THE SPIRIT OF THE MONTH PLAYING AND PLANNING The world shortens its office hours and lengthens its evenings Russia pendulates between the ballot and the bomb Canada undertakes to make men rest on Sunday The United States finds in its commercial powers the cure of its commercial ills Congress adjourns and the two great parties prepare for the fall elections College men and women go out to save society and incidentally make a living RAINBOW FALLS IN WATKINS GLEN, NEW YORK'S NEW STATE PARK One of the most picturesque spots in the middle of New York State has recently been purchased for $50,000 by the state, and thereby becomes a public park. It is located near Seneca Lake, between Syracuse and Rochester The World Go-Day VOLUME XI AUGUST, 1906 NUMBER 2 Rebuilding the Nation on Interstate Commerce UR fathers built the United States upon the doctrine of natural rights. We are rebuilding the nation on interstate commerce. Once upon a time we had need of a constitution with a great many sections, sentences and clauses. We were troubled about many things; now one is sufficient. Our legislators have shown us that nearly any power the federal government needs can be gained from the single clause which gives Congress the power to regulate interstate commerce. If we want to regulate rates and rebates and passes on railways, interstate commerce gives us the right. If we want to inspect the packing houses and put labels on canned goods, interstate commerce tells us that we may. If we want to control the express companies and the sleeping cars and the pipe lines, put air brakes on freight trains, and say how many hours cattle can be in transport, interstate commerce gives us the power. If we want to keep manufacturers from poisoning us with formaldehyde and boracic acid, interstate commerce provides the antidote. Yet there is nothing revolutionary in all this. It is rather an illustration of the fact that politics is at bottom a matter of dollars and cents. Sometimes this fact gets obscured by oratory, treaty making and the slaying of thousands of people according to military rules. But sooner or later the real nature of government appears. Fortunate indeed is that nation which finds in its economic power the key to reform. (Copyright, 1906, by THE WORLD TO-DAY COMPANY.) ALEXANDER JOHNSTON CASSATT-PRESIDENT OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD SINCE JUNE, 1899 The recent investigation of the relation of the officials of the Pennsylvania Railroad to coal corporations has brought into prominence the president of that great system. Mr. Cassatt is one of the most successful railroad managers of the times and emphatically denies that he owns stock in coal companies |