The Delta independent., 1902-09-12
CONTROL OF TRUSTS
ROOSEVELT ON THE SITUATION

| 6ottToy tUSr a. ~ "oese DS -
Dam the Mississippi-New consti.
tutionai Amendment May Be Neees'
sary for>Their Control.
Wheeling, w. Va, Sept. president
Roosevelt and party arrived over the
Baltimore & Ohio at $50 yesterday
morning from Washington. He was
| greeted by a vast crowd at the depot
and smiled his appreciation, despite
his badly discolored face. His right
cheek was rather badly swollen and
confused, and his left eye showed
signs of disc0loration.
| The entire party entered vehicles
and were driven to the Mcclure house,
headed by a military band. The Pres
ident addressed an enormous crowd
| from the balcony of the hotel. He
spoke long beyond his scheduled time
which necessltated the curtailment OF
the regular program. The President
4 said in part:
I'm every governmental process the
aim that people capable Of self-gov-
/, ernment should steadfastly keep in
mind is to proceed by evolution rather
| than by revolution.
NO one can dam the Mississippi. II
the nation started TO dam 1t Its time
would be wasted. 1t would not hurt
the Mississippi: 1t would only damage
the population along the banks. You
cannot dam the current; but you can
build levees and keep the current
within bounds and shape Its direction.
Now, 1 think that is exactly what we
can do with the great corporations,
known as trusts. We cannot dam
them, We cannot reverse the industrial
tendencies of the age. II you succeed
in doing 1t, then the cities like Wheel
Ing will have to go out OF business.
remember that. You cannot put n
stop to or reverse the industrial tcn-
denotes Of the age.
You can control and regulate them
so that they will do no harm. Another
thing, you do not build these leyees
in day or month. The man who
tells you that he has patent device
for which, in sixty days, he would
solve the whole questions Of Hoods
along the great rivers would be n wise
man, but he would be a perfect mir
acle OF wisdom compared to the man
who tells you that by another patent
remedy he can bring the millennium In
our Industrial and social affairs.
1--WE can do something. ! believe We
can do a good deal, but our accom-
plIshing what expect to see accom-
plished is conditioned upon our setting
to work In spirit rs far removed as
possible from hysteria. A spirit OF
sober, steadfast, kindly II want TO en-
phasize the word kindly, determina-
tiOn not to submit TO wrong ourselves
and not to wrong others. Not to In
terfere with the great business devcl-
opment OF the country, but ut the same
time NO to shape our legislation and
administration ns to regulate, II VIC
cannot remedy. the vicious features
connected with that Industrial devel-
opmept.
Now. hnve said thnt there cnn
be no patent remedy offered. There
is not any one thing which can bc
done to remedy all the existing eyIls.
There nre good many things which,
II we do them. will. believe. make
4 very apprcciable bcttcrment OF our
existing condition.
Now, the big corporations. al.
though nomlnally the creatures of one
state, usually do business in other
states. and In large number OF cascs
the wide variety OF state laws on the
subject Of corporations has brought
about the fact that the corporation II
made In one state but does almost all
Its work In entirely different states. II
has proved utterly impossible to get
anything like uniformity OF rcgistrn.
ton among the states. Some states
have passed lnws about corporations
which. II they had not been ineffective
would have totally prevented any i'm
portant corporate work being done
within their limits. Other states have
such lax laws that there In no effect
i've effort made to control any OF the
abuses. As n result we have system
of divided control--where the nation
has something to say, but II In little
difficult to know exactly how much,
and where the different stntes have
each something to say. but where there
Is no supreme power thnt can speak
with authority.
"It liz OF course mere truism to
say that every corporation. the small
est as well MS the largest, In the Great
IRE Of the state. Where the corpora
tion Is small there Is little need Of ex-
crcising much supervision over II.
But the stupend0us corporations Of
the present day certainly should be
under governmental supervision and
regulation.
lie urst euOTt 10 iukc IL 10 xlve
somebody the power to exercise that
supervision, that regulation. We have
already laws on the statute books.
Those laws will be enforced and arc
being enforced with all the power Of
| the national government and wholly
| without regard to persons.
"But the power Is very limited. Now.
! want you to take my words Mt their
exact value. think-I cannot say I
am sure because It has often happened
in the past that Congress has passed
laws with given purpose In view and
/ when that law has been judicially In
tcrpreted 1t has proved that the pur-
pose was not achlcved-but l think
that by legislation additional power In
the way Of regulation Of Mt least q
number Of those great corporations
/ can be conferred.
But, gentlemen, firmly believe
TINT in the end power must be given,
probably through constitutional
IL.