, 1904-06-21


accomplished. From the telling of the
trees in the forest. the filling Of the
soil, and the mining of the ore, through
all the steps and processes required to
produce from the raw material the
complicated machine or the costly
fabric, there must have been co-opera.
ton. and all incongruous elements and
resistant forces must have been elm.
mated or overcome.
The chief factor. therefore. which
has contributed to these results is the
cooperation of all our people. The
first law of all our civilization is the
cooperation of all individuals to i'm
vision of labor, each individual is as
signed to or takes his special part in
our social organization. This special
ization of labor has become most mi
mute. No only is this true in scien-
tific and philosophical research. and
professional and business life. but in
the simplest and earliest occupations
of men, such as the tilling of the soil,
the specialist is found bringing to the
aid of his industry expert and scien-
tifc knowledge.
In primeval life the individual. with
his own hands, supplied almost all his
needs, but now his personal effort con-
tributes directly little, if anything,
thereto. He satisfies his wants from
many and diverse sources. giving in
work.
Thus. modern society has become a
complicated organization or machine
which can only move when all its
parts harmoniZe. and which is OBJ
structed or breaks down when any Of
these refuses to cooperate or perform
its special function.
1t needs no argument to show that
what we have accomplished was posi-
bic only through each individual doing
his part-through depending on others
to do theirs-through cooperation. By
remaining Independent of others. man
must have continued in his savage
state. He has found it possible to i'm
prove his condition only by cooper
ating with others, and by becoming
first law of acknowledgements
ton"
The needs of our modern life require
large undertakings, too great for the
effort Or of any one man.
Such enterprises must, necessarily, be
supported by the combined efforts of
many. Modern transportation. without
which Il national development and
progress must have been greatly re-
tarded, furnishes a notable instance of
this. For example. it would have been
practically impossible to assemble the
materials and exhibits which make up
this exposition under the %transporta-
ton conditions of but a few years ago
Within the limits of these grounds,
we find people from every country and
the products of every cline. Indeed,
these modern highways have almost
made the whole world a neighborhood,
and who will say that they should not
be improved and the cost of transpor-
tation %lessened, so that the benefits
now realized may be enlarged and
multiplied?
Within the present generation vast
improvements have heen made in rail
way transportation. It was impossible
to supply the needs of our commerce
by the railways originally constructed
and operated. 1t became necessary
to not only reconstruct and re-equip
these lines. but to bring them under
uniform methods and management, all
of which were possible only by the
combination and unification of the
original short lines of railway into
systems each under n management
Or control, and this in turn was posi-
Bile only by the combination of capital.
Formerly. the management of short
lines of railway was vested in the per-
son of one officer with autocratic pow
err over his subordinates. Now, the
affairs of large railway systems are adj
ministered by an organization of Of
fcers, each peculiarly fitted by educa-
tinr Of hic parti,rlar lnnortmnnf
Through cooperation Of these officers
large economies are effected. and ser
vice is improved and its cost %lessened,
benefits which, in the end, always in
ure to the public.
Why should not the present means
of transportation be still further i'm
proved by similar methods?
The combination of different. rail
ways should be regulated by law. So
far as may be necessary, the public in
terest should be protected by law.
but insofar as the law obsructs such
combinations, without public benefit,
it is unwise and p%rejudicial to the pub
lie interest.
1t is not my purpose to enter upon
a discussion OF the questions which
may be %propounded concerning this
subject, but rather to emphasize the
and leading factor Of COOP
erative effort in all the affairs Of life;
and, in taking railway transportation
as furnishing the best example, per-
haps. of the necessity Of cooperation.