The Hocking sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1871-1906, 1905-12-14
To the Senate and House of Repre-.

P~sisst this tDD uIu HOW VIII ne 1elL
more or less by all members Of the com
munity: A general failure of crops
would hurt all of us. Again, if the folly
OF man mars the general well-beng, then
those who are innocent of the folly will
nave to pay part of the penalty incurred
by those who are guilty of the folly. A
panic brought on by the speculative folly
OF part of the business community would
hurt the whole business community. But
such stoppage Of welfare, though it
might be severe, would not be lasting.
In the long run the one vital factor in
the permanent prosperity of the country
is the high individual character of the
average American worker, no matter
whether his work be mental or manual
whether he be farmer or wage-worker,
business man or professional man.
In our industrial and social system the
interests of all men are SO closely inter-
twined that in the immense majority Of
cases 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 becomes 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 wage-workcr, the man of small
means, and the average consumer, as
well as the average producer. are all
alike helped by making conditions such
that the man Of exceptional business
ability receives an exceptional reward
for his ability. Something can be done
by legislation to help the general pros
pcrity; but 10 such help Of a perma-
nently beneficial character can be given
to the less able and less fortunate, save
ms the results of a policy which shall
inure to the advantage of all Industrious
and efficient people who act decently.
If, therefore, the less fortunate man is
moved by envy of his more fortunate
brother to strike at the conditions under
which they have both. though unequally,
I. prospcrcd. the result will nssuredly be
that while damage may come to the one
struck Mt, it will visit with M even heav-
ier load the one who strikes the blow.
Taken MS whole. we must all go up or
go down together.
Curb for Corporations.
1t is true that where there is no gov
.ernmental restraint or supervision some
of the exceptional 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 in those
that WELD them, as to make 1t n matter
of necessity to give to the sovereign
that is, to the government, which repre-
sents the people as wholesome effec-
tive power of supervision over their cor
porate use. In order to insure healthy
social and Industrial life, every big cor
poration should bc held responsible by,
and be accountable to. some sovereign
strong enough to control Its conduct.
/ am in ns sense hostile to corpora
tions. This Is an age of combination,
and any effort to prevent all combination
will be hot only useless, but in the end
vicious. because Of the contempt for law
which the failure to enforce law newt
ably produces. We should, moreover,
recognize in cordial and ample fashion
the immense good effected by corporate
agencies in country such as ours, and
the wealth of intellect, energy, and fidel'
ity devoted to their service, and there
fore normally to the service of the pub
lie, by their officers and directors. The
corporation has come to stay, just as the
trade union has come to stay. Each can
do and has done great good. Each should
he favored so long as 1t does good. But
each should be sharply checked where it
acts against law and justice. So long
as the finances of the nation are kept
upon an honest basis no other question
of internal economy with which the Con-
gress has the power to deal begins to
approach in Importance the matter of
endeavoring to secure proper industrial
conditions under which the individuals
ard especially the great corporations
doing an interstate business are to act.
The makers of our national constitution
, provided especially that the regulation
of interstate commerce should come
within the sphere of the general govern
ment. The arguments in favor OF their
taking this stand were even then over
whelming. But they are far stronger
to-day, In view of the enormous develop
ment of great business agencies, usually
corporate in form. Experience has
shown conclusively that 1t is useless to
try to get any adequate regulation and
supervision of these great corporations
by State action. Such regulation and
supervision can only be effectively exer-
is co-cytensive with the field of work of
the orporations-that Is, by the national
government l believe that this regula-
tion and supervision can be obtained by
the enactment of law by the Congress.
II this proves impossible, It will certainly
be necessary ultimately to confer in full
est form such power upon the national
government ny proper uhueuuucuI VI
the constitution.
The Department of Justice has for the
last four years devoted more attention to
the enforcement of the antitrust leglsla-
ton than to anything else. Much has
been accomplished; particularly marked
has been the moral effect Of the prose-
cutions; but it is increasingly evident
that there will be n very insufficient
beneficial result In the way of economic
change. The successful prosecution of
one device to evade the law Immediately
develops another device to accomplish
the same purpose. What Is needed is not
sweeping prohibition of every arrange
ment, good OIL bad, which may tend to
restrict competition, but such adequate
supervision and regulation as will pre-
vent any restriction of competition from
being to the detriment of the public
as well as such supervision and regula-
tion as will prevent other abuses in no
WY connected with restriction Of COM
pc ition. OF these abuses, perhaps, the
d. lief. although by no means the only one,
is talization-generally itself the
result of dishonest promotion--because
- .,a ,,,,,,;al avil, II hr.nOa In ite tro In,