Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1905-12-06

the great trunk lines of lateral and
branch lines.
urge upon the Congress the need of
providing for expeditions action by the
Interstate Commerce Commission In
all these matters, whether i'll regulating
rates for transportation or for stor-
ing or for handling property or com
moditfes in transit. The history or the
cases Irrigated under the present COM
merce act shows that its efficacy mas
been to a great degree destroyed by
the weapon of delay, almost the most
formidable weapon i'll the hands of
those whose purpose it is 10 Violate
the law.
Let me most earnestly say that these
recommendations are not made In any
spirit OF hostility to the railroads. On
ethical grounds, on grounds OF right.
such hostility would be intolerable;
and on grounds of mere national SELL
| interest we must remember that SUCH
hostility would tell against the well
| fare not merely of some few rlch men,
but of multitude of small investors,
a multitude of railway employees. wage
| workers; and most severely against
the interest of the public as a whole.
| | believe that on the whole our rail-
| roads have done well and not Ill; but
| the railroad men who wish to do well
| should not be exposed to competition
| with those who have no such desire,
and the only way to secure this end
is to give 10 some government tribunal
the power to see that juatice is done by
| the unwilling exactly as it is gladly dong
/ nv the NyiI1inp if "
eminent body is given increased pow
| err the effect will be to furnish author
itative answer on behalf of the railroad
whenever irrational clamor against it
| is raised, or whenever charges made
against it are disproved. l ask this
legislation not only in the interest of
the public but in the interest of the
| honest railroad man and the honest
| shipper alike, for it is they who are
| chiefly jeoparded by the practices of
their dishonest competitors. This leg
| islation should be enacted in spirit
| as remote as possible from hEsteria
| and rancOr. If we of the American
body polite are true to the traditions
| we have inherited we shall always
| scorn any effort to make us hate any
man because he is rich. just as much
| as we should scOrn any effort to make
us look down upon or treat contemp-
| tuOuSly any man because he is poor
| We judge Il man by his conduct-that
| is, by his character-and not by his
| wealth or intellect. If he makes his
fortune honestly, there is no just cause
of quarrel with him. Indeed, we have
nothing but the kindliest feelings of
| admiration for the successful business
man who behaves decently, whether
| he has made his success by building
| or managing a railroad or by shipping
| goods over that railroad. The big
railroad men and big shippers are SIM
ply Americans of the ordinary type
who have developed to an extraordinary
| degree certain great business qualities
They are neither better nor worse
| than their fellOw-citizens of smaller
| means. They are merely more able il
certain lines and therefore exposed tC
| certain peculiarly strong 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 as &
result of the extraordinary development
| of induStrialiSm along new lines, anC
| under these new conditions, which the
lawmakers of old could not foresee ant
therefore could not provide against
they have become SO serious and men
acing as to demand entirely new rem
| edieS. 1t is in the interest of the beSl
| type Of railroad man and the best type
| of shipper ITO less than Of the public
| that there should be governmental
supervision and regulation of these
| great business operations, for the same
| reason that it is in the interest of the
| corporation which wishes to treat its
| employees Alright that there should be
an effective employers liability act. OF
| an effective system of factory laws t.
| prevent the abuse of women and chill
dren. All such legislation frees the
corporation that wishes to do wei
from being driven into doing ill, in or
der to compete with it's rival. which
prefers to do ill. We desire to set III
moral standard. There can be nc
dclusion more fatal to the nation thar
the delusion that the standard OF
profits, of business prosperity. i:
sufficientbin Judging any business OF
| political question-from rate legsla-
|
| ness success, whether for the individual
| or for the nation, is a good thing only
| so far as it is accompanied by and de-
| velops a high standard of conduct
honor integrity, civic courage. The
kind of business prosperity that blunts
| the standard of honor, that puts an in
ordinate value on mere wealth, that
makes a man ruthless and conscience
less in trade and weak and cowardly in
| citizenship. is not good thing at all
but very bad thing for the nation
| This government stands for manhood
first and for business only as an ad-
junct 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 dc not wish to see the man of
| great talents refused the reward for his
! talents. Still les; do we wish to sec
him penalized; but we do desire to see