Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1901-12-07
Artificial bodies, such as corporations

full end accurate information as to their
operations should be made public regu
larly at reasonable intervals.
-he large corporations, commonly called
| trusts, though organized in one State, al
ways do business in many States, often
| dong very little business III the State
| where they are incorporated. There Is
| utter lack of uniformity in the State
| laws about them, and AS no State has any
| exclusive interest III or power over their
acts. it has III practice proved impossible
| to get adequate regulation through State
action. Therefore, in the interest OF the
whole people. the Nation should. without
| interfering with the power Of the States
in the matter itself, also assume power OF
supervision and regulation over all cor
porations doing an interstate business.
| The President then states that II Con-
gress does not have the power to frame
law which will enable the Federal Govern
| ment to exercise the control referred to-
| then, he believes, constitutional amend
ment should be submitted to confer the
| power.
| He recommends the creation of a Cab
| met officer to be known AS Secretary of
! Commerce and Industries. II should he
| ms province 70 ueai wItn commerce ia iLs
| broadcast sense, including among many
| other things whatever concerns labor and
all matters affecting the great business
| corporations and our merchant marine.
After referring to the present prosperous
condition OF the wage Workers the Pres-
dent remarks that every effort OF legisa
tor and administrator should be
bent to secure the permanency OF this
state of affairs and its Improvement
wherever possible. He says that
our labor should be protected so far
as it is possible from the presence in this
country of any laborers brought over by
contract, or OF those who, coming freely,
yet represent standard of living so de-
pressed that they can undersell our men
in the labor market and drag them to a
lower level. | regard it as necessary, with
this end in view, to rc-enact Immediately
the law excluding Chinese lahorers and to
strengthen 1t wherever necessary III order
| to make its enforcement cntlrey effective.
President Roosevelt declares that our
| present immigration laws are unSatisfaC-
tory. He believes that a comprehensive
law should be enacted with the object of
| working threefod Improvement over our
| present system. First, we should aim to
include all persons who are known to
| be Anarchists, and also all persons who
| are of low moral tendency; secondly, to
secure by careful test some intelligent
| capacity to appreciate American institu-
| tons and to act saneiy as American citi-
zens; and thirdly, to exclude all persons
who are below certain standard of eco
nomic fitness to enter our industrial field
as competitors with American labor.
The President is in favor of letting the
| tariff rest without revision for the pres
ent. He says:
There is general acquiescencc in our
| present tariff system as a national policy
| The first requisite to our prosperity Is the
| continuity and stability of this economic
policy. Nothing could be more unwise
| than to disturb the business interests of
| the country by any general tariff change
| at this time. Yet it is not only possible,
,in r.,I, tn hitn
| the stability OF our economic system
| supplementary system of reciprocal benefit
| and Obligation with other nations. Such
reciprocity is an incident and result OF
| the firm establishment and preservation
| of our present economic policy. 1t was es.
pecialiy provided for in the present tariff
| law.
Reciprocity must be treated as the hand,
maiden OF protection Our first duty is to
see that the protection granted by the
tariff in every case where it is needed is
maintained, and that reciprocity be sought
for so far as it can safely be done without
injury to our home industries. The we'll
being of the wage-workcr is il prime con
slderatlon OF our entire policy OF economic
legislation.
The natural mine of development for
policy of reciprocity will be III conncc
tion with those of our productions which
no longer require all OF the support once
haSis and viii those nthnrs whorn e;thnr
because If natural or of economic ca,,ses
we are bevond tbc reach of smccnssf,l com.
petition.
The mkt subject discussed is the mcr-
chant marine. The President says it is
triAing norton Of our grcnt commerce is
carriri IN our own shine r., rnmndv tbis
stnte of thincs ho cont,,.ues wou;d nnt
merely serve To- bui}d m o,r shipninr in.
terests. Int il would also result in beneGt
to ali who are Interested in thc nrrmanent
Of dn 10 ''u arat fnr
American nroducts and would nrovide nm
AUXILIARY force for The navy II shmjd he
made advantogeous to cor,v Amer;c,n
goods in American built ships
At nresent American shining is ,,ndcr
certo;p orant ,Gsndv,nt,@nI whon nnt in
comnetition with tbe shinninr of fnro;rn
comntr;as Onr Covcrnmnpt sbonlI taEn
Snch action NO viii remedv these ;neoual. |
t;os Tbo Amer;oan ,nepebont ,nar;ne
shon,d be restorod 70 the oceam
Fnr tbc Art time " onnromr;at;ons nu for ;r.
ripo otion and the reclamation Of desert
;ted to nsoess;t ;es ,re hasnnlinn fnr th. i'm. !
,,,n,,nn,.n, ~, ,n,, ,.,,,.rs ,nd h,rn,,.
Ths pres;dant cnngratniates the conntrv
an 'tbn wnri,i,rs of the no1d STANDARD
morev srsfom iJo sars i 10 t;melv and |
;md;c;ous and desirable to maintain lie |
nr,;sas tho Nat;nn,I R,nl,;nn law hut |
savs thern 10 nned of Lettar safcmards
against financial nanics and that fra cur. /
rsnn' sbnmid ha pposons;u %. ~ o",r trodas da
monds ~
NJ
Inc collections from duties on imports
and internal taxes continue 10 exceed the |
ordinary expenditures OF the government,
thanks NANNY 10 the reduced army, eN'
pendltures' Inc utmost care should be
taken NOT 70 reduce the revenues SO mat