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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 7, 1908)
:" j i vvmmmmmmmmtmifmfm w .mm vmi m PtP 1HjJpp'i MjRjifMjim lilfWYW'n -AUGUST 7, 1908 The Commoner. 9 MR, TAFT'S speech of acceptance . ' . . Following arc extracts from Mr. Taft's . speech of acceptance delivered at. Cincinnati, . July 28: "I am deeply sensible -of the honor which the republican, national convention has con ferred on me in the nomination which you for mally tender. I accept it with full appreciation of the responsibility it imposes. "Gentlemen, the strength of the republi can cause in the campaign at hand is in the fact that we represent the policies essential to the reform of known abuses, to the continuance of liberty and true prosperity, and that wo are determined, as our platform unequivocally de clares, to maintain them and carry them on. For more than ten years this country passed through an epoch of material development far beyond any that ever occurred in the world be fore. "In its course certain evils crept in. Some prominent and influential members of the com .munity, spurred by financial success and in their hurry for greater wealth, became unmindful of the common rules of business "honesty and fidelity and of the limitations imposed by law upon their action. This became known. "The revelations of the breaches of trust, the disclosures as to rebates and discrimina tions by railways, the accumulating evidence of the violation of the anti-trust law by a number of corporations, the overissue of stocks and bonds on interstate railways for the unlawful enriching of directors and for the purpose of concentrating control of railways in one manage ment, all quickened the conscience of the peo ple and brought on a moral awakening among them that boded well for the future of the . country. "The man who formulated the expression of the popular conscience and who led the move ment for practical reform was Theodore Roose velt. He laid down the doctrine that the rich violator of the law should be as amenable to , restraint and punishment as the offender, with- .,,o(u wealth and without influen-e, and he pro ," ceeded by recommending legislation and direct ing, executive action to make that principle good in. actual performance.. He secured the passage of the so-called rate bill, designed more effec tively to restrain excessive and fix reasonable rates and to punish secret rebates and dis criminations which had been general in the practice of the railroads, and which had done - ,much to enable. unlawful trusts to drive out of business their competitors. , "It secured much closer supervision of rail - way transactions and brought within the oper-,- ation of ' the same, statute express companies, sleeping car companies, fast freight and refrig erator lines, .terminal railroads, and pipe lines,, and forbade in future the co bination of the transportation and shipping husiness under one control in order to avoid undue discrimination. "President Roosevelt directed suits to be brought and prosecutions to be instituted under the anti-trust law, to enforce its provisions against the most powerful of the industrial corporations. He pressed to passage the pure food law and the meat inspection law in the interest of the health of the public clean busi ness methods and great ultimate benefit to the trades themselves. He recommended the pass age of a law, which, the republican convention has since specifically approved, restricting the future issue of stocks -and bonds by interstate railways to such as may be authorized by fed eral authority. "He demonstrated to the people by what he said, by what he recommended to congress, and by what he did, the sincerity of his efforts to command res'pect for the law, to secure equal ity of all before the law, and to save the coun ' try from the dangers of a plutocratic govern ment, toward which we were fast tending. "In this work Mr. Roosevelt has had the support and sympathy of the republican party, and its chief hope of success in the present controversy must rest on the confidence which the people of the country have in the sincerity of the party's declaration in its platform, that - it intends to continue the policies. "Mr. Roosevelt has set high the standard of business morality and obedience to law. The " railroad rate bill was more useful, possibly in 1 the. immediate moral effect of its passage than even in the legal effect of its useful, provisions. "' From its enactment dates the voluntary aban - donment -of the practice of rebates atid discrim inations by the railroads' and the return by their managers to obedience to law in the fix ing .of tariffs. "The pure food and meat Inspection laws . and the prosecutions directed by the president under, the anti-trust law have had a similar moral effect in the general business community, and have made it now the common practice for the great industrial corporations to consult the law with a view to keeping within its provi sions. It also has had the effect of protecting , and encouraging smaller competitive companies, so that they have been enabled t6 dp a profitable business. . "But we should be blind to the .ordinary working of human nature if .We did not recog nize that the moral standards seUby President Roosevelt will not continue to be observed by those whom cupidity and a desire for financial power may tempt, unless the requisite ma chinery is introduced into the law which shall in its practical operation maintain these stand ards and secure the country against a departure from them. "The chief function of the next adminis tration, in my judgment, Is distinct from and a progressive development of that which has been performed by President Roosevelt. The chief function of the next administration is to com plete and perfect the machinery by which these standards may be maintained, by which the law breakers may be promptly restrained and pun ished, but which shall operate with sufficient accuracy and dispatch to interfere with legiti mate business as little as possible. "Such machinery Is not now adequate. Under the present rate bill and under all its amendments the burden of the interstate com merce commission In supervising and regulat ing 'the operation of the railroads of this coun try has grown so heavy that it is utterly im possible for that tribunal to hear and dispose, in any reasonable tinie, of the many complaints, queries and issues that are brought before it for decision. t "It ought to be relieved of Its jurisdiction as an executive directing body, and Its' func tions should bo limited to the quasi-judicial in vestigation of complaints by individuals and by a department of the government charged with the executive business of supervising the Opera tion of railways. "There should be a classification of that small percentage of industrial corporations hav ing power and opportunity to effect Illegal re straints of trade and monopolies, and legisla tion either inducing or compelling them to sub ject themselves to registry and to "proper pub licity regulations and supervision of the depart ment of commerce and labor. "The field covered by the industrial com binations and by the railroads is so extensive that the interests of the public and the Interests of the businesses concerned can not bo prop erly subserved except by reorganization of bureaus of the department of commerce and labor, of agriculture, and the department of justice, and a change in the jurisdiction of the interstate commerce commission. It does not assist matters to prescribe new duties for the interstate commerce commission which it is prac tically impossible for it to perform, or to de nounce new offenses with drastic punishment, unless subordinate and ancillary legislation shall be passed making possible the quick enforce ment in the great variety of cases which are constantly arising, of the principles laid down by Mr. Roosevelt, and with respect to which only typical instances of prosecution with the pres ent machinery are possible. "Such legislation should and would greatly promote legitimate business by enabling those anxious to -obey the federal statutes A- know just what are the bounds of their lawful action. The practical constructive and difficult work, therefore, of those who follow Mr. Roosevelt is to devise the ways and means by which the high level of business integrity and obedience to law which he has establshed may be main tained and departures from it restrained with out undue interference with legitimate business. "It is agreeable to note in this regard that the republican platform expressly and the demo cratic ' platform Impliedly approve an amend ment to the Interstate commerce law, by which interstate railroads may." ,raake useful traffic agreements rif approved by ,the. commission'. .This ., has ' been ' strongly recbrnrm'erided by President Roosevelt and will make for tho benefit of business. "Some of the suggestions of the democratic platform relate really to this subordinate and ancillary machinery to which I havo referred. Take, for instance, tho so-called 'physical valu ation of railways.' It is clear that tho sum of all rates or receipts of a railway, less proper expenses, should be limited to a fair profit upon the reasonable value of its property, and, that Jf the sum exceeds this measure It ought to be reduced. Tho difficulty in enforcing tho prin ciple is in ascertaining what Is the reasonable value of the company's property, and in fixing what Is a fair profit. "It is clear that the physical valuo of n railroad and its plant is an element to bo given weight in determining its full value; but as President Roosovolt in his Indlanupo'Is speech and the supremo court have in effect pointod out, the value of the railroad as a going con cern, Including its good will, due to efficiency of service and .many other circumstances., niav be much greater than the val..o of its tangiblo property, and it is the former that measures tho investment on which a fair profit must bo nl lowed. Then, too, tho question what Is a fair profit Is one involving not only tho rate of in terest usually earned on normally safe invest ments but also a sufficient allowance to make up for tho risk of loss both of capital and interest In the original outlay. These considerations will have justified the company in imposing charges high enough to secure a fair income on tho on ' terprise as a whole. The securities at market prices will have passed Into the hands of subse quent purchasers from the original Investors. "Such circumstances should properly affect the decision of the tribunal engaged in deter mining whether the totality 'oj rates charged is reasonable or excessive. To ignore them might so seriously and unjustly impair settled values as to destroy all hope of restoring confi dence and forever to end the Inducement for investment in new railroad construction, which, in returning prosperous times, is sure to bo essential to our material progress.' - "As Mr. Roosevelt has said in speaking of this subject: " 'Tho effect of such valuation and supervi sion of securities can not bo retroactive. Ex isting securities should bo tested by laws In existence at the time of their issue. This na tion would no more injure securities which havo become an important part of tho national wealth than It would consider a proposition to repudiate the national debt.' v "The question of rates and the treatment of railways Is one that has two sides. The shippers are certainly entitled to reasonable rates; but less is an injustice to the carriers. Good business for the railroads is essential to general prosperity. Injustice to them is not alone injustice to stockholders and capitalists, whose further investments may be necessary for the good of the whole country, but it direct ly affects and reduces the wages of railway em ployes, and indeed may deprive them of their places entirely. "From what has been said the proper con clusion would seem to be that in attempting to determine whether tho entire schedule of rates of a railway is excessive, the physical val uation of the road Is a relevant and important but not necessarily a controlling factor. "I am confident that the fixing of rates on the principles suggested above would not ma- . terially Impair the present market values of railroad securities in most cases, for I believe that the normal Increase in the value of rail road properties, especially in their terminals, will more than make up for the possible over capitalization in earlier years. In some cases, doubtless, it will be found that overcapitaliza tion is made an excuse for excessive rates, and then they should be reduced; but the concensus of opinion seems to be that the railroad rates generally In thls-country are reasonably low. "This is why, doubtless, the complaints filed with the interstate commerce commission against excessive rates are so few as compared with those against unlawful discrimination In rates between shippers and between places. Of course, in the determination of the question whether discrimination is unlawful or not, the physical valuation of the whole road is of little weight. "I have discussed this.wjth some degree of detail, nerely, to. point out, that the valuation "tContinued on Pago 12) f.amri&rmti mi-i mi i'- r, . . J,.u-.3& J MrJUt - jgrfMrL.i.- -.ii kw.. VM-. -'-