The Wilmington daily Republican., 1901-12-03
Reasons For Caution.

uduy ItdSOuH lOc cautlou III OeuIluS
with corporations. He says:
The same business conditions which
have produced the great aggregations
Of corporate and individual wealth
have made them very potent factors In
International commercial competition.
Moreover, 1t cannot too often be
pointed out that to strike with ignorant
violence at the interests Of one set Of
men almost inevitably endangers the
interests of ALL, The fundamental rule
In our national life-the rule which un-
derlies all others-is that, on the whole
and in the long run, we shall 80 up or
down together.
| The mechanism of modern business
| is so delicate that extreme care must
be taken not to interfere with it in
spirit Of rashness or Ignorance. In
dealing with business interests. for
the government to undertake by crude
and Ill considered legislation to do
what may turn out to be bad, would
be to incur the risk of such farreach-
ing national disaster that 1t would be
preferable to undertake nothing at all.
The men who demand the impossible
or the undesirable serve as the allies
of the forces with which they are nom.
inally at war, for they hamper those
who would endeavor to find out IN ra-
ti0nal fashion what the wrongs really
are and to what extent and in what
manner 1t Is practicable to apply rene.
dies.
How to Correct the Evils.
All this Is true, and yet 1t is also
true that there are real and grave evils,
one of the chief being overcapitaliza-
ton because of Its many baleful con-
sequences, and resolute and practical
effort must be made to correct these
evils
1t is no limitation upon property
rights or freedom Of contract to re-
quire that when men receive from gov
ernment the privilege Of doing busi-
ness under corporate form. which frees
them from individual responsibility
and enables them to call into their en-
terprises the capital Of the public, they
shall do so upon absolutely truthful
representations rs to the value Of the
property in which the capital is to be
invested. Corporations engaged In in
terstate commerce should be regulated
II they are found to exercise license
working to the public injury. 1t should
be as much the aim of those who seek
for social bcttermrnt to rid the busi-
- Of ipp tn
rid the entire body polite Of crimes of
violence. Great corporations exist only
because they are created and safe
guarded by our institutions, and it is
therefore our right and our duty to
see that they work in harmony with
these institutions.
Publicity the First Essential.
The first essential in determining
how to deal with the great Industrial
combinations Is knowledge Of the facts
publicity. In the interest Of the pub
lie the government should have the
right to inspect and examine the work.
ings Of tie great corporations engaged
in interstate business. Publicity is the
only sure remedy which we can now
invoke What further remedies are
needed In the way of governmental
regulation or taxation can only be de-
tcrmined after publicity has been OBJ
taincd by process Of law and in the
course of administration. Tie first
requisite is knowledge, full and COM
pete-knowlcdge which nay be made
public to the world.
Artificial bodies, such rs corporations
and joint stock or other associations.
depending upon any statutory law for
their existence or privileges should be
subject to proper governmental SUPER
vision. and full and accurate informa-
ton as to their operations should be
made public regularly at reasonable
intervals.
The large corporations commonly
called trusts, though organized In one
state. always do business in many
states. often doing very little business
IN the state where they are incurpo-
rated. There is utter lack Of uniform
ity in the state laws about them. and,
as no state has uny exclusive interest
in or power over their acts, 1t has In
practice proved impossible to get ade-
Guate regulation through state action.
Therefore, In the interest Of the whole
people, the nation should. without in
terfering with the power Of the states
In the matter ITSELF also assume power
of supervision and regulation over all
corporations doing an interstate Dusi-
ness.
Amend Constitution II Necessary.
When the constitution was adopted, |
at the end Of the eighteenth century.
no human wisdom could foretel the
sweeping changes. alike in ndustria. +
and political conditions, which were to
take place by the beginning Of the
twentieth century. At that time 1t
was accepted as n matter Of course
that the several states were the proper
authorities to regulate, SO far as was
then necessary, the comparatively in
significant and strictly localized cor.
porate bodies Of tie day. The condi-
tons are now wholly different, aud
wholly different action is called for.
beiItNe tAut u law tau pe AluuIeo |
which will enable the national govern.
ment to exercise control along the lines
above indicated. profiting by the eXpe-
rieuce gained through the passage and
administration Of the interstate com.
mercc act. II. however, the Judgment
of the congress Is that 1t lacks the con-
stitutional power to pass such an act,
then constitutional amendment
should !. submitted to confer the