Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1901-12-06
ECONOMIC CONDITIONS.
RestOratiOn of Confidence and Re
turn of Prosperity.

During the last five years business con-
fdence has been restored, and the Ma
ton is to be congratulated because of its
present abounding prosperity. Such pros
pcrity can never be created by law alone,
although it is>easy enough to destroy 1t
by mischieVoEs laws. Fundamentally, the
welfare of each citizen, and, therefore,
the welfare of the aggregate of citizens
which makes the Nation, must rest upon
Individual thrift and energy, resolution
and intelligence. Nothing can take the
place of this individual capacity; but wise
legislation and honest and intelligent ad-
ministration can give it the fullest scope,
the largest opportunity to work to good
effect.
Caution in Dealing With Trusts.
An additional reason for caution in
dealing with corporations is to be found
in the international commercial conditions
of today The same business conditions
which have produced the great aggrega-
tions of corporate and individual wealth
have made them very potent factors in
international commercial competition.
Business 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
commercial supremacy among the ma
tions of the world. America has only
just begun to assume that commanding
position in the interna tional business
more be hers. 1t Is of the utmost impor-
tance that this position be not jeopar-
dized especially at a time when the over
flowing abundance of our own natural re-
sources and the skill, business energy and
mechanical aptitude of our people make
foreign markets essential. Under such
conditions it would be most unwtse to
cramp or to fetter the youthful strength
Of our nation.
Mischievous LegisIation.
In dealing with business interests,
for the Government to undertake, by
crude and ill-cons.:lered legislation, to dc
what may turn out to be bad, would be
to incur the risk of such far-reachina
national disaster that it would be pref
cradle to undertake nothing at all. Tho
men who demand the impossible or the
undesirable serve as the allies of the
forces with which they are nominally a;
war, for they hamper those who wou.o
endeavor to find out in rational fashion
what the wrongs really are and to what
extent and in what manner it is practi-
cable to supply remedies.
All this is true: and yet It is also true
that there are real and grave evils, ons
of the chief being decentralization be
cause of its many baleful consequences
and a resolute and practical effort mus
be made to correct these evils.
Regulation of Corporations.
There is a widespread conviction in the
minds of the American people that tht
great corporations known as trusts arr
in certain of their features and tenden
cies hurtful. to the general welfare This
springs from no spirit of envy or un-
charitab;eness, nor lack of pride in tht
great Industrial achievements that have
placed this country at the head of the
nations struggling for commercial su-
premacy 1t is based upon sincere
conviction that combination and concen-
tration should be, not prohibited, but SUI
pervised, and, within reasonable limits
controlled; and in my judgment this con
Viction is right
Great corporations exist only be
cause they are created and safeguardet
by our institutions, and it is. therefore
our right and our duty to see that they
work in harmony with these institutions
Necessity of Publicity.
The first essential in determining how Il
deal with the great industrial combina
tions is knowledge of facts-publicity.
Artificial bodies, such as corporation
and joint stock or other associations de
pending upon any statutory law for thei
existence or privileges, should be subjec
to proper governmental supervision an
full and accurate information as to thei
operations should be made public regular
ly at reasonable intervals.
The large corporations, commonly calle
trusts, though organized in one state, al
ways do business in many states, ofte
doing very little business in the stat
where they are incorporated, There i
utter lack of uniformity in the state law
about them; and as no state has any ex
elusive interest in, or power over thei
acts it has in practice proved impossibl
to get adequate regulation through stat
action, Therefore, in the interest of tn
whole people, the Nation should, withou
interfering with the power of the state
in the matter Itself, also assume power c
supervision and regulation over al! corpc
rations doing an interstate business.
Department of Commerce and Indus
tries.
There should be created Cabinet Of
fcer, to be known as Secretary of Con
merce and Industries, as provided in tn
bill introduced at the last session of tn