scarcely think it necessary that the reports of corporations at their inauguration should show separately the costs of promotion, which must necessarily vary greatly according to the conditions. Mr. Rice refers especially to the exploitation of patents, with which he has been intimately connected. He says the capitalization of a company based on an undeveloped patent must necessarily be fixed solely on the basis of the anticipated profits. The preferred stock should be issued to obtain cash for actual development, and the common stock should represent the estimated value of the patent as such. The witness thinks that the granting of patent monopolies is a great benefit to the public. He alludes especially to the experiences of the Consolidated Rubber Tire Company regarding patents. Publicity of corporations and protection of stockholders.—The witnesses' just referred to discuss also the desirability of requiring greater publicity of the affairs of large corporations generally. They are all inclined to agree that some added legal requirements as regards publicity, both at the time of the establishment of corporations and from year to year thereafter, would be desirable, although they do not favor making public too much information, especially regarding corporations engaged in competitive business. Mr. Greene, in particular, thinks that in many cases the best way to protect the public would be by requiring the examination of corporations by expert auditors, who should make only the general results of their examinations public. This witness also discusses in some detail the precise nature of the information which might properly be set forth in public reports. Mr. Greene and Mr. Woodlock (of the Wall Street Journal) likewise discuss the rights of stockholders in corporations. They assert that in general the rights of stockholders, even those of minority stockholders, are relatively well protected by existing laws and court decisions. They see no reason why a bona fide stockholder should not at all times be permitted to see lists of all the stockholders; but they assert that stockholders should not have the right to demand access to all of the financial accounts of corporations, because this would give competitors and enemies of corporations the opportunity, by buying and becoming holders of a small amount of stock, to get information regarding their affairs. Export prices.-Mr. Greene and Mr. Howes (of the Boston Chamber of Commerce) think that the practice of American manufacturers in selling goods abroad at lower prices than at home, in order to get rid of a surplus, is entirely justifiable, and that the same practice is followed by manufacturers in all countries.3 Reciprocity with Canada.-Mr. Howes presents a somewhat extended argument in favor of a reciprocity treaty with Canada. He declares that Canada is even now the very best customer for the products of the United States, and that the two countries are naturally almost an economic unit. He maintains, however, that because of the existence of tariff barriers against the sending of Canadian goods into the United States, Canada not only retaliates with other protective duties, but is in general disposed to carry on trade with England and other countries as much as possible in preference to the United States, and that a greatly increased trade with this country would result from a reciprocal reduction of duties. Mr. Howes thinks that free entrance of coal from Nova Scotia and British Columbia would be of great benefit to New England and the Pacific coast States, while our Middle States could export large amounts of coal to Canada. The lumber interests are those which are the most strongly opposed to letting down the tariff barriers, but this witness thinks that it would be a great advantage to New England especially if she could get free lumber from Canada. Grain elevators and inspection.-The subject of grain elevators and the alleged 1 Greene, pp. 492, 479-492; Woodlock, p. 466; Rice, p. 736. 3 Greene, pp. 484, 487, 494; Howes, p. 716. 2 Greene, pp. 477, 478; Woodlock, pp. 466, 467. 4 Pages 713-718. monopoly in some of the Western States was discussed with considerable fullness in the first report of this commission on transportation. (See Vol. IV, pp. 77-88 of Digest.) In the present volume Mr. Teisberg, of the Minnesota Railroad and Warehouse Commission, enters somewhat into the subject. He does not think that there is anything in the nature of a combination of elevators in Minnesota, or an agreement to fix the prices of grain. He says that by virtue of the law of that State, giving any person the right to take land on a railroad right-of-way by condemnation for the purpose of building an elevator, many independent elevators have been established, and that moreover farmers can often load their grain directly into the cars. This witness also discusses the system of grain inspection under the Minnesota law, as well as the practice of mixing different grades of grain.1 1 Pages 367-371, 372. A. The movement toward consolidation and community of interest. LXVI C. Minnesota law as to railroad consolidation. D. Pooling and agreements... III. FREIGHT TRAFFIC AND RATES GENERALLY. LXVIII LXXII LXXII D. Export and import rates хс E. Differential rates from the West to the Eastern cities. XCII XCIII IV. DISCRIMINATIONS BETWEEN PERSONS. A. Discussion as to existence and extent of practice B. Methods of discrimination.. C. Discriminations as affected by legislation V. DISCRIMINATION BETWEEN PLACES. A. General principles. Discussion... B. Long and short haul discriminations in the South. Basing point C. Alleged discriminations between rates from East and West to CX D. Miscellaneous discriminations and rate adjustments in the CXIII CXIX CXVI E. Alleged discrimination against Denver F. Freight rates to the Pacific coast and sea competition. VI. TICKET BROKERAGE. PASSENGER BUSINESS. A. Character of people engaged in the brokerage business CXX CXXI CXXIII CXXIV CXXV CXXVII CXXVIII VII. THE ANTHRACITE-COAL SITUATION. A. Relation of railroads to coal industry. Alleged community of interest... B. Relation of railroads to independent operators CXXIX .... CXXXV VII. THE ANTHRACITE-COAL SITUATION-Continued. C. Percentage contracts and freight rates.... D. Alleged discrimination against independent operators. E. Production of coal. Restriction and allotment of output. F. Prices and the effect of combination G. Capitalization of coal roads and reserve coal lands. Page. CXXXVII CXLIII CXLV CXLIX CLVIII CLXI I. Conditions of labor and relations of employers and employees.. CLXIV VIII. REGULATION OF RAILROADS, INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION. A. Railway legislation generally.. E. Departments of commerce and transportation. IX. WATER TRANSPORTATION. A. General relation to rail transportation B. Atlantic coastwise transportation C. American merchant marine and ship subsidies D. Nicaragua Canal. E. Oriental trade. F. Boston export trade. CLXVI B. Powers of Interstate Commerce Commission. Proposed amend- CLXVI C. Inspection and regulation of railroad accounts CLXX CLXXII CLXXIV CLXXIV CLXXIV CLXXV CLXXIX CLXXXII CLXXXII CLXXXIII G. Ocean traffic of New Orleans CLXXXIII X. TRANSPORTATION ON THE MISSISSIPPI AND TRIBU- A. Statistics and character of Mississippi River commerce.. CLXXXIV CLXXXVI C. Freight rates. Competition with railroads D. Miscellaneous XI. THE TAXATION OF RAILROADS. VALUATION IN RELATION TO FREIGHT RATES, ETC. A. Uniformity of taxation.... CLXXXVII CLXXXVIII CLXXXIX XII. GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP OF PUBLIC UTILITIES, A. General argument for Government ownership . CXCIII B. Advantages of Government ownership and evils of private F. Relations to newspapers, exchanges, and Government. |