The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1902-09-02

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OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
IT seems trite even To state H. and yet II
We are to judge from some OF the nrgu-
ments advanced against, aud attacHs made
upon. wealth as such, 1t is fact worth
keeping in mind.
"A great fortune, If not used Alright
makes its possossor i'm peculiar sense
a menace to the community as q whole,
Just as Il great intellect does if IL is not
accompanied by developed conscience by
character But obviously this no more
affords grounds for condemning wealth
than 1t does for condemning intellect.
Every man OF power by the very fact Of
that power is capable of doing damage
to his neighbors, but we cannot afford a.
discourage the development of such men
merely because IL is possible they may
use their power to wrong ends. If we DID
so. we should leave our history = blank
for should have no great statesman.
soldiers or merchants, no great men of
arts, orators or of science Doubtless on
the average the most useful man to MS
fellow citizens is apt to be he to whom
1t has been gwen what the psalmist
prayed for, neither poverty nor riches,
but the great captain of industry the
man of wealth. who alone or in combina.
ton with his fellows, drives through orr
great business enterprises, is a factor
without which this country could not pos
sibly maintain its present industrial posi-
tiun in the world. Good, not harm, nor
mally comes from the pilng up of wealth
through business enterprises. Probably
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 tow
ards our fellows eat into our natures.
'Still there is other harm of a more
evident kind, and such harm it is our
clear duty to try to eradicate If possible,
and in any event to minimize. The cor.
poratuAs. and therefore those great cor
pOratiOns 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, hut
is I'm duty bound to control them wher-
ever the need for such control is shown.
There is clearly need of supervision
need to exercise the power of regulation
ON the part of the representatives of the
public wherever, as in our own country
ut the present time business corporations
become so very strong both for boncti
cent work and for work that is not al
ways benetCout IT is idle to say that
there is no need for such supervision. \
Sulhclent warrant Tor IL is To be lOund
over ana over again in any of the various
evils resulting from the present system,
or rather lack of system.
There is in our country a peculiar
difficulty in the way of exercising such
supervision and control because of The
peculiar division of governmental power
When the Industrial conditions were sim
pie, very little control was needed, ana
no trouble was caused by the doubt rs to
where power was lodged under the consti-
tuition Now the conditions are compl-
Gated and We find 1t difficult to frame ma
tonal legislation which shall be adequate
while as matter of practical experience
state action has proved entirely insuth-
ciont and any in all human probability
cannot or Will not be made sufficient to
meet the needs of the case. Some of our
states have excellent laws-laws which II
would be well indeed to have enacted by
the National Legislature But the wide
differences i'm these laws, even between
adjacent states and the uncertainty of the
power Of enforcement result practically
IN altogether insufficient control | be
lovc that the nation must assume this
power of control by legislation, and If II
becomes evident that the constitution Vill
not permit needed legislation, then by
constitutional amendment The immediate
need in dealing with trusts is to place
them under the real, not nominal con-
trol of some sovereign to which, as lis
creature, the trusts shall owe allegiance,
and in whose courts the sovereign's or-
ders may with certainty be enforced.
This is not the case with the ordinary
so-caled trust today, for tha trust Is
large state corporation, generally doing
business in other states also, and often
with tendency to monopoly Such
trust is an artificial creature, not wholly
responsible to or controllable by any leg