The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1899-09-23

49, s"N- ~
Quire property. lApplause.J
Now, with a statute authorizing and
making It the right of every shipper, OF
every person using a public franchise, to
nave disclosed to MIN at any time every
contract and agreement made with any
other person you Will find there will be
forcement Of the penal statute. for it will
not be transSressed. We want a simple
statute Of publicity. and ] believe that
will check the special farors.
while / am on the subject, / hin 1t
wise to advert to what | may call a
phenomenon-that Is, the public dislike
and distrust, or hatred Of corporations. l
don't share that hatred or dislike, but I
justified. yet l think an examination of
the history of corporate management will
show some justification. We nav heard
much about over-caOitaliZltion as one OF
the evils to be treated in this conference
OvercapitaIizntion.
"In one sense, / think ~over-capitaliZa-
ton is a matter of no public movement.
In another, l think it has u serious as
pect.
1T matters very little how 1 capitalize
an enterprise in itself. Il l capitalize it at
SlG. 000, and it is earning $4,000 a year.
the public would Immediately put the
shares at 100 per cent. premium, and they
would be quoted at 200. 1t would make no
difference whether l capitalized it at $780,
600 or 10000. II. on the other hand. I
sell at 50. and that would not make very
much difference.
Now, my friends, the remedy for all
evils, in my judgment. is the original rem
edy which 1 suggested-pubitcity. publici-
ty. The hatred of corporations, which. as
l say, is not wholly justified, is not dis
creditable to the public opinion of Ameri
ca. In fact. l lay down as a cardinal rule,
which l think any person can follow with
perfect safety, that whenever you find a
general opinion on any Subject in America
there is always a pretty good ground for
il. (~Applause.) The distrust of corpora
lions arises not in ny opinion from any
w~ell-considered dislike to corporate en-
titles.
But the management of corporations
has been the blacklist page in all our mis-
tory. (~Applause.) And the public. in
dignation, unfortunately, which ought to
be extended on the corporate management
which is responsible for this shame, has
to often been visited on the stockholders,
and the corporations themselves. who
have been the victims of that infamy.
CnIprits Unpublished.
Now, all the history Of infamy and Of
wrong and of perfidy and o. fraud has not
brought one hour of shame or humilia-
ton to those who nave perpetrated it.
They are walking the streets to-day. their
heads high in the world of finance. To the
best informed the story is only partially
known, to the vast mass of the people It
is n sealed book.
These fraud are perpetrated in in
sidious methods. The public are fooled as
to the value of the stocks, with specific
statements; interest is paid on bonds
public believe them solvent: 1t pays its
fixed charges and the public buys the
stock. even. though no dividends have
soon to be paid because the fixed charges
are met: interest is psid III the preferred
stock which never has oeen earned, in
order that the common stock nay be
foated. But when the collapse comes.
when the ruin is complete. in nine cases
out of ten the engineers OF this ruin are
appointed the receivers by the courts In
order to conduct the plan of reorganiza-
ton.
Against the monopoly that depends on
government favor n any shape or form, !
even from Texas. tLauEh:er.) But, my
friends. when we come to consider the or
ganization which dominates the market
without any aid from government. why
then we are face to face with a forced in
PRODUCTION which is Of radically opposite
character.
Now, let US see what the objection tn
that is. We are told that il defeats conf
petition: but. my frienIs, that is an OBJ
vious mistake. l must say to begin with
that any industrial organization that
need | regard rs n benefit. and l can not
possibly bring myself to quarrel with It.
Uaughter.) ] can not quarrel with 1t,
even if you call it a monopoly.
Competitors Results.
"If you have competition you will hava
excellence. Is not every form of competi-
ton certain to produce excellence where
ever 1t occurs? ! heard my friend, a So
cialist. this morning, whose name l be-
iieye ought to become famous all over this
United States after that most interesting
address which he delivered, declare that
competition was warfare. Let me pro-
test to that.
Competition is not warfare in the sense
of being destructive. Competition is the
a~sCertairment of the place of greatest
utility for each individual.
'.1hpcg mon are not thrown ont of en-
ployment permanently, like the cobbie-
was taken from his cellar where he was
making ore pair of shoes a day. into thu
factory to make fifty or sixty pairs a day
with the increased power Of machinery.
So the man who is displaced by one elc-
ment of progress is 1ot absolutely retired
from the field of industry. but he is trans
ferred from one field where he is no long
er most useful to anosher where his capa-
cities are of greater development.
You would not destroy him. When you
defeat hin in competition you may
change his place, you mike him go from
the sphere where he can not excel to the
sphere in which he can have a chance,
and. believe me. there is no human being
that has not aptitude i'll some department
of human activity.
Now monopoly is made just as all
other monopolies of intellect and made by
the same means. If any gentleman thinks
it Is cruel and wrong 20 paw $50 to a trust
for a good suit of clothes instead of pay
ing $50 for n bad one to .cme retail tailor.
50 as to keep him going to preserve a mid
die man in an industrial capacity. why he
has n perfect right to do it. There is no
law to prevent him, but he has no righ.
to impose n similar sacrifice upon me.
who don't share his ~sCrlpples. But don't
you see If it is wrong to encourage excel
lency in commodities II is equally wrong
to discharge excellency in professions?
Proof of Prosperity.
"My friends. these ere my suggestions:
Publicity for corporate mi$management:
prohibition under penalties for special ia
vors; right of action against any corpora
ton whose service Is suspended except an
absolute defense proved That 1t was at all
times ready to discuss with its employees
at issue bet ween them by agen-
cies of their selection.
II am told that If we promote this CO.
operation we will destroy individualism.
Individualism is another of the phrases
the perpleNity of mankind. Individualism
In its last analysis is sivagery. The saw
age depending on himself alone for his
and his food on the club from the
tree or the stone picked Ut by his unaided
hand from the groun1 for his weapon. Is
the most complete instance of individual
ism conceivable" |
At the close of his speech the New
won the hearts of his listeners
by paving Mr.. Bryan a few well-chosen
compliments. which the democratic
leader blushingly acknowledged. Mr..
Cochran likened Mr.. Bryan to a mon-
opoly, and claimed he was a bigger |
monopoly as the leader of the demo-
cratic party than any financial corpo-
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