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GEORGE AV.BERGE, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER
1 II III I II I
Volume 18
Lincoln, Nebraska, December 7, 1905
Number 29
President Stilt Strenuous In Mis Demand
For Effective Legislation
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President Roosevelt's latest message as one of the best public docu
ments of his administration. It contains much that is enlightening,
suggestive and even original and is, therefore, the work of a con
structive statesman. From a general point of view its most notable
feature is a breadth and saneness that reveals clearly Mr. Roosevelt's
steady growth.
A few years ago the president was wont to exaggerate the
merits of our captains of industry, but recent disclosures have
modified his judgments of these highly important but frequently
venal and. corrupt citizens. The president is now fully aware of
their weaknesses and faults and his saner view helps him to un
derstand the economic and political evils from which the nation is.
suffering and to offer such recommendations as will in some
measure correct these evils.
No one can now accuse the president of having surrendered
his position on the- railway question. He . has accepted no com
promise, and while his recommendations may seem in some respects
less drastic than' the crisis requires, he has evidently-kept in mind
the importance of securing a law that will stand the Jst of the
constitution'. rSe.36es . not- attemptfo "minimize the arguments of
those who hold that government ownership is inevitable. He con
cedes that the arguments are strong and he admits that govern
mental regulation of the railways will not accomplish all that its
most ardent advocates expect and desire. In this connection he
says: ;? - - . 7
"It is because in my judgment the public ownership of rail
ways is highly undesirable and would probably entaiL far-reaching
disaster, that I wish to see such supervision and regulation of them
in the interest of the public as will make it evident that there is no
need of public ownership."
" But while the president gives expression to this hope that "
railway regulation will be effective, there is a note of doubt and
fear, a suggestion even of hopelessness, when he discusses the means
of suppressing discrimination. He sees that the cunning of modern,
commercialism will be able to invent clever evasions of the law and
of the orders of the interstate commerce commission. And yet tie
president has the hardihood to suggest that an effective way of sup
pressing the rebate is to compel a railway to publish as its maximum
rate any preferential rate it may grant to a favored shipper, whether
the rate be 'made by means of the simple rebate, by free passes or
through the medium of private car lines, industrial railways, icing
charges, etc.. He would have the interstate commerce commission
invested with full power to check these abuses and lie even suggests
that congress should permit the commission to overstep state lines
and "regulate such local and proportional rates as might U used to
accomplish what the railways would lie prevented from accomplish
ing by interstate rates.
The president does not specify the uutuiv of that -'far-reaching,
disaster' which ho fears would result from government owner
ship, but he is right in not undertaking a discussion which is at
this time foreign to the question in hand. On the whole his recom
mendations with reference to railway regulation are wise and am
ple, and it h to le hoped that congress will confer upon the inter
state 'commerce commission all those powers which the president
believes it should have. The friends of government ownership will
await the result of government regulation with more satnfactiou
if thev know thnt regulation Ulwdiuj fullv and fairlv tried. Throusli
government regulation to government ownership U the natural evolu
tion. Friend of effective legislation will feel that the prenident
might have strengthened his position by urging congress to attach
a criminal penalty for violation of the new interstate commerce
law. The criminal penalty of the present law was abolished
by the Elkins amendment, which merely provides a fine. There
was no good reason why the criminal penalty should havo been
abolished and the cause of rate regulation would gain much by its
restoration.
The message has its "weak points, and none is weaker than its
reference to the tariff. If the passage had been written by anyone
' but the president it would be called "a straddle." Its chief error
lies in the assumption that the demand for tariff revision is not
general and that.it emenates from certain 'sections only. The presi
dent asserts that it is better certain sections should suffer than
that all sections should be injured by a change in the schedules.
The demand for tariff revision is the result of trust prices and the
people are paying trust prices in all sections of the country. Con
sequently the people .aro, united, in asking that congress shall revise
those tariffs which give shelter to the trusts. The president's en
dorsement of reciprocity is modified by an "if." It may be nec
essary and it may not. Should it prove to be necessary congress
should favor it. - .'.-"."C ' ' . ' V
The weakness of the tariff recommendation is apparent and
leads to the suspicion that the president has been so much engrossed
by the railway question that he has1 not familiarized himself with
the present status of ,the tariff question. It is possible that the
president, seeing the danger of division in republican ranks and not
caring to offer too many causes for discord, purposely avoids taking
a pronounced position, for or against tariff revision. It will bo
noted, moreover, that the president is absolutely silent on the sub
ject of buying canal supplies abroad, a policy he favored v because
he did not think the government, should pay the exorbitant trust
prices that have proved so burdensome to the public.
The president's policy with reference to the navy shows distinct
improvement. He no longer favors lavish expenditures, but pro
poses that one battleship be built each year. This policy, however,
is dictated not so much by the state of the revenues as by the fear
that present-day armaments will soon be out of date. His pro
posal that troops be concentrated at larger military posts and that
the smaller posts be abandoned is worthy of careful consideration.
If the effect of such a change be to decrease the number of posts near
large cities, the plan will meet with" popular, approval, but if the
effect be to remove the troops from minor posts to posts near tho
cities, the people are apt to suspect a conspiracy against strikes. '
In making his excellent recommendations regarding government
control of corporations the president seems to assign life insurance
companies- to the corporation class and .: hold's ths national should
replace state legislation because state legislation has proved deficient.
With respect to corporations this is true, and quite untrue with
rexpeci 'to life iiiMuranee companies. The failure to obtain proper
regulation of life insurance companies is due to the neglect and
wrongdoing of life insurance inspectors ami of legislators. Tho
lesson taught by the life insurance disclosures is that letter men
mut bo elected to all office within the gift of the people and not
that the federal government should murp the prerogatives of tho
states. If emigre decides to legislate upon the subject of insur
ance its legislation should supplement rather than replace stato
legislation.
The prendent reiterate hi Mief that there should U ''the
eh ment of elasticity in our enrrer.ey." Thi wuuhl seem to lie an
indirect approval of the -et currency scheme which has found
much' favor among the bankers who formerly la-bed them selves
