Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1905-12-08

| the people on the continued prosper
4 ity of the nation. The close relation
| ship and mutual dependence upon
1 each other of capital and labor are
| pointed out, and the message con
| tinues:
Corporations.
Yet. while not merely admitting. but in.
| sistins upon this, IT is also true .n az
| or supervision some of the exceptional
1 men use their energies not In ways tha'
| which tell against this common good
| The fortunes amasscd through corporate
| organization ale now so large and vest
| such power In those that WELD them as
| to make it a matter of necessity TO give
| to the sovereign-that is. to the Govern
| ment. which represents the people as a
| Wholesome effective power OF supervis-
] ion over their corporate use. in otdcr 10
| insure healthy social and industrial life,
| every big corporation should pc heid re-
| sponsible by, and be accountable to. some
| sovereign strong enough to control us
| conduct. ] am in no sense hostile to cor
| porations- This is an age of combination
1 and any effort 10 prevent all comblna
| tion will be not only useless, but in the
| end vicious. because of the contempt for
Which ,he failure to b enf@ren a@
recognize In cordial and ample fashion the
| immense good effected by corporate
| agencies, in q conntry such as ours and an
ity devoted, to their service and there
| fore normally to the service OF the pubic
/ by their officers and directors. The cor
poration has come TO stay. just as the
| trade union has come to stay. Each can
| do and has done great good. Each should
| be favored so long as ii docs good But
| each should be sharply checked where II!
! acts against law and justice.
The President shows the impossi
| bility of the individual states deal
| ing successfully with corporation
greed, and the necessity of comforting
power upon the general government
even to the extent of proper amend
| ment to the constitution. He says:
| 1t has been a misfortune that the
national laws on this subject have hither.
1 to been Of negative or ptohibitive rather
| than an atiiiHlative kind. and still more
| that they have IN part sought 70 pro-
hibited and have in part III their pro-
| hbitions confnirided what should be
| allowed and what should not be allowed.
| all restraint on competition. whether this
4 restraint be reasonable ar unrea sonabie
and where is r not useless hss shows is
| that ii is not possible adequately to
| secure the enforcement of any law of this
kind by ncessant appeal to the courts,
| last -four years devoted more attention
to the enforcement OF the trust iegis-
| lation than TO anything else Much has
has been the moral effect OF the prosecu-
tons: hut it is increasingly evident that
there will he very Insufficient beneficial
| The successful prosecution of one device
to evade the law Immediately develops
purpose. What IS needed is not sweeping
| prohibition Of every arrangement. good or
bad. which may tend to restrict competl,,
tion,, but such adequate supervision and
| prevent
OF competition from being to, the detri-
ment OF the ,public-as well as such
| vent other abuses in no way connected
| with restriction OF competitions. OF these
abuses. perhaps the CHIEF. although J., by
no means the only one. is overcapitaliZa
| tion-generally itself the result of dis,
honest OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES Of the myriad
evils IT brings in its train; for such over,
| capitalization often means an imitation
| that invites business panic; it always con.
ceals. the true relation OF the profit earned
creates burden of interest payments
| which IS a fertile cause of improper re-
duction or in Limitation Of vases: 1t
| damages the small investor. discourages
thrift, and encourages gambling and spec
| ulation; while perhaps worst OF al Is the
thickness and dishonesty. which It implies
| for harm to morals and worse than any
possible harm to material interests. and
the debauchery Of politics and business
| by great dishonest corporations is far
worse than any actual material evil they
do the public. Until the national govern
ment obtains. In some manner which the
proper control over the big corporations
engaged in Interstate commerce-thati is
over the great majority of the big cor,
| pora tions---it will be impossible to deal
adequately with these evils.
The first cousidera ton 10 be kept in
mind is that the power should be affirm
alive and should be given to some AID
| minstrative body created by the Congress
II given to the present Interstate Com.
merce commission or 10 reorganized
commission should be made, unequiyoca!ly
administrative. l do not believe in the
| government interfering with private bust
ness more than is necessary. do not
any work which can with propliety be
left in private hands. But neither do
overseeing any. worl. when 1t becomes
evident that abuses are sure to obtain
therein unless there Is sovern;menta
indicate the exact terms of the law which
should be enacted; but call the attention
Of the Congress to certain existing con.
| ditions with which it is desirable to deal
In my judgment the most important pro
vision which such law should contain
is that eonerr hnv upon n some
! upon the case being brought before it,
whether a given rate prescribed by a raj!
road is reasonable and lust and If it is
then, after full investigation of the com
| plant. to prescribe the limit of rate
|
the maximum rea sonable rate. as 1t is
commonly cal!ed-this decision to go into
effect within a reasonable time, and to
obtain from thence onward. subject 10
| review by the courts. 1t sometimes hap
/ pens at present not that rate is too
| high but that favored shipper is given
sion would have the right to fix this
already established minimum rate as
the maximum and and it ~ would dao,1 need ;ee
by the commission to cure railroad com
panies Of the practice, OF giving improper
minimum rates call your attention to
| the fact that my proposal Is not to give
originate rates generally, but to Regulate
rate already fixed or originated by the
| roads. upon complaint and after tnvesti-
| CATION. heavy penalty, should be ex-
| acted from any corporation which fails
to resPess; an order Of th 6, s6mm1s ms
| rate as being essential TO any scheme OF
real reform in the matter, OF railway
cure IT. and unless il IS granted 10 the
| commission there is little use in touch :
| Ing the subject at ALI.
| Continuing, the President earnestly
disclaims any spirit of hostility to
the railroads, pointing out the bene-
fits to be derived by the fair-dealing
roads in the eyen.handed administra.
| ton of justice. In this both the hon
est railroad man and the honest ship.
per alike would be benefited. Ending
! the subject, the President says:
| 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 ndustrial conditions
| Most emphatically we do not wish to see
1 the man OF great talents refused the re-
! ward for his talents. Still less do we. wish
| to see him penalized; but we do desire TO
1 see the system OF railroad transporta ion