Mexico Missouri message. (Mexico, Audrain County, Mo.) 1899-1918, 1904-12-15


mining strike as this is a strike in which
| certain very evil forces. which are more
! or less at work everywhere under the
conditions OF modern industrlallsm be-
came startlingly prominent.
Corporations.
! when We come to deal with great cor
! poratlons the need for the government TO
/ act directly is far greater than IN the
/ case OF labor. because great corporations
| can become such only By engaging in in
! teTstate commerce. and interstate com
/ merce j. peculiarly the field OF the gem
| eral government. II Is an absurdity 70 eN-
peCt 10 eliminate the abuses in great cor
| porations by state action. II Is difficult to
/ be patient with an argument that such
matters should be left to the states. be-
] cause more than one state pursues the
| policy Of creating on easy terms corpora
| tions which are never operated within
| that state at all but I'm other states
whose laws they ignore. The national
government alone can deal adequately
with these great corporations To try to
| deal with them In an Incorporate. de-
structive. or demagogic spirit would in
all probabilitv mean that nothing what
ever would be accomplished. and. with
absolute certainty that II anything were
accomplished IL would be Of a harmful
nature. The American people need to
continue 10 show the very qualities that
they have shown--that IL. moderation
good sense. the earnest desire to avoid
doing any damage. and yet the quiet de-
termination to proceed. step by step
without halt and without hurry. in eum-
mating or at least in minimizing what
ever OF mischief or OF evil there Is to in
tersta,c commerce in the conduct Of
great corporations They are acting in
no spirit OF hostility to wealth. either in
dividual or corporate. They are not
against the rich man any more than
against the POOR man. on the contrary,
they are friendly alike toward rich man
and toward poor man, provided only that
each acts in n spirit Of justice and de-
cenCy toward his fellows. Great corpora
lions are necessary, and only men Of
great and singular mental power can
manage such corporations success fully,
and such man must have great rewards.
But these corporations should be man
aged with due regard TO the interest Of
the public as a whole. Where this can
be done under the present laws it must
be done. Where these laws come short
others should be enacted to supplement
them.
The bureau OF corporations has made
careful preliminary investigation OF many
important corporations. 1t will make a
special report on the beef industry.
Bureau OF Corporations.
The policy of the bureau is to accom-
plish the purposes Of its creation by CO.
operation. not antagonism; by making
constructive legislation, not destructive
prosecution. the immediate object OF its
Inquiries by conservative investigation
| Of Law and fact, and by refusal to issue
, incomplete and hence necessarily inaccu-
rate reports. Its policy being thus one
OF open inquiry into. and not attack up
on. business, the bureau has been able to
I
| still the cooperation Of men engaged in
| legitimate business.
The bureau offers to the Congress the
/ means Of getting at the cost OF prOduc-
ton OF our various great staples OF com
merCe.
Rebates.
| Above all else we must strive to keep
| the highways Of commerce open to all
on equal terms; and to do this II Is nee
! essary to put a complete stop to all re-
| bates. Whether the shipper or the rail-
road is to blame makes no difference; the
rebate must be stopped, the abuses of
| the private car and private terminal
! track and side-tTack systems must be
| stopped. and the legislation Of the Fifty
| eighth Congress which declares it to be
| unlawful for any person or corporation Ia
| offer. grant, give, solicit, accept, or re-
| ceive any rebate, concession, or 'discrim-
any property in interstate or foreign
commerce whereby such property shall
| by any device whatever be transported
| at less rate than that named in the
tariffs published by the carrier must be
enforced. While l am of the opinion that
at present it would be undesirable, If II
We're not impracticable. finally to olothC
the Interstate Commerce Commission
with general authority to fix railroad
rates, do not believe that, as a fair Sc.
curity to shippers. the Commission SHOULD
be vested with the power. where a giver
rate has been challenged and after full
hearing found to be unreasonable, to de
eide, subject to judicial review. wha
shall be a reasonable rate to take II.
place; the ruling of the commission L
take erect Immediately, and to Obtain
unless and until it is reversed by thu
court OK review. In my judgment tn,
most important legislative act now need
ed as regards the regulation of corpora
lions Is this act to confer on the Inter
state Commerce Commission the powe
to revise rates and regulations. the re
vised rate to at once go into effect AM
to stay In effect unless and until tn
court of review reyerses II.
Much space is here devoted to
consideration of the problem of thu
proper housing Of the poor in GU
great cities, and the Importance OF
proper solution of the question shown
On this subject the message says:
There should be severe ehild-labor an,
factory inspection laws. II is very desir
] able that married women should not -7orl
in factories. The prime duty of the maj
is 20 work, to- be the breadwinner; tn
prime duty OF the woman is to be tn
mother, the housewife All questions O
tariff and finance sink into utter insig
nifcance when compared with the tire
mendous. the vital Importance of tryin
to shape conditions so that these tw
duties Of the man and Of the woman ca
be fulhlled under reasonably faYorabl
circumstances. II a race does not hav
plenty Of children. or IL the children d
not grow up, or II when they grow u
they are unhealthy I'm body and stunte
or vicious In mind, then that race is de
cadent and no heaping up OF wealth, n
splendor OF momentary material prosper
ity. can avail in any degree as Offsets.