the most progressive management of the business as a whole, of any country in the world. And all of this has been developed in fifty years by the energy, ability, and ingenuity of the American business man. With this record in the past, why is it necessary to take even a chance of delaying or changing this marvelous development? Or, to quote President Roosevelt again: “Nothing could be more foolish than the enactment of legislation which would unnecessarily interfere with the development and operation of these commercial agencies.”
Such a plan is unwise, because it would tend to a centralization of power in the making of the rates for the country. As I stated earlier, one of the complaints made now is that the decisions are not made promptly enough. What will be the inevitable effect upon the rate-making machinery of the railroads, if every rate can be challenged, and the power of fixing it is placed with a commission? The natural effect will be that the shipper will not be satisfied with the rate made by the railroad, and the railroad will hesitate to make a new
