Kansas City daily journal., 1897-01-31
HARRIS on CORPoRATIONs.

| w S-AOuiu nave COTpOEdlluIS anu ~ u
therefore, not against corporations il
themselves that any reasonable or legiti
mate objection can be made" Senato
Harris was speaking to party mainly dis
tinguished by its rabid hatred of corpora
} tons as corporations. The courage anC
candor of the above remark were, there
fore, exceedingly praiseworthy. The sena'
tor went on TO say, later in his speech
that while corporations were not objec-
tionable as corporations, yet they had
encroached upon the field of individual ac-
ton and had got out of their proper legal
sphere and therefore needed correction. He
said: They have been endowed with rights
which are wholly different from those
which are exercised bv the natural citi-
zen. They have been given powers vastly
in excess of his and, without limitation or
restriction. are permitted 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 man
kind in their natural relations with each
| other should not be made OF no effect and
|
automatic strictness 10 the operations of
corporations. II the private citizen can
not claim that his debts or the interest en-
his debts constitute a part of his capital
10 be regarded as essential, TO be provided
for before he can be charged with the
amount of his income, then it seems to me
equally true that a corporation should be
ad of
true That individual is limited in his
ability TO escape liability and is held rig
idly 10 the performance of contracts, then
it should be equally true that the artificial
citizen, created by enactment, should be
confined even more rigidly, because of its
great power, to the same honorable per-
formance OF duty" However candid the
senator may have been in these last re-
marks, he is not correct. In fact, he is
exceedingly muddy. His assertions are an
swered in the paper read before the State
Bar Association at its last session by j.
w. Gleed, of Topeka. Mr.. Gleed took the
same position that Mr.. Harris does in the
first instance, namely, that corporations
are necessary and exceedingly beneficial
and that the hatred of them is simply stu
pid. Mr.. Gleed said: "A corporation is a
species of cooperation. 1t is a collection
OF individual persons engaged in a common |
undertaking and subject TO a few special |
rules of law. Instead of being soulless and |
bodiless. it is a collection of many souls |
and bodies working together for the COM |
mon good. Corporations are supernatural, |
but entirely human, composed of flesh and |
blood. Men are neither disembodied nor de-
souled by the act of incorporation. A cor
poration is only a partnership, subject to
a few special rules of law. The substantial
distinction lies in the limited personal liza
bility of the partners and an easier, more
convenient and economical method of en-
tering and Withdrawing from the common
enterprise. These are the only substan-
tial differences between partnerships and
corporations and 1t is difficult TO see any
thing unwise or unjust In the laws per-
mitting or creating these special kinds of
The limiting of the liability cannot be con-
sidered either unwise or unjust. When a
hundred individuals engage Jointly it is 20
do business on large scale. Only "a few
Of that number can have direct control.
Obligations must be assumed and risks in
Cured which it would be foolhardy for
single individual TO assume or incur So
ciety had need for such associa tions and
such associations were simply impossible
without the limitation of liability. Accord
ngly, the liability of each individual stock
holder is limited to the amount of capital
stock he holds, or TO double that amount.
This fact is known TO all who have deal
ngs with the corporation, and those who
lave dealings with the corporation are ,
'iten much better advised as to its real
condition and debt-paying power than the
'tockholders themselves. They act with
heir eyes open. As a matter of fact. cor
'orations are better debt-payers than in
hviduais are, and in their dealings with
he public generally there is vastly less of
lnfairness, fraud. oppression and pettv
rickery. The affairs of every corporation
ave Of necessity much more publicity
han the affairs of an individual. An in
titution having many stockholders can
lot possibly hope TO keep its affairs from }
he knowledge of the public. Furthermore
corporations are subject TO public exami-
ation and. in many cases, mus, make re-
orts both TO stockholders and to the state
1t any rate, the hatred of corporations
nd the outcry against them do not come
rom persons who have suffered as credi- :,
ors. L
The death of a member of a partnersbin
reaks the continuity of its business and
ften requires radically new arrangements
nd departures. The sale by one partner
I his interest may have TIE same effect
ne law of corporations is such that the
interest OF one partner may pass into other
ends. either by sale or by the death of
ariner or shareholder. without DESTROYING
he corporation or interfering with the due n
logress of the enterprise Stockholders il
iaY come and go. but the corporation ="
oes on. This, instead of being an evil
'culd appear on the face of it to be a =
reat economic gain. The cry is that this
aature of the corporation, this feature of Il
erpetual succession, or Immortality. as it "
called, in some way threatens the well Ct
einG of society. / have never been able
} understand just how. and it is interest n
lg here to make some special observa- n
ons in regard TO the so-called immortalitv {
corporations. There have been twntv II
ncusand corporations formed in Kansas &C
nee it became state. There are not c.
ere than a thousand in existence to-dav
nd of that thousand. l venture to saw