Moody, replying to Harmon and Judson said: "I
have not as yet been able to overcome my repug
nance to proceeding individually against the offi
cers of the railroad for contempt of the injunction
without some evidence with respect to every in
dividual proceeded against that he had some cul
pable connection with the contempt of court."
And he said that, for instance, there was not a
svllable of testimony that Mr. Morton had an
connection whatever with the rebates granted to
the Colorado Fuel and Iron company.
REPLYING to the Attorney General, Messrs.
Harmon and Judson pointed out that the
corporation can not be imprisoned and that pun
ishment by fine is not only inadequate but reaches
the real culprits only lightly, if at all, adding,
"the evils with which we are now confronted are
corporate in name but individual in. fact. Guilt
is always personal. So long as officers can hide
behind their corporations no remedy can be ef
fected. When the government searches out the
guilty man and makes corporate wrong-doing
mean personal punishment and dishonor, the laws
will be obeyed." They said that while they re
spected the attorney general's- opinion, "the end
and circumstances of our appointment impose a
certain independent responsibility upon us which
we feel would not be by a proceeding against
the corporation alone." They therefore resigned
and their resignations were accepted.
MR. ROOSEVELT sustains the attorney gen
eral, saying: "I entirely agree with your
conclusions. In my opinion you would be wholly
without justification in proceeding individually
against the officers of the Atchison, Topeka &
Santa Fe railway for contempt when neither the
interstate commerce commission or the special
counsel you have employed have determined a
single fact of any kind beyond the holding of
their offices tending to implicate any one of these
officers." He says that the fact that one of these
officers is a member of his cabinet is not to be
allowed to shield him, nor, on the other hand,
in it to be allowed to cause him to be singled out
" ' for attack. - Mr. Roosevelt points out that docu
mentary evidence shows that Mr. Morton repeat
edly called the attention of his subordinates to the
law and the necessity for complying with it.
AT THE SAME time Mr. Bowen's statement
was made public the president caused to be
published a letter "written to him by Secretary
Morton and the president's reply thereto. Mr.
Morton wrote this letter after he resigned. In
this letter he sayc: that he issued instructions to
. all of his subordinates telling them to comply
strictly with the law, but "notwithstanding all
these precautions" rebates were given. He said
he had nothing to do with these rebates and is
in no wise responsible for them. In his reply
to Mr. Morton's letter President Roosevelt says
that his secretary of the navy is entirely exonerat
ed from the charge of participating in the violation
of law, adding, "I dont think that you need pay
any further heed to the accusations that have
been made against you." Mr. Roosevelt con
cludes his letter with a reference to Mr. Morton's
new occupation as head of the Equitable Life As
surance society and he gives him a fine certifi-
, cate of character. He refers to the scandals in
the Equitable and says that he knows that Mr.
Morton will give every one "a square deal."
THE CHICAGO INTER OCEAN, a republican
paper, prints a story relating to the Paul
Morton affair. The Inter Ocean says that Mr.
Morton was saved from prosecution as an offi
cer of the Santa Fe railroad only by the power
ful intercession of the president and attorney
general. The Inter Ocean declares that the order
'not to prosecute is in direct conflict with the
vigorously expressed opinion of Former 'Attorney
General Judson Harmon, of Cincinnati, and Fred
erick N. Judson, of St. Louis, who were em
ployed as special counsel to investigate the case
and recommend a course of procedure, and in
the face of Mr. Morton's own admission that
ho was cognizant of the arrangement by which
the rebates were paid. A copy of the secret cir
cular described "for the information of employes
and not to bo given to the public." is printed by
the Inter Ocean. In this circular rebates were
authorized by the Santa Fe for the Colorado Fuel
and Iron company.
,TJlie Commoner.1
THE INTER OCEAN prints the following ex
tracts from the law:
"The willful failure upon the part of any car
rier to filo and publish the tariffs or rates and
charges as required by said acts, or strictly to
observe such tariffs until changed according to
law, shall be a misdemeanor, and upon convic
tion the corporation offending shall be subject
to a fine of not less than $1,000 nor more than
$20,000 for each offense; and,
"It shall be unlawful for any person, persons
or corporations to offer, grant, or to give, or ':o
solicit, accept, or receive any rebate, concession
or discrimination in respect to the transportation
of any property in any interstate or foreign
commerce by any common carrier.
"Every person or corporation who shall
offer, grant or give or solicit, accept or -receive
any rebates, concession, or discrimination shall
be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and on con
viction thereof shall be punished by a fine of
not less than $1,000 nor more than $20,000.
"Whenever any carrier files with the inter
state commerce commission or publishes a par
ticular rate under the provisions of the act to
regulate commerce, or acts amendatory thereto,
or participates in any rates so filed or published,
that rate as against such carrier, its officers, or
agents, in any prosecution begun under this act,
shall be conclusively deemed -to be the legal rate,
and any departure from such rate, or any offer
to depart therefrom, shall be deemed an offense
under this section of the act." Elkins Amend
ment to Act to Regulate Commerce, enacted
February 19, 190J, after issuance of Santa Fe
secret tariff, repeals imprisonment clause; secret
tariff maintained by Santa Fe after Efkins amend
ment enacted.
EXTRACTS from testimony before the inter
state commerce commission at Chicago, De
cember 29, 1904, are printed as follows:
"When your published tariff said your rate
per ton on coal from Trinidad to Deming was $4,
what rate did the Santa Fe actually receive from
the Colorado Fuel and Iron company?" N. B.
Field, attorney.
"We received $2.90 per ton." W. B. Biddle,
freight traffic manager of the Santa Fe system.
"What was done with the difference, $1.10?"
Attorney Field.
"We paid that to the Colorado 'Fuel and
Iron company." W. B. Biddle.
"As a matter of fact, what rate did you
charge other companies for hauling coal from
Trinidad to Deming?" Attorney Field.
"The published rato, $4. or $4.05 per ton."
W. B. Biddle.
"What rate did you charge the Southern
Pacific road?" Attorney Field.
"We had a special contract with them to
charge $3.45 per ton." W. B. Biddle.
Interstate Commerce Commissioner Prouty
is quoted by the Inter Ocean as having made iD
Chicago, December 28, 1904, the following state
ment: "In all my experience with railway oper
ations I never saw such barefaced disregard of
the law as the Santa Fe railroad and the Colo
yado Fuel and Iron company have manifested
in this coal case. For years the railroad com
pany has received less than its published rates
from the Colorado Fuel and Iron company, while
its corfjpetitors have paid higher rates. The evi
dence in this case will be presented by the com
mission to the attorney general."
OTHER EXTRACTS presented by the Inter
Ocean follow: "I don't care to talk rail
rorul matters. Everybody knows all about Hip
case. I .will say, however, that what Mr. Biddle
did was exactly right, in my judgment, and if I
had been in his place I should have done tma
same thing." Statement by Paul Morton Secre
tary of the Navy, at Washington, December 31
to Representative of Chicago Daily News "Who
was in the supreme charge of all freight 'manor
of the Santa Fe at the time of the issuance of the
order by which the Colorado Fuel and Iron com
pany was granted rebates ?" Query by Renorter
for the Inter Ocean, December 30, 1904 KePlter
"It was not rebating. It was simply a figure
agreed upon by private contract. Mr. Paul Mor
ton was cognizant of It, and, although his name
may not be affixed to the order of its being car
ried into effect, he was the man from whom Mr
Biddle the freight traffic manager, got authority
to haul coal for the Colorado Fuel and Iron com
pany on the terms which you mentioned." Re
system. U y' Presidont of the Santa Fe
- ' i" ,
.VOLUME 5, NUMBER 2
"Did you also know of it, Mr. Riniv'-n,,
by Reporter. ' WucrS!
"Why, yes, as I know of all our businc t
consider it -absolutely legitimate, and will do i
tomorrow again if I like. Mr. Morton was resnni
sible'for all traffic matters, and it must be oxZ
two years since we began deducting a differencn
in the case of the Colorado coinpany'Reniv ,,,
E. P. Ripley. iy by'
"Was Mr. Morton in office when the order wa?
given favoring "the Colorado Fuel and Iron com.
pany?" Query by Reporter.
"Well, you mean the order which gave them
a reduction as per contract. Why, certainly; Mr
Morton did not leave his position as second' vice
president of the Atchison until September, when
he entered the president's cabinet." Reply bv E
P, Ripley.
CONCLUDING its interesting arraignment of
the republican administration, the Inter
Ocean said: "The act to regulate commerce re
quires carriers to publish and adhere to their
tariffs. The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Rail
way company has for the last five years wilfully
and continuously violated this provision of the
law in the respects above stated. February 19,
1903, the so-called Elkins bill was enacted, pro
viding that carriers should in no case transport
traffic until a tariff had been published, and that
the published tariff should be observed, and pro
viding a penalty of not le'ss than $1,000 nor more
than $20,000 for each offense. The provisions of
this statute extend both to the railwj - company
which grants and the party which receives the
concession. Both the Santa Fe and the Colorado
Fuel and Iron company systematically and con
tinuously violated the provisions of that act in
the particulars mentioned from the day of its pas
sage down to November 7, 1904, when the tariffs
under which this case moved were reduced in all
cases $1.15. It would seem that the El Paso &
Southwestern railroad was also in violation of
the same statute during that period, but that
company was not a party to this proceeding, and
has not been heard. It should be further ob
served that on March 25, 1902, the United States
circuit court, in a suit begun at the instance and
request of the interstate commerce commission
enjoined the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Rail
way company to observe in all respects its pub
lished schedules of rates. That company from the
date of this injunction down to November 27,
1904, was apparently in continuous disregard of
that order of court in its failure to maintain these
coal tariffs." Conclusion of Decision rendered by,
the interstate commerce commission, February 1,
1905, "in the matter of alleged unlawful rates
and practices in the transportation of coal and
mine supplies by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa
Fe Railway company.
THE CONSCIENCE IN POLITICS
Mayor Weaver's great victory in Philadel
phia illustrates the power of conscience when
applied to public affairs. The conscience of the
people was aroused and the people immediately
won a signal triumph. But while Philadelphia
had the reputation of being-the worst governed
city in the United States there are other cities,
large and small, in which graft and corruption
are rampant, and it is high time that good citi
zens bestirred themselves.
Mayors wtfio know of corruption should point
It out; councilmen who are aware of graft should
speak out; citizens who have information of the
subject should make it known. There should
be in every city a , citizens' good government
league and this league should see that honest
and incorruptible candidates are brought out by
all parties. Every betrayal of trust by officials
gives new men a chance to become known and
to win public confidence. Every crisis teaches
again the truth that men are .of little value ex
cept as they assist some worthy cause, and the
best way to impress the public is to put the
cause above the individual. The man who forgets
himself in devotion to the public welfare is more
likely to be remembered than the man who is
chiefly concerned in his own advancement.
If each citizen will ask himself whether he
is doing his full civic duty and then courageously
folio-- the dictates of his conscience, there will
bo a great political revival in this country51
revival which will result first In purer city gov
ernment and then in better state and national
government.
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