Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1902-09-13

knowledge of prophecy by the men who
founded the republic
In those days each State could take care
perfectly well of any corporation within ITS
limits, and all it had to do was to try to en-
courage their upbuilding Now the big cor
poratons, although nOminally are creatures
of one State, usually do business IN 0thef
States, and in large number of cases the
wide variety of State laws on the subject
of corporations has brought about the tact
that the corporation is made in one State,
but does almost all its work in entirely dlI-
fercnt States.
1t has proved utterly impossible to get
anything like uniformity of legislation
among the States. Some States have passed
laws about corporations which, it they had
not been Ineffective would have totIly pre-
vented any important corporate work nelns
done within their limits. Other States nave
such lax laws that there is no etfectlVe Ell
fort made to control any of the abuses. AS
a result we have a system of dividend con
trOl-Where the nation has something TO say
but it is a little difficult to know exactly
how much, and where the different states
have each something to say, but where there
is no supreme power that can speak with
authority.
1t is, of course, a mere truism to say that
every corporation, the smallest as well as
the largest, is a creature of the State. Where
the corporation is small there is little need
of exercising much supervision over 1t; DuC
the stupendous corporations of the present
uAANAIA
supervision and regulation.
Present Laws to BE Enforced.
The first effort to make is TO give some
body the power to exercise that supervision,
that regulation. We have already laws on
the statute books. Those laws VIII be en-
forced, and are being enforced with all the
power Of the national government and
wholly without regard to persons. But the
power is limited
Now. l want you to take my words at
their exact value. l think-I cannot say
am sure, because it has often happened In
the past that Congress has passed laws with
a given purpose in view and when that law
has been judicially interpreted 1t has proved
that the purpose was not achieyed-but /
think that by legislation additional power
in the way of regulation of at least num-
Der of those great corporations can be con-
ferred.
But, gentlemen, I firmly believe that in
the end power must be given, probably
through a constitutional amendment, to the
national government to exercise i'll full SUI
pervision and regulation of those great en-
terprises.
That is not new doctrine for me. That is
the doctrine that l advocated on the stump
two years ago.
Some of my ultra conservative friends
have DrofeSsed to be greatly shocked at
my advocating governmental control or cor
pOratiOns. | would explain to those gentle
men once for all that they err whenever
they think that advocate on the stump any
thing l will not try to put into effect after
election. Now the point is made that work
ing along these tines will take time. SO 1t
will. Let me 60 back to my illustration of
the Mississippi river. 1t took some time to
build the leveAs, but we built them. And IT
we have the proper intelligence, the PR per
resolution, and the proper self-restraipt, we
can work out the solution along the lines
that | have indicated.
What we nod first is power. Bafing
gotten the pow ar. gentlemen, remember fhat
the work will l0t be ended. 1t will be Only
fairly begun. And let me say again, md
again, and again, that you will not get he
millennium. The millennium is some way off
long strides in the direction of securing a
iuster, and fairer, and more intelligent, and
more honest management of those corpora
tons, both as regards the general public and
as regards their relationships among them
selves.
When you have the power | should most
earnestly advocate that it be used with the
greatest wisdom and self-restraint. The
first thing would be to find out the "a"ts.
For that purpose l am absolutely clear hat
we need publicity, not as a favor from any
one corporation, but as a matter of right.
The mere fact of the publicity itself will
Hend to stop many of the evils, and it will
show that some of the alleged evils are i'm
aginary.
We should have, under these circum-
stances, one sovereign to which the big cor
porations should be respOnsible-a sovereign
in whose courts the corporations could be
held accountable for any failure to comply
with the laws Of the legislature of that
sovereign. | do not think you can accom-
pliSh that among the fOrty-SiX SOyereignS
of the States. l think that it will have to
be through the national government.