Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1901-12-13
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE.

S MESSAGE :
and intelligence. Nothing can take the
place Of this individual capacity; but wise
legislation aud honest and intelligent adj
ministration can give it the fullest scope,
the largest opportunity to work to good.
effect.
The tremendous and highly complex in
dustrial development. which went on with
ter half Of the nineteenth century brings
us face to face. at the beginning Of the
twentieth. with very serious social prob
lens. The upbuilding of the great in
dustrial centers has meant o. startling in
crease, not merely in the aggregate of
wealth. but in the number Of very large
individual. n especially Of very large
corporate, fortunes. The creation Of these
great corporate fortunes has not been due
to the tariff nor to any other govern
mental action, but to natural causes in
the business world, operating in other
countries as they operate in our own. The
process has aroused much antagOnism. q
great part of which is wholly without
NN0A ~ 40 AOI lIUC TIA us luG TlCA
have grown richer the poor have grown
poorer. On the contrary, never before
has the average man. the wage worker,
the farmer, the small trader, been so we'll
OIL as in this country at the present time.
There have been abuses connected with
the accumulation of wealth; vet it re-
mains true that a fortune accumulated in
legitimate business can be accumulated
by the person specially benefited only on
condition of comforting immense incident
al benefits upon others.
Caution IL Advised.
The captains Of industry who have driv-
en- the railway systems across this CONT
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
proud could never have taken place.
Moreover, we should recognize the i'm
mense Importance to this material devel-
opment Of leaving as unhampered as il
compatible with the public good the
strong and forceful men upon whom the
success Of business operations inevitably
rests.
An additional reason for caution in
dealing with corporations is to be found
IN b international commercial condi-
tons Of to-day. The same business con-
ditions which have produced the great
aggregations Of corporate and individual
wealth have made them very potent fac
tors in international commercial COMPETE
ton. 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 jeopardized, especially at a
time when the OVERLOOKING abundance Of
our own natural our and the skill,
business energy, and mechanical aptitude
Of our people make foreign markets es-
%sential. Under such conditions it would
be most unwise to cramp or to fetter the
youthful strength of our nation.
Moreover, it cannot too often be point
ed out that to strike with ignorant vio-
lence at the interests of one set Of men
almost inevitably e%ndangers the interests
of all. Disaster to great business enter
prises can never have it's effects limited
to the men at the top. 1t spreads
throughout, and while it is bad for every
The capitalist may be shorn Of his lux
uries; but the wage worker may be de-
prlved of even bare necessities.
In facing new industrial conditions, the
whole history Of the world shows that leg
islation will generally be both unwise and
ineffective unless undertaken after calm
inquiry and with sober self-restraint.
NAASA VI VIC AC6lSAdt1OA OlICClcu III lue
trusts would have been exceedingly mis-
chievous had it not also been entirely in
effective. The men who demand the I'M
possible or the undesirable serve us the
allies of the forces with which they are
nominally at war, for they hamper those
who would endeavor to find out in ra-
tional fashion what the wrongs really are
and to what extent and in what name
it is practicable to apply remedies. Yet
it is true that there are real and grave
evils, one of the chief being o%yer-capital-
izntion because of its many baleful con-
sequences; and a resolute and practical
effort must be made to correct these
evils,
Publicity a Cure for Trusts.
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. Combina-
ton and concentration should be, not pro-
hibited, but supervised and within rea-
sonable limits controlled.
The first essential in determining how
to deal with the great industrial combina-
tions is knowledge of the facts-publiclty.
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.
Publicity is the only sure remedy which
we can now invoke. What further rem
edies are needed in the way of govern
mental regulation, or taxation, can only
be determined after publicity has been
obtained, by process Of law, and in the
course Of administration.
The large corporations, commonly call
ed trusts, though organized in one State,
always do business in many States, often
doing very little business in the State
where they are Incorporated. There is
utter lack of uniformity in the State laws
about them; and as no State has any ex-
elusive interest in or power over their
acts, 1t has in 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. 1
believe that a law can be framed which
will enable the national government to