Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1902-12-05
.coo0 AND BAD CORPORATIONS.
Government Should Have Full Authority to
Control Them.

OF course, when the conditions have
favored the growth of SO much that
was good, they have also favored
somewhat the growth of what was
evil. 1t is eminently necessary that
we should endeavor to cut out this
evil, but let us keep a due sense of
proportion; let us not in fixing our
gaze upon the lesser evil forget the
greater good. The evils are real and
some OF them are menacing, but they
are the outgrowth, not of misery OF
decadence, but OF prosperity-of the
progress of our gigantic industrial de.
velopment. This industrial develop
ment must not be checked, but, side
by side with it should 60 such pro-
gressive regulation as will diminish
the evils. We should fail In our duty
II we did not try to remedy the evils,
but we shall succeed only IL we pro-
coed patiently, with practical common
sense as well as resolution, separat-
Ing the good from the bad and hold
ing on to the former while endeavoring
to get rid of the latter.
In my message to the present Con.
gress at Is first session l discussed
at length the question of the regula.
ton OF those big corporations COM
monty doing an interstate business,
often with some tendency to monop-
oily, which are popularity known as
trusts The experience of the past
year has emphasized. in my opinion,
the desirability of the steps l then
proposed. A fundamental requisite of
social efficiency is high standard Of
individual energy and excellence; but
this Is in no wise consistent with
power to act In Combination for aims
which cannot SO well be achieved by
the individual acting alone. A funda-
mental base Of civilization is the in
volatility of property; but this is in
no wise inconsistent with the right of
society to regulate the exercise of the
artificial powers which 1t confers upon
the owners Of property, under the
name OF corporate franchises, in such
q way as to prevent the misuse Of
these powers. Corporations, and
especially combinations of corpora
tons. should be managed under public
regulation. Experience has shown
that under our system of government
the necessary supervision cannot be
obtained by state action. It must,
therefore, be achieved by National
action.
Not Hostile Attack. but Correction.
Our aim Is not to do away with
corporations; on the contrary, these
big aggregations are an inevitable de-
velopment of modern industrialisn,
and the effort to destroy them would
be futile unless accomplished in ways
that would work the utmost mischief
to the entire body polite. We can
DO nothing OF good In the way of regu-
lating and supervising these corpora
tons until we fix clearly In our minds
that we are not attacking the corpora
tons. but endeavoring to do away
with any evil in them. We are not
hostile to them; we are merely de-
termined that they shall be so handled
as to subserve the public good. We
draw the line against misconduct, not
against welath. The capitalist who,
alone or In conjunction with his fell
lows, performs some great industrial
feat by which he wins money, is a
welldoer. not wrongdoer, provided
only he works in proper and legitimate
lines. We wish to favor such o man
when he does well. We wish to super
wise and control his actions only to
prevent him from doing i'll. Publicity
can do no harm to the honest cor
poration; and we need not be over
tender about sparing the dishonest
corporation.
In curbing and regulating the COM
binations Of capital which are or may
become injurious to the public, we