Waterbury evening Democrat., 1905-12-05

as an Aid to Reciprocity-Reform : In Insurance Laws Needed, With
 Government Control If Possible.
 Free Trade For the Philippines.
 Progress of the Panama Canal.
 Statehood For Doubled Up TerritO-
 rfes RecOmme ended.
 10 the Senate and House of Repre-
 sentatives: >.. -----
 7 The people of this country continue to enjoy great prosperity, Undoubtedly there will be ebb and flow in such pros perity, and this ebb and flow will be felt more or less by all members Of the community, both by the deserving and the undeserving Against the wrath of the Lord the wisdom of man cannot avail; in times of flood or drought hu- man ingenuity can but partially repair the disaster. A general failure of crops would hurt all of us. Again, if the fol- ly of man mars the general well being, then those who are innocent of the fol- ly will have to pay part Of the penalty incurred by those who are guilty of the folly. 4 panic brought on by the spec ulative folly of part of the business community would hurt the whole busi- ness community. But such stoppage of welfare. though it might be severe, would not be lasting> In the long run the one vital factor ill the permanent prosperity of the country is the high individual character of the average American worker, the average Amer ican citizen, no matter whether his work be mental or manual, whether he be farmer or wageworker, business man or professional man. 3ras '
 In our industrial and social system the interests of all men are so closely intertwined that ill the immense ma jority of cases a straight dealing man who by his efficiency, by his ingenuity and industry, benefits himself must also benefit others. Normally the man of great productive capacity who be- comes rich by guiding the labor of many other men does so by enabling them to produce more than they could produce without his guidance, and both he and they share in the benefit, which comes also to the public at large. The superficial fact that the sharing may be unequal must never blind us to the underlying fact that there is this shar- ing and that the benefit comes in some degree to each man concerned. Nor mally the wageworker, the man of small means and the average consum- CT as well as the average producer are all alike helped by making conditions such that the man of exceptional busi- ness ability receives an exceptional re- ward for his ability. Something can be done by legislation to help the gen eral prosperity, but no such help of permanently beneficial character can be given to the less able and less for tunate save as the results of policy which shall inure to the advantage of all industrious and efficient people who act decently, and this is only another way of saying that any benefit which comes to the less able and less fortu- nate must of necessity come even more to the more able and more fortunate. If, therefore, the less fortunate man is moved by envy of his more fortunate brother to strike at the conditions un- der which they have both, though un- equally, prospered, the result will as- suredly be that while damage may come to the one struck at it will visit with an even heavier load the one who strikes the blow. Taken as a whole, we must all go up or go down together.
 Corporations.
 Yet, while not merely admitting, but insisting upon this, it is also true that where there is no governmental re- straint or supervision some of the ex- eeptional men use their energies not In ways that are for the common good. but in ways which tell against this common good. The fortunes amassed through corporate organization are now SO large and vest such power ln those that wield them as to make 1t a matter of necessity to give to the SOW ereign - that is. to the government. which represents the people as a whole some effective power of supervision over their corporate use. In order to insure a healthy social and industrial life. every big corporation should he held responsible by and be accountable to some sovereign strong enough to control it's conduct I am in no sense hostile to corporations. This is sn age of combination, and any effort to pre- vent an combination will be not only useless. but in the end vicious. because of the contempt for law which the failure to enforce law inevitably pro duces We should. moreover. recognize in cordial and ample fashion the Im- msnse good effected hy corporate sgen- cies in q country such as ours and the wealth of intellect. energy and fidelity derofed to their service. and therefore normally to the service of the public hy their cficers and directors. The cor porstiOu has come 10 stay. inst as the trsdes union has come to stay. Each can do and has done great good Ezeh should he favored % lsug as 1t doez good Bgt each should be sharply ehecked where lt acts against law and tustice-
 So long as tbe finances of fbe nation xrn kent uussn nn h7ue~r bas5s ro athnw