The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-12-06

! legislation should be enacted on a spirit l as remote as possible from hysteria
 and rancor. If we of the American 1 body polite are true to the traditions l 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 contemptu- | ously any man because he is poor. We i judge a man by his conduct-that is, i by his character-and not by his wealth 1 or intellect. If he makes his fortune 1 honestly, there is no just cause of l quarrel with him. Indeed, we have
 nothing but the kindliest feelings of i 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 rail-
 road men and big shippers are simply
 Americans of the ordinary tpye who
 have developed to an extraordinary de-
 gree certain great business qualities. They are neither better nor worse than
 their fellow-citizens of smaller means, They are merely more able in certain
 lines and therefore exposed to certain peculiarly strong temptations These temptations have not sprung newly in 1 to being; the exceptionally successful
 among mankind have always been eX- posed to them; but they have grown
 amazingly in power as a result of the extraordinary development of indus trialism along new lines, and under
 these new conditions, which the law magers of old could not forsee and | therefore could not provide against
 they have become so serious and men" acing as to demand entirely new rem edies. It is in the interest of the best type of railroad man and the best type
 of shipper no less than the public that there should be governmental sup
 ervisiOn and regulation of these great |, business operations, for the same req son 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, or
 an effective system of factory laws to
 prevent the abuse of women and child
 rens All such legislation frees the cor
 poration that wishes to do well from
 being driven into doing ill, in order to
 compete with it's rival, which prefers to , do i'll. We desire to set up a moral standard. There can be no delusion more fatal to the Nation than the de- } fusion that the standard of profits, of business prosperity, is sufficient in judging any business or political ques- tion-from rate legislation to municipal . government. Business success, whether hN ip5 tiaT1 . is a good thing only so far as it is ac- } companied by and develops a high standard of conduct-honor, integrity : civic courage. The kind of business prosperity that blunts the standard of , honor, that puts an inordinate value on mere wealth, that makes a man ; ruthless and conscienceless in trade and weak and cowardly in citizenship . is not good thing at all, but very
 bad thing for the Nation. This Govern ment stands for manhood first and fol business only as an adjunct of man. hood.
 The question of transportation lies al the root of all industrial success, and } the revolution in transportation which , has taken place during the last hali
 GtHluIS het0 pGGIl IllC lliOOl llpOA bcAi , factor in the growth of the new indus trial conditions. Most emphatically we - do not wish to see the man of great , talents refused the reward for his tai ents. Still less do we wish to see him penalized; but we do desire to sec 7 the system of railroad transportation . so handled that the strong man shal be given no advantage over the weak 7 man. We wish to insure as fair treat ment for the small town as for the } big city; for the small shipper as fol the big shipper. In the old days the highway of commerce, whether by wat. } CT or by road on land, was open tc l all; it belonged to the public and the , traffic along it was free. At present - the railway is this highway, and we 3 must do our best to see that it is kepi 3 open to all on equal terms. Unlike the r old highway, it is a very difficult anG complex thing to manage, and it is fal 3 better that it should be managed by : private individuals than by the govern 9 ment. But it can only be so managed ) on condition that justice is done tht public. It is because, in my judgment r public ownership of railroads is highly f undesirable and would probably in this
 country entail far-ending disaster, tha' wish to see such supervision and reg. - ulation of them in the interest of the 1 public as will make 1t evident tha' 5 there is no need for public ownership 5 The oponents of Government regula' - tion dwell upon the difficulties to bt s encountered and the intricate and in 9 volved nature of the problem. Theil ) contention. is true. It is complicated I and delicate problem, and all kinds o 8 difficulties are sure to arise in connec' Q tion with any plan of solution, while nt
 plan will bring all the benefits hoped Q for by it's more optimistic adherents 7 Moreover, under any healthy plan, tht l benefits will develop gradually and no :, rapidly. Finally, we must clearly un l derstand that the public servants who = are to do this peculiarly responsible ] and delicate work must themselves bt 6 of the highest type both as regard! t integrity and efficiency. They must bt ] well paid, for otherwise able men can - not in the long run be secured; ant t they must possess lofty probity whicE will revolt as quickly at the though = of pandering to any gust of popula t prejudice against rich men as at tht l thought of anything even remotely re