The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-02-01

this club should lead i'll the effort 10
secure proper supervision and regula-
ton Of corporate activity by the goN-
crnment not only because it is for The
interest Of the community as q whole
that there should be this supervision
and regulation, but because in the long
run ii viii be in the interest above all
Of the very people who often betray
alarm and anger when the proposition
is first made.
Neither this people nor any other
free people Will permanently tolerate
the use of the vast power conferred
by vast wealth. and especially by
wealth in its corporate form, without
lodging somewhere in the govern
ment the sill higher power Of seeing
that this power. in addition to being
used in the interest Of the individual
or individuals possessing il, is also
used for and not against the interests
OF the people as q whole. our pecul-
lar form of government. a govern
nlent in which the nation is supreme
throughout the Union in certain re-
spects. which each of nearly half 4
hundred States is supreme III its fart
of the Union i'm certain other respects
renders the task of dealing With these
conditions especially difficult. No fl
rally satisfactory result can be eX-
pected from merely State action. The
action must come through the Federal
government The business of the
country is now carried ON in a way
Of which the founders of our Constltu-
ton could by no possibility have had
any idea.
All great business concerns are en-
gagged in interstate commerce ana II
was beyond question the Intention OF
Il, n nf xsnpl m
interstate commerce in all Its branches
and aspects should be under national
and not State control. IL the courts
decide that this intention was not car
ried cut and made effective in the
Constitution rs it now stands, then III
the end the Constitution, If not con-
strued differently. will have 10 be
amended so that the original undoubt-
ed intention may be made effective.
Put. of course, 4 constitutional
amendment is only to be used as 4 last
resort if every effort of legislation
and administration shall have been
proved inadequate.
Meanwhile the men ir public life
and the men who direct the great
business interests of the country
should work not i'll antagonism but IN
harmony toward this given end. In
entering a field where the progress
mental it is essential that the effort
10 make progress should be tentative
sd cautious We must grow by eNo-
luton not by revolution. There must
be no hurry, but there must also be nc
halt: and those who are ANXIOUS that
there should be no sudden and violent
changes must remember that precise
Nv these sudden and violent changes
viii be rendered likely # we refuse to
| oh jntIc
ard moderate manner.
Give 1t More Power
AT the present moment the great
| est need is FOR an increase in the pow
er Of the National Government to
keep the great highways of commerce
open alike 10 al. OH reasonable and
| equitable terms. Less than GEN.
| tury ago these highways We're still. IS
| they had been since the dawn Of has
! tory either waterways, natural or ar
tificial or else ordinary roads Tor
wheel vehicles drawn BY anilnal pow
er. The railroad, which was utterly
| unknown when our Government was
| formed and when the great aDrincl-
nles of our jurisprudence were laid
down, has now become almost every
where the most important, and, in
many large regions, the only form ol
| highway for commerce. The man
who controls its use can not De per-
mitted to control it in his own inter-
| est alone.
| 1t is not only just. but it is in the in
| terest of the public that TINS man
| should receive the amDlest payment
| for the masterful business canacity
| which enables him to benefit himself
| while benefiting the public. but in
return he must himself recognize his
| duty to the public. He will not anu
| can not do this if our laws are so
defective that in the sharp compeu-
| iicn of The business world the con-
| scientious man is put AT q disadvdnt-
| age by his less scrupulous fellows. II
| is IN the interest of the CONSCIENTIOUS
and public-spirited railway man that
| there should be such governmental
| supervision of the railway trdiflc OF
| the country as to require from ms
| less scrupulouS competitors, ana from
INSCRIPTIONS big shippers as We'll
! that heed to the public welfare when
| he himself would willingly give, ana
| which is of vital consequence TO the
small shipper. Every important
! railroad is engaged in Interstate
| commerce Therefore, this contfOi
| over the railroads must come through
/ the National Government.
The control must be exercised bE
/ some governmental tribunal, anu II
| must be real and effective. Doubtless
| there vii! be risk that occasionally, Il
| an unfit President is elected, TINS
| control will be abused: bur this IS
| only another way of saying that any
adequate governmental power, from
| the power of taxation down. can ana
viii be abused if the wrong men get
| contro! Of il.
The details must rest with the law
! makers of the two Houses OF COM
gress; but about the orinclD!e there
can be no doubt. Hasty or Viildicat-
,o+;o,, would merely work dam