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AUGUST 23, It 7.
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Quincy and the Chicago and, Eastern Illrnois
lines;. then the department of justice is under
stood' to have no desire to interfere "with 5tho
progress of the present grand jury investiga
tion. But if Judge Landis desires the grand
jury, to return an indictment against the Alton
or other roads, who were promised immunity
for transactions in which they were offered the'
'immunity bath,' then the department of justice
does not wish the indictments returned, for the
reason that such action on the part of the grand
jury would be regarded as a violation of the gov
ernment's pledge, granted by Attorney Morrison,
not to prosecute the railroads, if they would
furnish information with which to secure the in
dictment of the Standard and its conviction.
That information was forthcoming, and it is
freely admitted here that it was through this
testimony largely that conviction was secured
in the case of the Standard. It is not to he
ascertained hero whether former District At
torney Morrison brought this condition of affairs
to the attention of Judge Landis before trans
mitting the status of the Alton to the atTention
of Attorney General Bonapare. "Whether Mr.
Morrison did or did not do that it is now be-
ing done by Mr. Bonaparte as the chief law
officer of the government, at the head of the
prosecuting department which would have the
duty of pushing any indictments which might
be returned against the Alton, and if those .in
dictments were not stopped by the intercession
of Judge Landis, it is altogether probable that
the department of justice will step in and quash
them, unless Judge Landis offers good reasons
why the indictments returned should be pushed,
or can convince the department of justice that
the matter in which indictments are sought does
not relate to the transactions in which immu
nity was promised."
ALOGANSPORT, Ind., dispatch to the St.
" Louis Globe-Democrat under date of
August 13 follows: "The fact that Attorney
Morrison of the government had promised im
munity to the Chicago and Alton and that that
road would not be prosecuted for Its part in re
bating was told to Judge Landis late last "night.
The jurist seemed displeased with the news. 'I
will not be a party to any 'such proceedings,'
Judge Landis declared. The Chicago and' Alton
was recommended for Indictment in the utter
ances of the jurist when he assessed the fine
against the Standard Oil company."
THE IMMUNITY bath report from Washing
ton was confirmed before Judge Landis
August 14. An Associated Press dispatch' from
Chicago tells this story I ' Judge Landig today
postponed until September the grand jury In
vestigation of the charges of rebating against
the .Chicago and Alton railroad, growing but
of the recent trial which resulted in the con
viction of the Standard Oil company of Indiana.
It was the original Intention to commence the
investigation August 27, but Judge Landis said
that he had received a notification from Attorney
General. Bonaparte that the Chicago and Alton
had been promised immunity, and the judge
ordered the adjournment in order that the
records of the case might be looked, into. In
addressing the grand jury Judge Landis said:
'I have a communication from the attorney gen
eral of the United States, the substance of which
Is that, prior to the indictment of the Standard
Oil company, the then United States district
attorney made an arrangement with the officials
of the Chicago and Alton railroad, under 'which
it was not to be proceeded against, provided it
would assist the prosecution, in good faith, with
evidence and witnesses in the matter then pend
ing. In view of this it is the conviction of the
attorney general that good faith requires the
department of justice to do what it can to make
good the district attorney's assurance, and this
presents a very grave question because it is of
utmost importance that no offender should un
deservedly escape punishment for crime on any
such plea, as well as that even the criminal may
not truthfully charge the government of United
States with bad faith. What this arrangement
was the court does not know, but assumes
It possibly may have provided that the Chicago
and Alton company should emancipate those
who act and speak for it, from all obligation to
" deceive and mislead' the' jury on the trial lately
closed. -If this be true, whatever officer of the
. department of justice fs charged with the task
of determining what shall be that department's
attitude rmust carefully consider 'the transcrjpt
5 of the testimony of these railway agents in order
that ho may intelligently decide whether tho
Chicago and Alton road is entitled to immunity.
Whether tho grand jury acta in this matter will
depend entirely upon tho conclusions this offir
clal may reach. Tho jury is therefore at liberty
to take a recess until Soptombcr 3.' A trans
cript of tho record in the Standard Oil case will
bo sent to Attorney"" General Bonaparte for ex
amination, and if ho concludes that the railroad
fulfilled its promises in the. Standard Oil case,
the grand jury will not investigate further."
FOLLOWING IS AN interesting dispatch sent
to the Chicago Record-Herald from ,Clovc
land, Ohio: "Tho great secret of success, truo
success, is to get away from the butterfly pur
suits' of life and devote yourself to doing good
to those around you." In these words, John D.
Rockefeller this morning gave advice to tho
members of the Sunday school of tho Euclid
Avenue Baptist church. Tho richest man in the
world seemingly was at his best. It was his
first address to the Sunday school in nearly a
year, although ho attended church tho last three
Sundays, and his friends ray it was the best
talk he ever made. Mr. Rockefeller briefly re
viewed his experiences in tho Sunday school.
"How long do you think it has been since I
joined Sunday school?" tho oil king asked of
a little boy in tho back scat. "Fifty-three years,"
responded the lad, evidently well informed as
to his questioner's life. "It will be fifty-four
years next September since I camo into tho Sun
day school," said Mr. Rqckofeller. "I was four
teen years of age, and I consider that event tho
most important in my life. An old lady camo
to me one day and asked if I belonged to a Sun
day school. I told her I belonged to tho Baptist.
She was a Presbyterian and did not have much
use for Baptists, but she told me to stick to it,
and I always have. I regret that I !iavo been
away from you so long. As I stood on the stairs
leading to the church rooms this morning, I
noticed a great many stran: faces. White thlB -is
a sign of my delinquency, yet it .shows that
the church is prospering and growing every day.
Mrs. Rockefeller also wishes me to tell you that
she misses the Sunday school work very much.
We both are greatly interested in it." Then
turning to the benefits to be derived from .Sun
day school work, the speaker dwelt briefly upon
happiness and success, declaring: "Tho only
way to be perfectly happy is to do good to others.
The great secret of success, true success, is to
get away from tho butterfly pursuits of life
and devote yourself to doing good to those
around you." Again taking up his connection
with religious duties, he said: "Deacon Skedd
was my first teacher in tho Sunday school. Of
course none of you present remember him. Ho
was a good old Scotchman, honest and whole
souled, as most Scotchmen are. I have great
Jove for that race. I met Dr. Ingersoll the other
day while playing golf. He Is still as spry as
I am but, of course, he is eighty years old, while
I am still a young man," and the master of For
est JH111 smiled. "Well, I have been talking by
New York time," he concluded, "so that I really
have used more than my share of your time."
At the close of his address Mr. Rockefeller shook
hands all around, and later attended church ser
vices, returning to Forest Hill in his automobile.
REFERRING TO THE telegraphers' strike,
Willis J. Abbott says: "Briefly sum
marized, the demands of the operators seem to
be fair. They ask a ten per cent wage increase,
this demand being based on the equitable prin
ciple of equal pay- for equal work. It would
seem that tho telegraph companies which have
recently raised their rates from twenty-five to
fifty per cent, could afford this advance and
treat their various employes with equal justice.
The union men also ask an eight-hour day,
something that is fully justified l)y the frightful
nervous tension under which the operator is
forced to work. They ask that promotions bo
governed by merit and the sliding scale now in
force be abolished. They ask that their organ
ization as such have recognition from the com
panies and that discriminations against union
men as such cease. These are the principal de
mands of the operators. It seems hardly cred
ible that the companies should refuse them.
But not only do the telegraph companies re
fuse these just demands but they ahsolutely
refuse to treat "With their employes concerning
them. Vice President Adams of the Postal, for
instance, says: 'There will be decidedly no
compromise with the union. They brought on
. the strike; and they can settle it by going. back,
to ' work when they please. We will have no ,
difficulty in filling th'clf places.' IfoSV can
not read in those lines tho samo spirit hhv act
uated tho remark of tho French aristocrat, when
Blie heard tho peasant mothers crying for,brcad,
to feed their starving offspring, 'If they can't
eat broad why don't thoy cat cao?' he is
blind indeed.' Then there Is Assistant General
Manager Barclay, of the Western Union, who
says: 'Thoro is nothing for the companies to
discuss with tho men. Wo will havo no troublo
In filling tho plnces of thoao that quit.' T. P.
Cook, general superintendent of tho Western
Union, adds this comment: 'Wo will not deal
with any representatives of tho strikers, as this
company only treats with its own employes.
There will bo no union recognition In this con
troversy and emphatically wo will not meet or
accept thp good offices of President Gompors
of tho Anierican Federation of Labor.' Read
thp demands of the operators, then read tho
arrogant remarks of tho officials, and ask your
self If it is any. wonder that cvon the poor Httfc
messenger boys who can 111 afford to sparo their
earnings, are joining the strikers; and tho tele
phono girls arc jeopardizing tholr positions by
.refusing to carry out tho collusive conspiracy of
tho telopbono and telegraph monopoly by which
tho former Bonds tho messages of the latter over
its long dlstanco wires? Is it any wonder that
from all sides the operators are receiving the
most unexpected support?"
IT WAS FROM tho late Governor Hogg of
Texas that Mr. Roosevelt, according to tho
St. Louis Republic, drow that portion of his
Indianapolis speech which deals with over-capitalization
of railroad property. Tho Republic
says: "Tho laws passod by the Texas legisla
ture, on Governor Hogg's recommendation, to
limit a fair ratio between tho actual value of
tho property and tho securities based upon it
might well have glvon tho Inspiration for this
portion of the president's address. It is no
more than fair to tho Investing public that it
should havo knowledge of the real value of the
property in which it Invests, as well as of the
securities outstanding as liabilities against it.
And tho president is as right as he Is just to
tho roads in his contention that tho Interstate
commerce commission should U.now-vYmtr,-Tonv
is worth before It can Intelligently fix a rate
that will bo equitable to tho roads and to tho
shippers of freight. Neither tho courts nor tho
interstate commerce commission can guarantee
tho owners of a road costing, lot us say, ?1,000,
000 a good profit on that sum. But tho courts
havo rightly hold that men who have put their
money into the enterprise shall not bo forbidden
by law to charge rates sufficient to bring a rea
sonable profit. Tho president's recommendation
that the commission bo empowered to increase
Its force of experts so that it can investigate
and ascertain tho value of any road with which
it may have to deal looks, therefore, toward
compliance with tho spirit of judicial decisions
and to an equitable adjustment for the roads
and those who use them."
THAT THE TASK of ascertaining tho value
of a road for rate making is a difficult
one the Republiq admits, but it says: "Though
it might not be difficult to ascertain the physical
value of a given road that is, what ItTwould
cost to build and equip it at the present time
it would never be easy to ascertain the amount
of capital honestly invested in older and pioneer
roads before they began to pay adequate profits
on the money of the bondholders and stock
holders. And, as President Roosevelt truly
says, actual cost and physical value are not tho
only standards of valuation to be considered.
One hundred miles of road, well built and
equipped, in a thickly populated district, and
running between large cities, are worth more
than the same length of road, equally well built
and equipped, in a sparsely settled district with
no large cities to feed its traffic. But informa
tion of the highest value both to the interstate
commerce commission and to the investor in
railroad securities may be obtained by the ap
praisements which the president proposes.
Doubtless, inquiries along this line will result
in knowledge that will be helpful to road build
ers themselves. And all information which helps
and encourages the building and betterment of
railroad facilities is what the country now most
urgently , needs. It may be a generation be
fore we can possibly have in interstate commerce
the close adjustment between railroad capital
and railroad net earnings which Massachusetts
, has attained, but ,tho suggestions of the presi
' dent'.fi , Indianapolis address carry us well for
ward in that direction."
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