Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1901-12-05

world loses It's mead, 1t loses what leglsla-
ton cannot supply. Fundamentally the
welfare of each citizen and therefore the
welfare of the aggregate of citizens which
makes the nation must rest upon individ-
ual thrift and energy, resolution and in
telligence Nothing can take the place Of
this individual capacity, but wise legisla-
ton and honest and Intelligent admins
tration 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
ever accelerated rapdity during the latter
half of the nineteenth century brings us
face to face at the beginning of the TWEEN
aeth with very serious social problems.
The old laws and the old customs which
had almost the binding force of law were
once quite sufficient to regulate the accu-
mutation and distribution of wealth. Since
the industrial changes which have SO
enormously increased the productive pow
x:r of mankind they are no longer sufti-
cient.
The growth Of cities has gone on beyond
comparison faster than the growth of the
country, and the upbuilding of the great
industrial centers has meant startling
Increase not merely in the aggregate of
wealth, but in the number of very large
Individual and especially of very large
corporate fortunes. The creation of these
Rreat corporate fortunes has not been due
10 the tariff nor to any other government
Hal action, but to natural causes in the
business world, operating in other coun-
tries as they operate in our own.
The process has aroused much antago-
-hsm, 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-
Eected with the accumulation of wealth,
get 1t remains true that fortune accu-
Elulated in legitimate business can be ac-
clmulated by the person specially benefit
ed only on condition of comforting i'm
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 impor-
lance 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 bust
ness operations inevitably rests. The
slightest study of business conditions will
satisfy any one capable of forming q
Judgment that the personal equation is
che most important factor In a business
operation; that the business ability Of the
man at the head of any business concern,
big or little, Is usually the factor which
he Gulf striking
and hopeless failure.
An additional reason for caution in deal
ang 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. Bust
,ess concerns which have the largest
Means at their disposal and are managed
oy the ableSt men are naturally those
which take the lead in the strife for com
nercial supremacy among the nations of
he world. America has only just begun
20 assume that commanding position in
he international business world which
sc believe will more and more be hers. 1t
of the utmost Importance that this po-
stion be not jeoparded. especially at a time
then the overlooking abundance of our
,wn natural resources and the skill, busi-
,lGSS cIeESy anu dpliluue VI
,ur people make foreign markets essen
!al. 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
inevitably endangers the interests of ALL
The fundamental rule in our national life
on the whole and in the long run we shall
go up or down together. There are excep-
tons. and in times of prosperity some will
prosper far more and in times of ADVERSE
ty some will suffer far more than others;
but, speaking generally, 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
It surely ought not to be necessary to en-
ter into any proof of this statement. The
memory 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 it's 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
thest down. The capitalist may be shorn
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 spirit Of rash
ness or ignorance Many of those who
have made it their vocation to denounce
the great Industrial combinations which
are popularity, although with technical in
accuracy, known as trusts" 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 judy
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 a 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
undertake 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
farreaching national disaster that it
would be preferable to undertake nothing
1t all. The men who demand the impossi-
Die or the undesirable serve as the allies