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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (June 6, 1907)
ROOSEVELT CULLS FIR VALUATION IF TIF RAILROADS President in His Memorial Day Speech Urges Regulation Like That of National Banks. SCORES THE SPECULATOR No Disturbance of Values to Hurt the Innocent Investor, He Adds, but Likewise No Let-Up to the Reform Work Begun. Indianapolis—President Roose velt, in liis Memorial day address here, declared for a valuation of the railroads of the United States. That the railroads have grown In value until probably in most cases worth the par of the capital 6tock issued by them, is his ex pressed opinion. But he condemned without stint the speculator, as distinguished from the legitimate railroad manager. He thinks there should be no such disturbance of values as would prove a hardship for the innocent investor, but he declares against the “unearned increment” of speculation in rail road properties. A national in corporation act is his preference for means of regulating capital stock in the future, which, he says, must be done. After paying tribute to both union and confederate armies in the civil war and eloquently re ferring to General Lawton, whose monument lie assisted in dedicat ing this afternoon, the president turned his attention to pressing present questions, saying: One great problem that we have be fore us is to preserve the rights of property; and these can only be pre served if we remember they are in less jeopardy from the socialist and an archist than from the predatory man of wealth. It has become evident that to refuse to invoke the power of the nation to restrain the wrongs commit ted by the man of great wealth who does evil is not only to negiect the in terests of the public, but Is to neglect the interests of the man of means who acts honorably by his fellows. The power of the nation must be exerted to stop crimes of cunning no less than crimes of violence. There can be no halt in the course we have deliberately elected to pursue, the policy of assert ing the right of the nation, so far as it has the power, to supervise and con trol the business use of wealth, espe cially in Its corporate form. Today I wish to say a word to you about the first and most important feature of this task, the control of the common carriers doing an interstate business; a control absolutely vested in the nation, while in so far as the com mon carriers also transport the mails it Is in my opinion probable that whether their business is or is not interstate it is to the same extent subject to federal control, under that clause of the con stitution granting to the national gov ernment power to establish post roads and therefore by necessary implication power to take all action necessary in order to keep them at the highest point of efficiency. A Step in Advance. Every federal law dealing with cor porations or with railroads that has been put upon the statute books during the last six years has been a step in advance in the right direction. Ail ac tion taken by the administration under these and the pre-existing laws has been just and proper. Every suit un dertaken during that period has been a suit not merely warranted, but re quired, by the facts; a suit in the in terest of the people as a whole and, in the long run, particularly in the inter est of stockholders as well as in the interest of business men of property generally. There can be no swerving from the course that has thus been mapped out in the legislation actually enacted and In the messages in which J have asked for further legislation. We best serve the interests of the honest railway men when we announce that we will follow out precisel.v this course. It is the course of real, of ultimate conserva tism. There will bo no halt in the for ward movement toward a full develop ment of this policy; and those who wish us to take a step backward or to stand still, if their wishes were realized, would find that they had invited an outbreak of the very radicalism they fear. There must be progressive legislative and administrative action for the cor rection of the e \ ils which every sincere man must admit to have existed in railroad management ia the past. Fid! Pcv.er of Centre!. Such additional legislation as that for which I have asked in tin* past, and especially that for which I asked in my message at the opening of the last ses sion of ccngn is not merely in the Interest of the public, but most ern pka i- ally in the interest of every hon est railway manager and of all Inves tors or would-be investors in railway securities. Thorn must be vested in the federal governmc nt a full power of supervision and control over the rail ways doing interstate business; a pow er in many r : p. rts analogous to and as « on.plete as that the government exercises over the national banks. It must possess the pow'er to exercise j upervi-ion over the future issuance of stocks and bon is, either through n rational incorporation (which I should pr*.f r) or in : me similar fashion, svu-p cups; vision to include the frank publicity of cv.ryl.hlng which would 1 ir.v'cor.- ar.cl the public at large k ’ o light to know. ' « go'Tim'-nt will thus be ' all over* cpltnlizaiicn ■ * : future; to prevent any man < ’ -t'‘ r firm plundering others by •' *r railway prop. rticsVith obliga ■n l pc ela ting the money instead < a-’ing it in improvements and in 1 c‘c corporate purposes; and any i -ting in such fashion should be hthl to a ciimina! accountability. It should be declared contrary to pub lic policy henceforth to allow rail roads to devote their capital to any thing but tho transportation business, certainly not to the hazards of spec ulation. For the very reason that we desire to favor the honest railroad manager, we should seek to discourage the ac tivities of the man whose only con cern with railroads is to manipulate their stocks. The business of railroad organization and management should be kept entirely distinct from invest ment or brokerage business, espec Ty of the speculative type, and the credit and property of the corporation should be devoted to the extension and bet terment of its railroads, and to the development of the country naturally tributary to the lines. Contrary to Public Policy. These principles aro fundamental Railroads should not be prohibited from acquiring connecting lines, by acquiring stocks, bonds, or other se curities of such lines; but it is already well settled as contrary to public pol icy to allow railroads to acquire con trol over parallel and competing lines of transportation. Subject to first giv ing to the government the power of supervision and control w'hich I have advocated above, the law should be amended so that railroads may be per mitted and encouraged to make traffic agreements when these are in the in terest of the general public us well as of tho railroad corporations making them. These agreements should of course be made public in the minutest detail, and should be subject to secur ing the previous assent of tho Inter state Commerce commission. The movement to regulate railways by law has come to stay. The people of this country have made up their minds—and wisely made up their minds—to exercise a closer control over ail kinds of public-service cor porations, including railways. We ask for such laws as in their essence now obtain in the staid old commonwealth of Massachusetts; such laws as now obtain in England. The purpose of those of us who so reso lutely believe in the new policy, in its thoroughly carrying out and in its pro gressive development, is in no Bense Can Trust Supreme Court. The supreme court could be trusted In any event to see that there should be nothing done under the guise of reg ulating roads to destroy property with out just compensation or without due process of law. As a matter of course, we shall pun ish any criminal whom we can convict under the law; hut we have no inten tion of confounding the lnnosent many and ihe guilty few by an ill-judged and sweeping scheme of vengeance. Our aim is primarily to prevent these abuses in the future. Wherever evil doers can be, they shall be, brought to justice; and no criminal, high or low, whom we can reach will receive immunity. But the rights of innocent investors should not be jeopardized by legislation or executive action; we sanction no leg islation which would fall heavily on them, Instead of on the original wrong doers or beneficiaries of the wrong. There must be no such rigid laws as will prevent the development of the country, and such development can only be had if investors are offered an ample reward for the risk they take. We would be the first to oppose any un reasonable restrictions being placed upon the issuance of stocks and bonds, for such would simply hamper the growth of the United States; for a railroad must ultimately stand on its credit. Aaainst Security Inflation. There should be lodged in the govern ment power to exercise a jealous care against the inflation of securities and all evils that come in its train. We favor the railway manager who keeps in dose touch with the people along his line rather than in close touch with the speculative market; who oper ates his line with a view to the advan tage he can legitimately get out of his railway as a permanent investment by giving a fair return to the stockhold ers and to the public good service with reasonable rates; who does not operate hjs road with a view to the temporary speculative advantage which will follow capitalizing an uncertain future and unloading the securities on the public. There lias been much wild talk as to the extent of the overcapitalization of our railroads. The census reports on the commercial value of the railroads of the country, together with the re ports made to the Interstate Commerce cor m'ssion by the railroads on their cost of construction, tend to show that as a whole the railroad property of the country Is worth as much as the se curities representing it, and that in the consensus of opinion of investors the tot?! '’blue of stocks and bonds Is greater than their total face value, not withstanding the “water” that has been injected in particular places. The huge value of terminals, the immense expen ditures in recent years in double track ing, improving grades, roadbeds, and structures, have brought the total in vestments to a point where the opinion that the real value is greater than the face value is probablv true. No general statement such as this can be accepted as having more than a general value; there are many exceptions; but the evi dence seems ample that the great trass of our railroad securities rest upon safe and solid foundations; if they fail in any degree to command complete public confidence, it is because isolated tering and kindred offenses arouse sus picion, which naturally extends to all other corporate securities so long as similar practices are possible and the tendency to resort to them is unre strained by law. For Physical Valuation. Ample provision should be made by congress to enable the Interstate Com merce commission, by the employment of a sufficient force of experts, to un dertake the physical valuation of each end any road in the country, whenever and so soon as in the opinion of the commission such a valuation of any road would be of value to the com mission in its work. There are un doubtedly some roads as to which it would be an advantage, from the stand point of the bittiness of the commis sion, to have such a physical valuation as soon as possible. IIov important physical valuation will prove ns one of the factors to assist in fixing equitable rates I am not able to judge; but that it will be of cer tain importance can be safely assumed because of the opinions of the Inter state Commerce commission, and of the courts, and because of tlie recent action of the Northern Pacific railroad in advancing such a physical valua tion as decisive on Its side in a rate controversy. Such a valuation would necessarily help to protect the rail roads against the making of inadequate and unjust rates, and would therefore be as imnoitant from the standpoint cf the protection of the railroads as from the standpoint of the protection of the public; and of course it is neces sary to the enduring prosperity and development of the country that the railroads shall yb id rtasonable profits to invi stors. Original Cost. It Is from one standpoint quite as important to know the original co3t of the building of the road as to know what it would now cost to reproduce ! it; from another standpoint the human I equation—that is, the management of J SOME OF THE ROOSEVELT | SENTENCES THA T STICK OUT: ♦ 4 + 4 “There will be no halt in the forward movement toward a full de f velopment of this policy, and those who wish to take a back seat or stand 4 still would find that they had invited an outbreak of the very radical ism -v 4 they fear.” N 4 4 "For the very reason that wc desire to favor the honost railroad man- 4 4 ager, we should discourage the activities of the man whose only concern 4 4 with railroads is to manipulate their stocks.” 4 4 "The movement to regulate railways has come to stay. The people of 4 4 this country have made up their minds and wisely made up their minds 4 4 —to exercise a closer control over all kinds of public-service corpora- 4 4 tions, including railways.” 4 4 “as a matter of course, we shall punish every criminal whom we 4 4 can convict under the law; but we have no intention of confounding the 4 4 innocent many and the guilty few by any ill-judged and sweeping scheme 4 4 of vengeance.” 4 4 “I ask for full power to be given the federal government because no 4 4 single state can, by legislation, effectually cope with these powerful cor- 4 4 porations engaged in interstate commerce, and, while doing them full 4 4 Justice, exact from them in return, full Justice to others.” 4 4 “There can be no question as to the desirability of doing away with 4 4 rebates, or any method of favoring one shipper at the expense of a 4 4 competitor.” 4 4 “The most effective way to lessen demands for unreasonable legisla- 4 4 tlon is for the railroads acting individually and collectively to remedy as 4 4 many as possible of the abuses and shortcomings for which there really 4 4 are remedies and for which laws are demanded by the shipping public.” +■ 4444444444444444+44-4444444+ 4444444 444-44444444+4444»4 SAYS MOVEMENT TO REGULATE RAILWAYS BY LAW HAS COME TO STAY PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT. the road—Is more important by far than the physical valuation; and the physical valuation of the road in one region may have an entirely different relation to tho real value of the road than in another region where the conditions are utterly different. There fore the physical valuation can never be more than one of many elements to be considered; but it is one element and at times may be a very important element, when taken in connection with the earning power, franchises, or iginal cost, character of management, location, and business possibilities, in reaching an estimate on the property and rights of a corporation as a going concern. The effect of such valuation ami supervision of securities can not be retroactive. Existing securities should be tested by the laws in existence at the time of their issue. This nation v. ould no more, injure securities which j have become an important part of the , national wealth than it would consider | a proposition to repudiate the public I debt. But the public interest requires guaranty against improper multiplica tion of securities in the future. Rea sonable regulations for their issuance should be provided, so as to secure as far as may be that the proceeds there of shall be devoted to legitimate busi ness purposes. Harm No honest Person. In providing against overcapitaliza tion we shall harm no human being who is honest; and we shall benefit many, for overcapitalization often means an intlation that invites business panic; it always conceals the true relation of the profit earned to the capital in vested, creating a burden of interest payments which may redound to the | loss alike of the wage earner and the g •neral public, which is concerned In the rates paid by shippers; it damages j the small investor, discourages thrift, j and puts a premium on gambling and ; business trickery. prevent building more. But Iowa pro ceeded with the task and it resulted, not In ruin and stagnation, but in increased safe ty and profit to the honest investor. In stead of putting roads into the hands of receivers, it was followed by a prosperity that rescued many of them from receiver ships. To give another illustration from Iowa’s experience, when the national banking law was amended to allow small banks to take out national charters, great number* of the state banks of that state were re organized into national institutions. The investing public was ready to back with unlimited confidence the institutions on which the federal government had set the seal of its confidence and approval. All this, my friends, is substantially what I have said over and over again. Surely, it ought not to be necessary to say that it in no shape or way represents any hostility to corporations us such. On tlie contrary, it means a frank recognition of the fact that combinations of capital, like combinations of labor, are a natural result of modern conditions and of our national development. As far as in my ability lies my endeavor is and will be to prevent abuse of power by either and to favor both so long as they do well. Blame Where It Belongs. There has been complaint of some of the Investigations recently carried on, but those who complain should put tho blame where it belongs—upon the misdeeds which are done in darkness, and not upon the in vestigations which brought them to light. The administration is responsible for turn ing on the light, but it is not responsible for what the light showed. I ask for full power to be given the fed eral government, because no single state can by legislation effectually cope with these poweiful corporations engaged in interstate commerce, and, while doing them full justice, exact from them in re turn full justice to others. The conditions of railroad activity, the conditions of our immense interstate com merce, are such as to make the central government alone competent to exercise full supervision and control. The grave abuses in individual cases of railroad management in the past repre sent wrongs not merely to the general public, but, above all. wrongs to fair-deal ing and honest corporations and men of wealth, because they excite a popular ang er and distrust which from the very na ture of the case tends to include In the sweep of its resentment good and bad . lit.-** li’vnni th<» «»a riftnnlni r.f fh,. nnhllx There is an essenuai umerence do- , tween private and quasi-public prop-] (rty and which justifies setting! somewhere a limit beyond which the accumulating value in quasi-public I propt rties, due to the necessity of a growing community, shall not be cap- ! Utilized. One of the most important features of ; the Hepburn act is its having given the commission aboslute control over the ac- , counts of railways. The commission has just issued an order to the effect that on July 1 next all the railways of the eoun try subject to the jurisdiction of the com mission must standardize their accounting methods, and the commission is now or ganizing a bureau of special examiners, whose duty it will bo, among other things. io see that the hooks of the carriers are kept in conformity with the rules laid down by the commission. Thus the mean* mv alieady at hand and the machinery i already created which, when perfected, . will nut the public in position to know the facts, so that the small investor can j exercise an intelligent judgment when en trusting his money to the promoters of great railway enterprises. We hope as one of the chief means for betterment of ’ conditions to secure as complete pub licity in the affairs of railroads as now obtains with regard to national banks. No Detriment to Investors. There need be no fear on the part of investors that this movement for national supervision and control over railways will be for their detriment. If they doubt this, | let them study the history of the railway control movement in such a state as Iowa, i It would be hard to find anywhere a more prosperous or more intelligent community: a community of thriving farmers and! thriving townspeople. Iowa d.d its t-haro : in the work of building railroads when ; the business was one that demanded men of the utmost daring and resourcefulness, men like that gallant soldier and real cap tain of industry, Grenville M. Dodge; men | v/ho run risks and performed feats for ] which it was difficult to make the re- ; ward too high; men who staked every- | th.ng on the chances of a business which today happily Involves no such hazards. : Iowa was at length forced to undertake the work of regulating the railways with ; in her borders. There was great outcry ] against it. It was proclaimed that such | effort would ruin roads already built, aaid I can not too earnestly say that as soon as the natural and proper resentment aroused by these abuses becomes indis criminate and unthinking, it also becomes not merely unwise and unfair, but calcu lated to defeat the very ends which those feeling it have in view. No Let-Up in the Hunt. There has been plenty of dishonest work by corporations In the past. There will not be the slightest let-up in the effort to hunt down and punish every dishonest man. Hut the bulk of our business is honestly done. Jn the natural indignation the peo ple feel over the dishonesty, it is all-essen tial that they should not lose their heads and get drawn into an indiscriminate raid upon all corporations, all people of wealth, whether they do well or ill. Out of any such wild movement good will not come, cannot come, and never has come. On the contrary, the surest way to invite reaction is to follow the lead of either demagogue or visionary in a sweeping assault upon property values and upon public confi dence, which would work incalculable damage in the business world, and would produce such distrust of the agitators that in the revulsion the distrust would extend to honest men who, in sincere and sane fashion, are trying to remedy the evils. There can be no question as to the de sirability of doing away with rebates or any method of favoring one shipper at the expense of a competitor, and direct dealing with the rates is sometimes tht only method by which this favoritism car be avoided; but where favoritism is not alleged, and when the question is nakedly one of getting a lower rate, it must bt remembered that it is often possible that those demanding it may be diametrically opposed in interest to those who demand a better, safer, and more rapid transporta tion service, and higher wages and shorter hours for employes. If the demand for more taxes, for higher wages, for shorter hours for employes, and for lower rates: becomes so excessive as to prevent am ple and speedy transportation, arul to eat up the legitimate profits; if popular anc legislative movements take a shape t:C Ill-directed as not only to threaten honesi investment and honest enterprises, bui al*o to prevent any effort for the better ment of transportation facilities. It than' becomes out of the question to secure the necessary Investment of capital In order to bring about an improved service. Against High Rates. Rates should not be unduly high; there should be a thorough safeguarding against accidents; there should be no improper shirking of taxes; the shippers of the country must be supplied generously with , cars and all other equipments necessary to properly care for our commerce, and all this moans that the national govern ment must be aiven full and effective pow er of supervision and control. Wo can not get an improved service un less the carriers of the country can sell their securities; and therefore nothing should bo done unwarrantedly to impair their credit nor to decrease the value of their outstanding obligations. For several months some, if not all, of our roads have been In a condition of ex treme congestion. Doubtless this Is main ly duo to tho fact that tho country has outgrown Its railroads, that our prosperity has increased at such a rate that the most sanguine and optimistic railroads have been unable to keep pace with Its growth. But it is also true that ordinary methods of operation, which hold good in a placid time of steady and regular movement, should at a time of crisis yield to the Im perative necessities of public need. Up to the Railroads. Tho most effective way to lessen de mands for unreasonable legislation is for the railroads acting individually and col lectively to remedy as many as possible of the abuses and shortcomings for which there really are remedies, and for which remedial laws ax© demanded by the ship ping public. Finally, friends, let us never forget that this Is not merely a matter of buslnesn but also a matter of morals. The success of our whole system of government de pends upon our discriminating between men, not with reference to whether they are rich or poor, whether they follow oua occupation or another, but with reference solely to whether they act as honest and upright citizens should act. Lot tho local attorneys for tho big road* kt*ep out of politics; and when they have to appear be fore tho national or any state legislature let their names be put on a special regis ter, and let their business be above-board and open. There are blackmailers In public life, and the citizen who is honest will war against tho man who tries to blackmail a railroad or a big corporation with the samo stern determination to punish him as against the man who corruptly favors such cor poration. But let tho railroad man remem ber that to purchase immunity in wrong in nfvnt hlonkmiitl lw lirlhftrv m the worst and most short-sighted of jKtll ctcs. Let the plain people insist on the one hand on governing themselves and on the other hand on doing exact justice to the railways. Let tho big railroad roan scrupulously refrain from any effort to in fluence politics or government save as It Is the duty of every good citizen In legiti mate ways to try to Influence politics and government; let tho people as a whole. In their turn, remember that It Is their duty to discriminate In tho sharpest ws.y be tween tho railway man who does well and the railway man who does 111; and, above all to remember that the irreparable mor al harm done to the body politic by cor ruption Is Just its great, whether the cor ruption takes the form of blackmailing a big corporation or of corruptly doing Its bidding. What we have to demand In ourselves and In our public servants Is honesty honesty to all men; and If we condone dishonesty because wc think It Is exercised in the Interests of the people, we may rest assured that the man thus showing It lacks only tho opportunity to exercise it against the Interests of the peo ple. The man who on occasion will cor ruptly do what Is wrong In the Interests of a big corporation Is the very man cagor to blackmail that corporation as the oppor tunity arises. Moral Weathercocks. The man who Is on occasion a corrup tionist, is apt, when the gust of populav feeling blows hard against tho corpora tions ne has corruptly served, to be the loudest, most reckless, and most violent among those who denounce them. Hunt such a man out of public life. Hunt him out as remorselessly If lie Is a blackmail er as If he stands corruptly for special privilege. Demand honesty—absolute, un flinching honesty—together with courage and common sense, In public servant and In business man alike. Make It evident that vou will not tolerate In public life a man who discriminates for or against any other, save as Justice and reason de mand It; and that In your attitude toward business men, toward the men who are dealing with (ho great financial Interests of the country, while you Intend to secure a sharp reckoning for the wrongdoers, you also intend heartily to favor the men who in legitimate ways are doing good work in the buslenss community—the rail way president, the traffic manager, or other official, high or low, who Is doing all In his power to handle his share In u vast and complicated business to the profit alike of the stockholder and the general public. Let the man of great wealth remember that, Willie using and enjoying It, he must neverthless feel that ho Is In a sense a trustee, and that consistent misuse, wheth er in acquiring or spending his wealth, is ominous of evil to himself, to others who have wealth, and to the nation as a whole. As for the rest of us, let us guard ourselves against envy as we ask that others guard themselves against arrog ance, and remember Lincoln’s words of kindly wisdom: "Let not him who Is houseless pull down the house of another, but let him work diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assur ing that his own shall be safe from vio lence when built." INVENTOR OF ARTIFICIAL PEARLS Silvery Lustre on a Pond That Set a Bead Maker Thinking. From the New Orleans Times-Democrat. The string of artificial pearls was very beautiful. But for the regularity of the beads anyone would have thought It a rope of real pearls worth a king's ransom. "I'll tell you,” said the Jeweler, as he wrapped up the deceptive necklet, "how the wonderfully perfect artificial pearl came to be Invented. "A rich French beadmaker—Moise Jaquin—he lived in the seventeenth century—found a pond in his garden covered one morning with a lovely sil very luster. Amazed, he called his gardener, who said It was nothing some albettes had got crushed, that was all. “Albettes were little silver fish— bleaks—the Leuclscus alournus. The gardener explained that If you crushed them they always gave the water a pearly sheen like that. Jaquin put on his thinking cap. "For six years he worked with beads and bleaks, wasting millions of both. But finally he achieved success. He learned how to extract the pearly lustre from the bleaks’ scales and to cover a glass bead with It. "What he did—and his method Is still use(j__Was to scrape the scales from the fish, wash and rub them and save the water. The water, decanted, gave ofT a lustrous lluld of the thickness of oil, a veritable pearl paint, a magic fluid that Imparts a lovely pearly sheen to everything it is applied to. "It takes 1,000 bleaks to , yield an ounce of this pearl paint." His Expansion. A New York physician who examines applicants for life Insurance for several companies in that line was recently "go ing over" one man, to whom he chanced to remark: “I shall now have to ascertain your chest expansion.” i "My what?” "Your chest expansion. That is, the dif ference In measurement when your chest isn't Inflated and when it la Inflated." "Oh,” said the applicant, beginning dim ly to understand. "Then years ago I measured around here"—Indicating his ro tund stomach—"only 33 Inches. I measure 49 now. I guess what you call my chest expansion Is 13 inches. A man thinks he's a martyr when he lends his wife 510 he owes her on her allowance. Minnesota wants OTHER STATES TO JOIN IN FIGHT Thinks They Should Help Den fendithe’Principle of State Control Over Railroads. St. Paul, Minn., June G.—Othet Rtates may get together with Minnesota to defend the principle of state control over railroads. This is the idea of At torney General K. T. Young In connec tion with the injunction suits to bd argued soon before Judge Lochren in the federal court. The railroad stock holders who uppear as complainants are trying to enjoin the enforcement o< state laws regulating freight anil pas senger rates on the plea that the sole power to regulate commerce rests in (he national government. Minnesota is tile state attacked, but nearly every state In the union has laws regulating common carriers and most of them, have rate laws. The Minnesota cas* is Just us important in its outcome td other states as it is to Minnesota. On the decision in this case all state law* controlling common carriers will huv« to stand or fail. Will Invite Sister States. Mr. Young's thought Is that othel states may consider the Issue serlou* enough to make It worth while to glv* Minnesota somo help. They would hardly volunteer assistance, though anil to pave the way for such an offer he favors an understanding with th» attorney generals of the states, giving them an opportunity to join in defend ing the injunction suit. If such un offer is made and accepted it will make the hearings in St. Paul notabi* for the array of prominent counsel on both sides of the table. Attorney General Young made thd following statement: hi mo uuiis juhi cominencea me Issue Is squarely raised ns to th« power of the states to regulate theif domestic commerce or tlx railroad rates for either passenger or freight, even on business beginning and ending within the state. "It Is claimed that the fixing of such rates by a state necessarily affects tha rates on Interstate commerce. "It is pointed out In the complaints, that If the several adjacent states through which the roads doing busi ness In Minnesota carry on their inter state business adopted the sames rates as Minnesota the rates thereafter on Interstate business could not be greater than the sum of the local rates from the point where the business originated to the state line, and from there to the point of termination, and that therefore interstate rates, which are exclusively within the jurisdiction of congress are affected, and, as a conse quence. state regulation must be aban doned. Issue of Vital Importance, “I consider the argument unsound and revolutionary In the domain of rail road regulation, and it is of the most vital Importance to all other states as well as Minnesota. "This would be especially true as to the states that have passed a 2-cent fare law where it has not yet gone into effect. I am considering a ptetn to take the matter up with the attorney gen erals or Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, New York and other states where state laws regulating rates have been passed and invite their co-operation. Asked about an extra session Mr. Young said It could not be of any help In settling the legal questions and ha was ready to meet the Issue. At Madison, Minn., a mass meeting was held ut which a resolution was adopted calling on Governor Johnson tq convene the legislature In extraordi nary session. Many letters urging a special session are being received by the governor. Most of them expres* indignation at the suits and talk of re tallation. Railroad Commissioner C. F, Staples favors a special session strong ly. “There are several things the legis lature could do If It went Into session now,” Mr. Staples said. The Rockney bill regulating stock and bond issue* was mentioned, and Mr. Staples said that was one possibility. "Every mem ber of the legislature ought to back ut the attorney general now," he said, "and urge him to Incur any needed ex pense to fight these cases.” LIGHTNING HITS WAR BALLOON, MAN KILLED Home, June 5.—A tragic incident took place during a review of the troops by King Victor Emmanuel and Queen Helena. As a part of the ma neuvers a military balloon was sent up to a height of 700 feet with Cap tain Ullivelli in the car. A storm which had been coming up burst suddenly and the thousands of spectators were horrified to see a ilash of lightning strike the gas bag. There was an enormous burst of flame and a ter rific detonation, and the collapsed balloon with its dangling car fell to the earth a mile from the scene of the review. Captain Ullivelli was found alive, hut unconscious. He died later. 4 4 4 AGED 70 AND 72, 4 4 ELOPERS ARE WED. 4 4 4 4 Sheboygan. Wls., June 5.—Thomas 4 4 Taylor, aged 72, and Mrs. William 4 4 Brookshire, aged 70, pioneers at 4 4 Waldo, this county, eloped to a 4 4 neighboring village and were mar- 4 4 ried The celebration was turned 4 4 into a charivari when they re- 4 4 turned. 4 ♦ 44^4^^^+++4+44+44444* Y crockeV ^reported ** *** * 4 4 SEEKING A SEAT 4 4 IN PARLIAMENT. 4 4 London. June 5.—The newspapers 4 4 are reviving a report that Richard 4 4 Croker cherishes an ambition to en- 4 4 ter the British parliament as an -4 4 Irish nationalist member Recently 4 4 Mr. Croker has taken an interest in 4 4 the work of the nationalists, made 4 4 contributions to the party fund, lent 4 automobiles for electioneering pur- 4 4 poses and identified himself with the 4 4 party by appearing on th" platform 4 4 at the recent convent'on In Dublin. 4 v?<>"9-«'t44 WATERSPOUT DOES $50,000 DAMAGE Lexington, Ky„ June 5.—Reports re. ceived today Indicate the damage by J Saturday night's water spout will bi probably over jr»0,000. In Nicholas, Pendleton. Wolfe, Lee, Grant, Harrison, Bourbon, Montgomery, Bath and out., central eastern Kentucky counties, livt stock, hridgos, fencing, small outbuild, ings arid fend were washed away. A.11 trains are delayed by landslides.