The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1895-06-19
A NOBLE ARGUMENT.
Senator Ringdai Writes a Strong
Essay Upon the Conditions and
Future of Our Government.
THE GREAT QUESTION OF COR
pORATIONS VS.. FREE
INSTITUTIONS.
Editor Representative:

Editor Representative:
In all periods of history mems liberties
have been subject to entertainments from
other men Of greater strength and cum
ming. Society and government grew out
OF that condition. The primal object Of
government is protection; protection for
the weak against the tyranny of the
strong; protection for the n against the
onslaught of the many. Aboriginal So
ciety knows no other need justifying the
imposition upon its members Of the ex-
pense and restrain of government. All
Its other needs combined do not justify
encroachment upon individual rights.
government is the aggregated strength
Of all citizens made available. The force
thus collected is so great and so danger
Gus that it cannot safely rest in any part
Of society less than the whole, or its
agent, "the government" Every viola
ton of this fundamental principle has
brought with it disaster, and disaster it
always will bring. No nation of sane
men would think of permitting it's mill
tary force to pass from under its own
direct control. 1t recognizes that, to do
% would be national suicide. And yet
the military is not the nations most i'm
Dortant function nor it's greatest force.
That distinction belongs to its industri-
q system, which is its very life, and.
any disturbance in it's natural and health
full operation means decay for the nation,
poverty and misery for it's citizens. If
any nation permits its IL rial system
to pass under the contrc4 III a portion of
its citizens that nations days are num-
bered, and the smaller the ruling num-
Der the fewer it's days. Any nation that
has permitted the force of it's organiza-
ton to pass out of it's hands by delegating
any part of it's private concerns, to be
used for individual profit. has within it
the seeds of certain decay, and it is but a
question of a short time when that nation
must perish from the face of the earth
and give place to another that will better
observe the laws Of nature. This nation,
the UNITED States Of America" is now in
an advanced stage Of national disease
and unless 1t soon awakens to the neces-
sity of retracing the course upon which it
has, for the past quarter of a century,
been travelling with breakneck speed, its
doom will be swift and sure. The coli
losal fortunes that have grown up in
the dollhouse of governmental favoritism
are deadly Upas trees under which liberty
cannot live. We must choose which shall
continue to exist, both cannot.
But how will you reduce the vast ac-
.cumulations back to their sources; how
prevent their future growth? BY adopt
ing a rule in conformity with common
sense and justice, and by following it.
No public aid to private enterprise. Show
me q private fortune reaching the mill
lion mark, Or a business organization
that has grawn to the size of a monopoly,
and / will show you a creature OF cor
porate powers. What is a corporation?
The aggregate force of combined effort
serving the interests of individual greed.
It Is nothing Of itself. Without the strong
arm of government behind 1t, 1t could
not exist for one hour; could never have
come into existence. Whatever it has of
power is obtained by it.. directly, from
the aggregate sum of individual force,
stored in the hands of the government for
the protection of the individuals con-
tributing that force. The possession OF
any part of that power by O corporation,
yea! the very existence Of the corporation
is an abuse and a misappropriation Of
that power, a defalcation on the part. of
the government. For 1.-The government
can no more give away power without
weakening its own strength han "the
boy can eat his cake and have it,"
Whatever power the government possess
es It holds in TRUSTEE the individual, and
when it parts with n iota Of that power
to a private organization, no matter upon
what pretext, 1t commits a breach Of trust
and forfeits all just claims to obedience
and respect. When the government 80
far forgets the purpose which caused its
establishment, and which ~justifies it's ex-
istence, as to give to a few any portion
OF that power which 1t holds in trust for
all, the effect must necessarily be bad.
The social equilibrium for the maintain
ance of which 1t stands as q guarantor, Is
disturbed by its own act. 1t has itself
committed the very evil which 1t was cre-
-ated to prevent. AS time goes on and the
policy of delegating aggregate power to
individuals becomes fixed, evil conditions
multiply. The Infringing of the natural
relations existing between men throws
the whole social fabric into an inextrica-
bic tangle, threatening its total destruc-
ton. This men call the social problem,
and with a seriousness that is .owlish, they
devote themselves to the hopeless task
OF, creating harmony Of detail upon a
foundation Of discord, forgetting that
without correcting the fundamental error
all the regulations and conference.-the
lions that may be attempted will only ag-
gravate the evil and merely for a brief
space delay the inevitable result, "chaos."
Such, in. brief, Is the result that may be
expected to follow q violation of the nat
ural law which prescribes that men shall
not reap what others have sown. So
much for the theoretical side OF the social