The Cairo bulletin., 1905-12-06

fines and therefore exposed to certain
peculiarly strong temptations.
lndustrialism's Temptations.
| These temptations have not sprung
newly into being The exceptionally
successful among mankind have al
ways been exposed to them, but they
have grown amazingly in power us a
result Of the extraordinary development
| Of industialsm along new lines. and
under these new conditions. which the
! lawmakers OF old could not foresee and
therefore could not provide against,
they have become so serious ana men
tcing as to demand entirely new rene
| dies. II Is in the interest Of the best
! type Of railroad man and the best type
/ Of shipper no less than Of the public
that there should he governmental SUI
! perrision and regulation Of these great
| business operations, for the same rea-
son that it Is IN the interest Of the cor
| p0ration which wishes TO treat It's en-
| ployees Alright that there should be an
! effective employers liability act or an
/
| prevent the abuse Of women and chill
! alren All such legislation frees The
! corporation that wishes to do well from
| l.ing driven into doing i'll In order to
compete with its rival which prefers to
do ILL., We desire to set Up a moral
standard There can be no dclusion
more fatal to the nation than the de
lusion that the standard of profits. OF
business prosperity, is sufficient ID
judging any business or political ques-
ton from rate legislation TO municipal
government. Business success. whetll-
err for the indi'-dual or for the nation,
is a good thing only 50 far as it is nc
conpanied by and develops high
standard Of conduct honor. integrity,
civic courage The kind Of business
prosperity that blunts the standard of
honor that puts an inordinate value on
mere wealth. that makes man ruth
less and constituencies in trade and
weak and coWardly in citizenship, is
not good thing ut ALL but very bad
thing for the nation. This government
stands for manhood first and for busi-
ness only as an adjunct Of manhood,
The question Of transportation lies at
the root Of all industrial success, and
the revolution in transportation which
has taken place during the last half
century has been the most important
factor in the growth of the new indus
trial conditions. Most emphatically we
do not wish to see the man of great
talents refused the reward for his tai
ents still less do we wish 10 see him
penalizcd, but we do desire to sec the
system of railroad transportation so
handled that the strong man shall be
given no advantage over The weak
man. We wish to insure as fair treat
ment for the small town rs for the big
city, for the small shipper as for the
big shipper In the old days the high /
way of commerce, whether by water
or by 4 road on land was open to all. /
II belonged to the public, anG the traf- /
fic along it was free. At present the I
railway is this highway, and we must I
do our best TO see that it is kept open
to all Oh equal terms. Unlike the old /
highway. il is n very difficult ana COM
pick thing to manage, and it IS far bet
ter that it should be managed by pri-
waite individuals than by the govern
ment But it can only be so managed
public 1t is because, in my Judgment,
public ownership of railroads Is highly
and would probably in this
country entail far reaching disaster that
| wish TO see such supervision and reg
ulation Of them IN the interest Of the
public MS win make it evident that
there is no need for public ownership.
The opponents Of government regula-
ton dwell upon the difficulties 10 be
and the intricate and in
vslyed nature of tie problem. Their
IS true. 1t is a complicated
and delicate problem, and MI kinds of
difficulties are sure TO arise In counec-
ton with any plan of solution. while
no plan viii bring all the benefits
hoped for by its more optimistic adj
lcrcnts Moreover under any healthy
plan the benefits viii develop gradual
Iy and not rapidly. Finally we must
clearly understand that the public scry-
ants who are TO do this peculiarly re
sponsible aud delicate work must
themselves be Of die highest type both
rs regards integrity and efficiency
They must bc well paid, fir otherwise .
able men cannot in the long run be Sc
cured. and they must possess a lofty
orobity which viii revolt az quickly ut
he thought Of pandering TO amy gust,
If popular prejudice against rich men
IS at the thought Of anything even re
notely resembling subserviency TO rich
men.
Difficulties Should Be Spur.
But, while | fully admit the difficult
los in the way. I do Hot for a moment
ldmit that these difficulties warrant
IS in stopping IN our effort TO secure n
wise and just system They should
ave no other effect than to spur us on
o tue exercise Of the resolution. the ,
won handed Justice and the fertility OF
esource which we like to think Of as
ypicglly American aud which viii ia
he end acl.eyc good results in this. rs 9
n other fields Of activity. The task is !
great one and undcriies the task Of I
Iealing with the whole Industrial prob I
EN-. But the fact that il is a great I
4so1sloss, rgrD1 rrss