Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1848-01-05
From the Ohio Press, z~s
The RepHblicanism of Corporations.

3 k;s4. E;5. from the lOnl0 Press: s&s- 4
The Repablicanism of Corporations. j
sCorperations, (says Gov.s aBebb in his 4
Iata Message emanate from and aexist as
Iheefhcient, ,instrumentalities Of r epubllcanl
Instiiutipns, and are multiplied in, direct
proportion to the enterprise andafreedom of
States and nations ''sssg - st5I s..s
I Thomas Jefferson appears tollave had q,
different idea ofcorporations from the Wing
sGoyernora He speaks Of cam aristocracy
3ounded.on Banking institutions and mon
|ied corperations under the, guise and cloak
of favored branches Of manufactures, com
Ehaefce and navigation, riding and ruling O.
ef tse beggared yeonanry e Amerieas s.
|efeafest statesmen would have been slow
Ito discover in a system, SO adverse to equal-
Eity, the fs'efficient instrumentalities of Re.
publican Institutions - But Thomas Jef.
ferson'sT ideas Of Republicanisrn had re-
Espect for man as such, and none for those
artificial aristocracies created by corpora
t tons, based upon the meanest. of oil. prin..
Eciples, the accumulation Of wealth. But
modern Whig Republicanisfn, like the old
! toligarchies, among which corporations had
their origin, look to the wealthy and select
few ps those for whose use alone the ad-
vantages of Government are to be conserv-
| ed. Corporations deriving their existence
at a time when rational liberty was not a
conception of any mind, have maintained
their existence as the allies ofthe most un-
scrupulous despots, and proved the ready
and most useful instruments of the worst
tyrants whose rule has shadowed the page
| of history.-True Republicanism aims to
deyelope man in his noblest aspect, self
guided and independent being. Corpora.
tions merge the man in the association.
They crush the energies Of the individual
by opposing to him the powerful and ire.
sistible competition of legal monster who
has none of his liabilities and more than his
possible resources. For the fulflment Of
his engagements the individual man is re-
sponsible to the extent Of all his earthly
possessions, while a corporation is only an.
swerable to the extent Of the capital stock
paid in. and very seldom is held accounta-
BILE to this extent. The man has q sense
of honor, of character; he has sympathies
and affections, which are pledge to soci-
ETY. that he will not outrage or swindle his
fellow man. A corporation is free from
the restraint which these impose; and un-
der the cloak of corporate charter, the Of
ficers hesitate not to violate the most sacred
obligations. The most stupendous frauds
of modern times, from Laws first Bank to
| the failure Of the U. S. Bank, have been
leommitted in- a corporate capacity =
believesfhat Banks unshieIded BY
fcorporate powers would have been able las
! is calculated by Mr.. Woodbury's Report
to the U. S. Senate, April, ls4O,) to have
Iplundered, in less than century, the A.
merican people Of upwards of $40o, ,000,-
900? And this is only one brunch of the
corrupt system, which is fast returning up.
on US the most Objectionable features of q
monarchy-the rule and ascendency of the
worst. If Gov. Bebb means TO say that
'monopolies, checking the free circulation
Of labor and enhancing the price Of the
fruits of industry" are multiplied in direct
proportion to the enterprise Of nations,"
he may speak melancholy truth Of the
day; but when he assures the public that
institutions, not one of whichis created but
withdraws to itself portion Of the genes
raj rights of all, advances with 'freedom,"
he utters gross fallacy, of which none
more than himself ought to be conscious.
When this government was formed there
were those who sighed for the faded glo-
ries of royalty and the profitable corrup-
tions which surround irresponsible power.
In corporations they have found substi-
tute for what they so much regretted,
but liberty and the rights Of man have suf
fered, and a plundered people, and openly
violated laws, have attested that though
these institutions might have their existence
in republics, they have nothing Republican
in their character or conduct. M.