Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1897-02-04
SENATOR HARRIS IDEAS.

by the members Of the Legislature for
a speech. In response he said;
I'm the consideration Of the great
problems that are before Us, 1t must
be considered that there has been no
lack In this great country Of ours in
the production OF all things that CON
stitute material wealth. Our ability
to produce all that is brought from
the bowels Of the earth, or that 10
reaped from the felds, or that is pro-
duced by the skill of artist and Of
the mechanic is the most wonderful
story Of human achievements. We
may, therefore, wonder why, with
this fabulous store of wealth sur
rounding US on every hand, there is
not that general diffusion Of prosper
ity and contentment and happiness
that might fairly be expected. Ger
tainly the want, or the evil, or the
weakness, must lie chiefly in the
methods by which this vast wealth
is, or should be, distributed among
the people. In the great work Of dis
trlhution, the two factors which are
Of greatest Importance are finance
and transportation. It is not strange,
therefore, that the public mind, every
where should be concentrated upon
these two questions as Of prime inn
portRnce and vital in interest.
"When we come to solve the ques-
tions pertaining to these, we find,
first, that the use Of great corporate
power is absolutely essential. No
great work requiring the concentrate
ed efforts of many men and requiring
time, vastly in excess Of the duration
Of any human life, can be affected
without the aid Of these artificial
creations. 1t is absolutely necessary
that we should have corporations,
and it is, therefore, not against COR
porstions in themselves. that any
reasonable or legitimate objection
can be made. 1t is equally and un-
questionably true that the abuse of
corporate power, Its extension be-
yond it's proper legal sphere and it's
encroschment upon the field Of indi-
vidusl action, has attracted the Rtten-
ton of the sblest minds Of the Coun-
try, regardless Of party; and it is,
therefore, / think, in the direction of
the correction of these abuses that
practical, reasonable and legitimate
effort must be directed.
From the time Of the Dartmouth
college decision down to today, there
seems to have been mapped out o
field exclusively occupied by corpor-
ations, which, to the average private
citizen, seems strange and mysterious.
They have been endowed with rights
which are wholly different from those
which are exercised by the natural
citizen. They have been given pow
ers vastly in excess Of his, and, with
out limitation or restriction, are per-
mitted to go on in many directions
altogether and entirely beyond the
rights accorded to natural citizens.
1t seems to me that the same rules of
equity and justice which are observed
by all mankind in their natural rela-
tions with each other should not be
made Of no effect, and should apply
with the same infalllble and auto
matte strictness to the operation Of
corporations. If the private citizen
can not claim that his debts or the
interest on his debts constitute q part
Of his capital, to be regarded as es-
sential, to be provided for before he
can be charged with the amount of
his income, then it seems to me
equally true that corporation
should be Invested of that peculiar
right. II 1t is true that an individual
is limited in his ability to escape
liability and Is held rIgidly to the
performance Of contracts, then il
should be equally true that the
artificial citizen, created by legisla-
tive enactment, should be confined
even more rigidly, because of lts
great power, to the same honest
performance Of duty.
In the matter of financial policy,
while an individual is deprived Of
the right to circulate as money bis
notes, then there is no reason why
an aggregation OF individuals should
be endowed with the power to abso.
lutely contract and determine the