DECEMBER 21, 1905 Gfo NcbracZlU.
features the department of justice will not be under the necessity
of adopting the roundabout method of prosecution for conspiracy.
It will be able to uncover cases of rebating and to punish with im
prisonment those who liovate the law by conspiracy or otherwise.
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PROFESSOR ROSS NEEDED , r X
It is to be hoped that Chancellor Andrews will succeed in re
taining Professor Koss at the state university. The divergent views
of these two noted educators have-not lessened their esteem for
each other, and that is as it should be. in a great institution of liberal
education. But Nebraskans are especially interested in keeping
these two gentlemen in close proximity.
As an economist Professor Ross is one of the nation's most
acute social and political critics. It may even be said that he wields
a scalpel which lays bare with unerring science the. cancers in the
body politic. An accurate diagnosis almost "always suggests the
remedy, but if Professor Ross has not offered a panacea for
our ills it is- not because he has no remedy to suggest but because
the nation is passing through a-period of evolution that requires a
different remedy for every new stage of the disease.
Professor Ross has been a most successful critic and has shed
light upon many -dark places, because he is not one who believes
that he should "let well enough alone." Chancellor Andrews, on
the other hand, is rather inclined to take that shibboleth as his maxim.
He holds that the ills from which the nation suffers are not
deadly. They are no worse than the ills that afflicted us half a
century or a century ago. It is well to criticise, but much that is
thought tobe evil is really good. Great fortunes' are good. Con
centration of the titles to wealth is good. At all events, it is no
worse than unrestricted competition. Every stage of economic evo
lution has its compensations, and the millenium is never reached.
"It is better to bear those ills we have than to fly to others that we
know not of."
If Chancellor Andrews is to remain at the Nebraska univer
sity, he could haveno better counter-irritant than Professor Ross.
Such an association of opposing intellectual forces will be beneficial
to the students. It would be a distinct evil to have the impression
go abroad among the students that in a university which bears the
stigma of Rockefellerism a professor holding antagonistic views
to almost all that is meant by Rockefellerism cannot ; be retained as
an instructor when it is possible to retain as a chancellor one who is
an open and sincere apologist for Rockefellerism.
COMMISSIONER GARFIELD'S FAILURE
Commissioner Garfield has again invited contempt by issuing
a weak and foolish report. It contains nothing of value and much
that deserves censure. Perhaps the most amazing part "of it is the
passage in which he defends his beef trust' report.
" The commissioner declares that only in a few instances were
his figures shown to be wrong. The impertinence oFthis statement
is realized when it is recalled that there has been no investigation
for the purpose of disproving his figures. -The refutations which
have been made from time to time have been necessarily of a re
stricted character. It was more by inference than by proof that
Mr. Garfield's- report was discredited, but the inferences., were in
evitable. The most striking evidence against the reliability of his
report was the discovery that he accepted as correct the figures sub
mitted to him by the packers in a set of books kept forthe purpose
of deception. The true figures as to profits were concealed by various
fraudulent accounts or in books that Commissioner Garfield never
saw. ;
The commissioner strives to answer the severe criticisms of his
reports that have appeared in the newspapers. It transpires that
he did not publish bis findings relative to illegal combination among
the packers because the department of justice was then taking steps
to prosecute the packers under the anti-trust law and required secrecy
as to tho evidence it possessed. If time shall develop that this evi
dence :s valuable to tho government the commissioner may jet have
tho joy of hearing some words of praise for his work, but the public
will doubt bis worth as a commissioner until that time, and espe
cially now when it is currently reported that he is to lx? a witness
for tho beef trust in the trial at Chicago.
Another criticism of the Wf trust ivjxrt was that it contained
nothing concerning private ear line nbu.ev Commissioner Garfield
Mate that at tho time the report was made "the extent and nature
of government control over such companies was the subject of pend
ing legislation, ami it would have been improper to anticipate tho
deei-uon by assuming in advance any jurisdiction over them." Tho
Independent pages
very name of Commissioner Garfield's bureau ,"the bureau of cor
porations" is a sufficient answer to this feeble plea.
After apologizing for his former report the commissioner pro
ceeds to discuss control of corporations and railways. His sug
gestions are all of a vague character. He writes:
It Is universally recognized that the great highways of commerce
should be open to all upon equal terms. It 13 likewise true that the op
portunities for the individual to engage in industrial enterprise should be
equally free. The individual is not strong enough ordinarily to protect
himself against a great corporation. He can be secure in his rights only
under a law which subjects the corporation to regulation by a govern
ment whose jurisdiction is broad enough and whose power Is great enough
to compel obedience, Such a law the question of the reasonableness of
combination, of conspiracies in restraint of trade, of monopolistic control,
would be left, as they should be, for the determination of the courts; and
the government would then have, as it should have, the opportunity at all
times to know the detailed operations of those corporations to which it
has granted such powers, upon which it has imposed great responsibilities
and over which it will exercise its full measure of protection, so long as
they obey the laws of the land.
There is nothing definite in the entire passage, but it seems
to contain an intimation that the courts should be allowed to deal
with corporations unhampered by government regulation. Presum
ably when the courts have decided that a corporation is violating the
law the government will not "exercise its full measure of protection"
over that corporation. This is a terrible threat. When the corpora
tions do wrong the government withdraws its protection. It will not
punish the lawbreakers; it will merely frown on them. Such is.
Commissioner Garfiel's remedy. He may be sure that he will not be
frowned upon by lawbreakers.
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LAMAR SHOULD PROVE IT
Representative Lamar has made a serious charge against Rep
resentative Williams that calls for immediate explanation.
"He's a dog, that's what he is," says Mr. Lamar. "I'll show
him with his swelled head and his Heidelberg jokes, that he cannot
charge me with something he cannot substantiate."
No gentleman should ever make a charge that he cannot sub
stantiate; and Representative Lamar should hasten to tell a curious
world about this dreadful Heidelberg joke. What is it? Can it
possibly be as bad as some of Chauncey Depew's jokes? If it is
Mr. Lamar should be made to prove his horrible charge or apologize.
One argument used by those who oppose an elective railway
commission is that it will increase the aggressiveness of tho rail
ways to control Nebraska politics. Could the railways be any more
aggressive than at present, and if that is possible, must the people
refrain from passing laws for their own protection lest tho railways
override these laws ? If they were to adopt such a policy the people
would admit that self-government is a failure in Nebraska. The aire
for the present evils of self-government is more self-government.
The people of Nebraska should have a direct primary system and
the initiative and referendum.
President Roosevelt's latest defense of Paul Morton is the least
excusable of all. The case against the Santa Fe rebaters was dis
missed because of a technical error in its presentation, and yet the
president declares that his "exoneration of Mr. Morton was completely
sustained. .
Paul Morton has appealed to policyholders to protect the New
York Life against blackmailing legislation. Insurance officials will
ing to conduct business -on an honest basis need never fear black
mail. ' " ,
Indications now point to a complete revision of tho present reve
nue law by the next Nebraska legislature if tho people are true to
themselves and elect men who stand for "a square deal."
The senate gave some attention a few days ago to the question
whether a member accused of crime should Ik) left of! committees.
This should be referred to Messrs. Piatt and Depew.
Senator Millard has loen assigned to the interocoanlc cnunl
committee. Is this because of his railway proclivities ?
The most surprising part about the recent bank failures U that
there ha Ixhmi no panic. Perhaps that U to come.
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The bank failures in Chicago have given Tom Dawson an ther
lease of Ufa