the corporation has come to stay just as the trade union ha has 13 come me to stay each can do and has done great good each should be favored so long as it does good but each should be sharply checked chocked where it acts against law and justice experience has shown conclusively that it la Is useless to try to |