Gloucester County Democrat., 1901-12-05
WOODBURY. n J, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1901
business world, operating in other coun

business world, operating in other coun-
tries as they operate in our own.
The process has aroused much antago-
nism a great part of which is wholly
without warrant. 1t Is not true that as
the rich have grown richer the poor have
grown poorer. On the contrary, never be-
fore has the average man. the wagework-
er, the farmer, the small trader, been so
well off as in this country and at the pres
ent time. There have been abuses con-
nected with the accumulation of wealth,
yet it remains true that fortune accu-
mulated in legitimate business can be ac-
cumulated by the person specially benefit
ed only on condition of comforting inn
mense incidental benefits upon others
Successful enterprise of the type which
benefits all mankind can only exist if the
conditions are such as to offer great prizes
as the rewards of success.
Reasons For Caution.
The captains of industry who have driv-
en- the railway systems across this conti-
nent, who have built up our commerce.
who have developed our manufactures
have on the whole done great good to our
people Without them the material devel-
opment of which we are so justly proud
could never have taken place. Moreover
we should recognize the immense irnpor-
tance to this material development of
leaving as unhampered as is compatible
with the public good the strong and force
full men upon whom the success of busi-
ness operations inevitably rests. The
slightest study of business conditions will
satisfy any one capable of forming
judgment that the personal equation is
the most important factor in business
operation; that the business ability of the
man at the head of any business concern,
big or little, is usually the factor which
fixes the gulf between striking success
and hopeless failure
An additional reason for caution in deal
ing with corporations is to be found in the
international commercial conditions Of to-
day. The same business conditions which
have produced the great aggregations Of
corporate and individual wealth have
made them very potent factors in inter-
national commercial competition. BuSi-
ness concerns which have the largest
means at their disposal and are managed
by the ablest men are naturally those
which take the lead in the strife for com
mercial supremacy among the nations of
the world. America has only just begun
to assume that commanding position in
the international business world which
we believe will more and more be hers 1t
is of the utmost Importance that this po-
sition be not jeoparded, especially at a time
when the overfiowing abundance of our
own natural resources and the skill. busi-
ness energy and mechanical aptitude of
our people make foreign markets essen
tial Under such conditions it would be
most unwise to cramp or to fetter the
youthful strength of our nation.
Interests of All Endangered.
Moreover, it cannot too often be pointed
out that to strike with ignorant violence
at the interests of one set of men almost
endangers the interests of all.
The fundamental rule in our national life,
the rule which underlies all others. is that
on the whole and in the long run we shall
go up or down together. There are excep-
tions, and in times of prosperity some will
prosper far more and in times of adversi-
ty some will suffer far more than others,
but, speaking generally, a period of good
times means that all share more or less
in them, and in period of hard times all
feel the stress to a greater or less degree.
1t surely ought not to be necessary to en-
ter into any proof of this statement. The
of the lean years which began in
1893 is still vivid, and we can contrast
them with the conditions in this very year
which is now closing. Disaster to great
business enterprises can never have its eff
fects limited to the men at the top. 1t
spreads throughout, and while it is bad
for everybody it is worst for those far
of his luxuries. but the wageworker may
be deprived of even bare necessities.
The mechanism of modern business is SO
delicate that extreme care must be taken
not to interfere with it in a spirit of rash
ness or ignorance. Many of those who
have made 1t their vocation to denounce
the great industrial combinations which
are popularity. although with technical in
accuracy known as tfuots' appeal espe-
cially to hatred and fear. These are pre-
cisely the two emotions, particularly when
combined with ignorance. which unfit men
for the exercise of cool and steady judg-
ment. In facing new industrial conditions
the whole history of the world shows that
legislation will generally be both unwise
and ineffective unless undertaken after
calm inquiry and with sober self restraint
Much of the legislation directed at the
trusts would have been exceedingly mis-
chievous had it not also been entirely in
effective In accordance with well
known sociological law the ignorant or
reckless agitator has been the really eff
fective friend of the evils which he has
been nominally opposing. In dealing with
business interests for the government to
by crude and i'll considered leg
islation to do what may turn out to be
bad would be to incur the risk of such
national disaster that it
would be preferable to undertake nothing
at ALL The men who demand the impossi-
BILE or the undesirable serve as the allies
of the forces with which they are nomi-
nally at war, for they hamper those who
would endeavor to find out in rational
fashion what the wrongs really are and to
what extent and in what manner it is
to apply remedies.
Evils of decentralization.
All this is true. And yet it is also true
that there are real and grave evils, one of
the chief being overcapitalization because
of its many baleful consequences. and a
resolute and practical effort must be made
to correct these evils.
There Is a widespread conviction in the
minds of the American people that the
great corporations known as trusts are in
certain of their features and tendencies
hurtful to the general welfare, This
springs from no spirit Of envy or unchari-
tableness nor lack of pride in the great in
dustrial achievements that have placed
this country at the head of the nations
struggling for commercial supremacy. 1t
does not rest upon a lack of intelligent
of the necessity of meeting
changing and changed conditions of trade
with new methods nor upon ignorance of
the fact that com bination of capital in the
effort to accomplish great things is neces-
sary when the worlds progress demands
that great things be done 1t is based
npon sincere conviction that combination
and concentration should be not prohibit
ed, but supervised and within reasonable
limits controlled and in my judgment this
conviction is right.
1t is no limitation upon property rights
or freedom of contract to require that
when men receive from government the
privilege of doing business under corpo-
rate form which frees them from individ-
lal responsibility and enables them to call
into their enterprises the capital of the
public they shall do so upon absolutely
truthful representations as to the value of
the property in which the capital is to be
Invested. Corporations engaged in inter-
state commerce should be regulated If
they are found to exercise license work
ing to the public injury. 1t should be as
much the aim of those who seek for social
betterment to rid the business world OF
crimes of cunning as to rid the entire
body polite of crimes of violence. Great
exist only because they are
created and safeguarded by our institu-
tions, and it is therefore our right and
our duty to see that they work in harmo-
ny with these institutions.
Publicity Needed.
The first essential in determining how to
deal with the great industrial combina-
tions is knowledge of the facts-publicity.
In the interest of the public the govern
ment should have the right to inspect and
examine the workings of the great corpo-
rations engaged in interstate business.
is the only sure remedy which
we can now invoke. What further rene
dies are needed in the way of govern
mental regulation or taxation can only be
determined after publicity has been OBJ
tanned by process of law and in the course
of administration. The first requisite is
full and complete-knowledge