Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1900-01-11
ROOSEVELT ON TRUSTS.
The Governor of New York Treats of Mod
ern Industrial Conditions in His Mes-
sage to the Legislature.

Albany, n. Y, Jan. TN the course
of his message to the legislature Gov.
Roosevelt treats at considerable
length of the subjects of modern in
dustrial conditions and trusts. He
says:
The contrast offered in the highly spe-
cialized Industrial community between
the very rich and the very poor is ex-
ceedingly distressing, and while under
normal conditions the requirement of
wealth by an individual is necessarily of
great incidental benefit to the conmuni-
ty as a whole. yet this is by no means
always the case. In our great cities there
Is plainly in evidence much wealth con-
trasted with much poverty, and some of
the wealth has been acquired, or is used
in a manner for which there is no moral
justification.
Probably the large majority of the for
tunes that now exist in this country have
been amasSed, not by injuring mankind
but as an incident to the comforting of
great benefits on the COMMUNICATIVE
ever the conscious purpose OF those
missing them may have been. The oc-
casional wrongs committed or injuries en-
dured are on the whole far outweighed by
the mass of good which has resulted. The
true questions to be asked are: Has any
given individual been injured by the ac-
QUESTION of wealth by any man? Were
the rights of that Individual, if they have
been violated, insufficiently protected by
law? If so. these rights, and all similar
rights ought TO be guaranteed by addi-
tionaI legislation. The point to be aimed
at is the protection of the individual
against wrong, not the attempt to limit
and hamper the acquisition and output
OF wealth.
To say that the present system of hap
hazard license and lack of supervision
and regulation is the best possible is alb
surd. The men who endeavor to prevent
the remedying of real abuses not only
ard for no Perrin
OF others, but also weaken those who
are anxious to prevent the adoption of in
discriminate WOuld-be remedies which
would subvert our whole industrial fab
ric. The chicanery and the dishonest,
even though not technically illegal, meth
DDS through which some great fortunes
have been made are scandals to our civ
11zatiOn. The man who by SWindling or
wrong doing acquires great wealth for
himself at the expense of his fellow,
stands as low morally as any predatory
medieval nobleman and is a more dan
gerous member Of society. Any law and
which will enable the community to pun
ish him, either by taking away his
wealth or by Imprisonment, should be
welcomed.
We should know authoritatively wheth-
er stock represents actual value of plants
or whether it represents brands of good
wills or if not, what it does represent, if
anything. It is desirable to know how
much was actually bought how much
was issued free; and to whom, and if
possible, for what reason. This would
enable US to see just what the public
has right to expect in the way of
service and taxation.
Where trust becomes a monopoly, the
state has an immediate right to inter-
fere. Care should be taken not to stihe
enterprise or disclose any facts Of bus
mess that are essentially private but the
state, for the protection of the public
should exercise the right to inspect, TO
examine thoroughly all the workings of
great corporations just is now done
with banks; and whenever the interests
OF the public demand it, it should publish
the results of its examination. Then
If there are inordinate profits, compe-
tition or public sentiment will give the
public the benefit in lowered prices; and
If not, the power of taxation remains.