Newport weekly independent., 1902-08-29
% ona H,i.S Ss Indivituals or br eomhinntln,,

the nprni r'i .luCl OI the complaint agsinst
 rne rtie complications is entirely n1v,,r. STt,,rt ralteu Under present condItfIys S ' " 1" ", , hIT,CfisSdr! to have corporation. r ,ns t;o9, tp;oS'Hess world as it is to have orrapizas n rinbt +. wage workers. But We have I J llSIl to ask in each case that tbr,- shaii
 In, uU sood and not harm. Exactly ss iah",. o, separations, when managed iutaIIip.rtiv
 s,rao ano II Ill d spirit of justice and fair play wape l ,, ngry great service, not only t6 the
 s m"sf workers but to the whole com
 miuIiialy, as the history of many labor or- SHHITZatlonS has COnClusiyrly shown sn
 mor.Itn' mV.itth' not not merely individual. but corr benatit %lle" used alright, k not merely i4 tL 10 the community as d whole @ put indispensable to the uDbuildiug of inc | DouilttN under the conditions, which at bb,tStnt b,,t lne country has grown 'o accept, iC DHC lo qemand as normal This Is so ob- i+ i'US ll'I IL seems trlte even to state It, ana yet If We are to judge some of the
 arguments advanced against. and attacks
 ,,I"rt5 ,,t'uG upon; wealth as such. it is fact
 worth Keeping in mind.
 A great fortune if not used aright 1 lil"heS It's possesSOr in a peculiar sense q menace to the community as q whole.
 J"at as a great intellect does if it is un- ! accompanied by developed conscience. by
 csdtacter. But obviously this no more 4nofdS grounds for condemning wealth l I1lln I II does for condemning intellect.
 nf tiS +IS man or power by the very fact
 oL '4tl power, Is capable of doing dam 9Se to ms nelghbOrS, but We can not af-
 Iofd to discourage the development of 9uCH men merely because it Is possible
 they may use their power to wrong ends Il we qld so We should leave our history blank, for we should have no great statesmen, soldiers or merchants. no great
 men men 0t arts, of letters or of science Doubtless on the average the most useful man to his fellow citizens is apt to be | ne to whom has been given what the pSalm1st prayed for, neither poverty nor ] ticheS' put the great captain of industry the man of wealth, who alone or in com i plhaton with his fellows, drives through 1 our great business enterprises, is a fac l tor without which this country could not possibly maintain it's present industrial position in the world. Good, not harm, normally comes from the piling up of wealth through business enterprises. Pfobably the most serious harm resulting
 .:,, to us' the people of moderate, means, Is when we harm ourselves by letting the dark and evil vices of envy and hatred towards our fellows eat into our natures.
 still, there is another harm of a more evident kind, and such harm 1t is our
 clear duty to try to eradicate, if possible, and in any event to minimize. The great corporations, containing some tendency to monopoly, which we have grown to speak of rather loosely as trusts, are the
 creatures of the state, and the state not only has the right to control them, but Is in duty bound to control them wherever the need for such control is shown. There l is clearly need of supervfslon-need to exercise the power of regulation on the part of the public, wherever, as in our own country at the present time, business corporations become so very strong both
 for benefcent work and work that is not always bene1icent It is idle to say there
 is no need for such supervision A sutfi- ctent warrant for it is to be found over and over again in any of the various evils | resulting from the present system, or | rather, lack of system.
 ''There is in our country peculiar difficulty in the way of exercising sucf supervision and control because of the peculiar division of governmental power 1 When the industrial conditions were sim | pie, very little control was needed anC no trouble was caused by the doubt as to where power was lodged under the con | stitution. Now the conditions are com | picated, and we find it difficult to frame national legislation which shall ot 1 experience state action has proved en l tirely insufficient, and in all human prob I ability can not will not be made sui | fcient, to meet the needs of the case Some of our states have excellent laws | laws which it would be well, indeed, t' | have enacted by the national legislature l But the wide differences in these laws ] even between adjacent states and the un 1 certainty of the power of enforcement l result practically in altogether lnsuft1clen | control. I believe that the nation mus assume this power of control by leg1sla 1 tion and if it becomes evident that tE constitution will not permit needed legis | lation, then by constitutional amendment The immediate need in dealing with trust | is to place them under the real, not nom 1 inal control of some sovereign to whicf | as it's creatures, the trusts shall owe al | legiance, and in whose courts the soveI l eign's orders may with centrainly be en | forced This Is not the case, with tn | ordinary so-called trust to-day. for tn 1 trust is a large state corporation, gen 1 orally doing business in other states also 1 and often with a tendency to monopoly | Such a trust is an artificial creature not wholly responsible to or conrtollabl | by any legislature, nor wholly subject | the jurisdiction of any one court. Som governmental sovereign must be given flu ] power over these artificial and powerft | sovereign must be the national govern | ment When it has been given full pow 1 CT then this full power can be used | control any evil influence exactly as tn | government is now using the power COT 1 ferred upon it, under the sherman ant trust law. Even when the ful! power Ina
 been conferred, it would be highly undtt l sirable to attempt too much or to begi | by stringent legislation. The mechanisl l of modern business is as delicate an | complicated as it is vast, and nothin | would be more productive of evil to a | of us, and especially to those least we l off in the worlds goods, than fgnOra1
 meddling with this mechanism, and aboN | all if the meddling was done in spir | of class or sectional rancOr. It is deSt l able that this power should be possesse | by the nation, but it is quite as desirab 1 that the power should be exercised wit
 moderation and self-restraint The fir | curing of publicity among all great co | norations doing an interstate bushes | The publicity, though non-inquisitor1a 1 should be real and thorough as to all in | portant facts with which the public h; l concern.