The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-02-15
WHAT LINCOLN WOULD SAY
4 Message to the 10th Century --Address Of
Eugene G.sHay BeforeaH. R. A.

better for their efforts and with their accumu
lated wealth do untold and incalculable good.
He who arrays the Door against the rich, Is
demagogue, and he who foresees an i'm
pending conflict between capital and labor
misunderstands the functions and powers of
these relative forces in the worlds economy
Labor is the basis Of all wealth, and wealth
is the reward of honest labor; together hand
in hand they go, have gone, and forever must
go In the worlds work.
The Lust or Power.
But 1t is wealth accumulated and aggre
| gated for the sake of power. which stands
as threatening menace to the liberty and
freedom Of man; the lust for power, unlm
tied, arbitrary power, the same enemy man
In his struggle for liberty. has ever had to
face The conflict is not between capital and
labor, between the rich and the poor, but It
is the same old conflict between freedom and
| oppression. between liberty and tyranny, be-
tween democracy and rautocracy. BY the
charter of our liberties all political power is
reposed in those over whom it is exercised.
1t may no more safely be intrusted to a
corporation than to a king. Whatever power
gains absolute control over those utilities
which are mans prime necessities under the
| circumstances of the age in which he lives,
! Is an enormous empire; under the needs and
| requirements OF modern commerce, Its re-
hottest parts are brought near together by a
| system of transportation that is the browning
work of mans genius, and the management
| and conducting Of this system is the great
/ est industry which commands his energies
! Under present conditions this transportation
system is as much necessity as food or
raiment Eliminate it, and man drops at
once to primitive conditions which would pre-
sage further retrogression. The transporta-
4 ton business stands, therefore, first and at
! the head of the great utilities.
The Iron Age.
Commercially speaking, the present has
| sometimes been called the iron age; GER
tain 1t Is that except for the use of this
metal in its multiform varieties, the electric
| progress Of the present must slacken to the
movement of the fifteenth century; buildings
now erected in a few months would require
years for their construction; but for It's use
the business now done in day could scarce
| beldone in a decade, if at all. Prohibit man
! the use of :; iron and he could live, but it
| would, be as the savage lives; commerce,
! progress, civilization would no longer be his
part. Standing, them second among these
utilities is the production and manufacture
Of iron in all of its: forms. Give one man
| absolute control OF these two great industries,
! the transportation business and the iron bust
ness Of the United .States, and she can, by
4 the peaceful revolution, transform this splen-
did republic into the most absolute despotism
!. that ever hourished upon the face of the
earth. The men who make your laws will
4 be his men. The men who administer these
laws will be his men, The men who collect
your taxes and the men who spend the reve-
nues, all will be men of his selecting, and
I the splendid heritage OF American citizen
/ ship will descend to the level Of the most alb
/ ject subject or serf the world has ever known.
Easy to Discover.
| It requires neither imagination nor genius
| to- see. this. THE veriest dolt may under
stand it, If every mile you travel and every
commodity you transport. you do it on the
/ terms and at the time and in the manner
! one man shall name; if every particle of that
most useful and necessary Of all metals you
! use, you use only upon the terms, at the time
! and in the manner one man shall name
! then that mans benefcence alone stands be-
| tween you and slavery or the return to pri-
| meval conditions. Centuries ago man learned
that the benefcence of an autocrat was not
a., a safe foundation for liberty, and out of that
lesson grew the doctrine that call government
derives Its Just powers from the consent OF
the governed RI IT, "a
But is this danger but fantasy of the
mind, creation proceeding from the heat.
oppressed bra1n,' or is it a sober thought
ful, conservative conclusion visible In all the
signs OF tho times? If the control of these
great Industries by a single individual or 6
lsmall group Of individuals, is possibility
then all but the very innocent will appreciate
the danger. No believer in popular govern.
ment would consider for one moment the sub.
stitution Of autocracy for the rule of the ma
jority, however beneficient, however gener.
Gus, however kindly that autocracy might
be. The time for the consideration of thai
hos 1n,cr rsv
democracy is firmly established in the minds
of the American people as the ideal form O.
government. Whether the control of these
great industries is a possibility, depends upor
the wisdom, patriotism and foresight of thos.
who are intrusted with the discharge of public
duty; that such control Is threatened, it il
idle to deny; to understand how it is threat
! ened is at least to be armed to resist it.
The Most Dangerous Foe.
The pursuit of wealth to the exclusion O
higher purposes, undoubtedly destroys tn
foundation Of our manhood: Francis Park
man, calm, conservative and most thought
full among all of Americas historians, ha
= said that this great republic is safe iron
every enemy except that most dangerous @
all foes, herself and declares that to perma
nently endure she must rally her power
from the race for gold and the delirium o
, prosperity to make firm the foundations OF
: which that prosperity rests and turn som
4 fair proportion Of her vast mental forces t
= other objects than material progress But
however much our national vitality may b
undermined by the race for gold, l conceiv
r it to be impossible that any single individual
Q unaided by some artificial creation Of tn
t law, could gain control of these great in
S dustries or attain to any dangerous com
: mercial supremacy.
i The danger lies in the abuse of that crea
/ 80 xbo Low, ioh q kf1r
e This artificial, creation has grown with GU
civilization; it's origin is shrouded in tn
a mist Of distant antiquity: we see 1t in tn
e dim dawn of Roman history, and trace it
e growth and development through the histor
s. Of civifzation.SSIts has been the vehicle {
S modern progress, and is absolutely necessar
: in the commerce Of to-day. But we must nc
y lose sight of the fact that this artificial pei
: son is not vested with all the rights or power
n Of the natural person. To so invest 1t make
n it as dangerous as it is necessary. Man
: principles OF the law which apply wthor
n limitations when applied to this artifcis
person. and as the ingenuity CT man in til
pursuit of evil converts this artificial crea
ton Of the law into an engine of oppressio
y and tyranny, its Limitations must from tim
!. tto time be re-established.
r The Danger.
= Here, then. lies both the danger and th
J. remedy. The business Of this day could y
o more be done without corporations than
y bird could fly without, wings: but in th
> economy of healthy commerce no useful pull
y pose; is served by such corporations as 9Th
e United Metal Selling company. or tn
: It.Northern Securities company" If tn
u doctrine is to obtain that there are to b
o no restrictions placed upon corporations othe
= than those placed upon natural persons, an
n that the principles Of law and equity are
y have the same application to these artifci;