The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-04-14

/ in mere spasm of reforms The reform
that counts is that which comes through
1 steady, continuous growth ;sviQlept emo
1 tionadsm leads to exhaustions
1t is important to this people to
i grapple with the problems connected
with the amassing of enormous for
tunes, and the use of those fortunes,
4 both corporate and individual. in busi-
ness We should discriminate in the
i sharpest way between fortunes we'll
Won and fortunes in-wons between
! those gained as an incident to perform
! ing great services to the community as
a whole, and those gained in evil fash
4 ion eDy keeping just within the limits OF
mere laW-honesty. OF course no
amount of charity in spending such for
tunes in any way compensates for mis-
conduct in making them. AS matter
I of personal conviction. and without
pretending to discuss the details or
formulate the system, feel that we
shall ultimately have to consider the
adoption of some such scheme as that
of a progressive tax on all fortunes,
! beyond a certain amount, either given
in life or devised or bequeathed upon
death to any Individual tax SO
framed as to put it out of the power
of the owner Of one of these enormous
/ fortunes to hand on more than Ger
! tain amount to any one individual; the
tax, of course, to be imposed by the ma
lional and not the state government
Such taxation should, of course, be-
aimed merely at the inheritance or
transmission in their entirety Of those
4 fortunes swollen beyond all healthy
4 limits
Again. the national government
must in some form exercise supervision
over corporations engaged in interstate
/ business-and all large corporations
/ are engaged in interstate business
whether by license or otherwise, so as
to permit us to dea. with the far-reach-
4 ing evils of decentralization.
Rate Legislation
J hi lrir
I in the direction of serious effort to set
! tie some of these economic problems
! by the railway rate legislation. Such
/ legislation, if so framed. as l am sure
/ it Will be. as to secure definite and tan
! gible results, will amount to something
of itself; and it will amount to a great
deal more in so far as it is taken as
first step in the direction of a. policy Of
superintendent and control over cor
pOrate wealth engaged in interstate
| commerce. this superintendence and
/ control not to be exercised IN a spirit
of malevolence toward the men who
have created the wealth. but with the
firm purpose both to do justice to them
| and to see that they in their turn do
| Justice to the public at large
The first requisite in the public serv-
ants who are to deal in this shape with
/ corporations. whether as legislators or
as executives. is honesty. This honesty
/ can be no respecter of persons There
can be no such thing as unilateral hon
/ corrupt corporations; it springs from
the corruption itself. whether exercised
for or against corporations
The eighth commandment reads,
Thou shalt not steal" It does not
read, Thou shalt not steal from the
rich man" 1t does not read Thou
shalt not steal from the poor man It
reads simply and plainly. Thou shalt
not steal" No good whatever will come
from that warped and mock morality
which denounces the misdeeds of men of
wealth and forgets the misdeeds prac-
ticed at their expense; which denounces
bribery, but blinds itself to blackmail;
which fOams with rage If corporation
secures favors by improper methods.
and merely leers with ahideous mirth if
the corporation is itself Wronged- The
only public servant who can be trusted
honestly to protect the rights of The
public against the misdeed of "a corpora
ton is that public man who viii just s
surely protect the corporation itself
from wrongful aggression. If public
man is willing to yield to popular
clamer and do wrong to the men Of
wealth or to rich CORPORATIONS. it may
be set down as certain that if the OPP
portunity comes he viii secretly and
furtively do wrong to the public IN the
interest of a corporation.
We Need. sanity.
But. in addition to honesty. we need
sanity. No honesty will make a public
man useful if that man is tirnid or fool
ish if he is a hot-headed Zea1ot or an
impracticable visionary. AS we strive
for reform we find that it is not at all
merely the case of long uphill pull.
On the contrary, there is almost as
/ much Of breeching work as of collar
work: to depend only on traces means
that there win soon be a runaway and
/ an upset. The men of wealth who today
= are trying to prevent the regulation and
control Of their business in the interest
authorities win not succeed, in my
judgment, in checking the PROCESS of
the movement. But If they did succeed
they would find that they had sown the
, wind and would surely reap the whirl-
wind, for they would ultimately provoke
the violent excuses which accompany n
reform coming by convulsion instead of
by steady and natural growth
On the other hand, the wild preachers
| of unrest and discomfort, the wild agi-
tators against the entire existing order,
the men who act crcokedIy. whether
because of sinister design or from mere
| puzzle medicines. the men who preach
destruction without proposing any sub
stitute for what they intend to destroy,
OF who propose a substitute which
would be far worse than the existing
evils-all these men are the most dan
gerous opponents of real reform. If
they get their way they will lead the
people into a deeper Dit than any into
which they could fall under the pres
ent system. If they fail to get their
way they will still do incalcuIables harm
| by provoking the kind of reaction,
which in its revolt against the senseless
evil of their teaching. would enthrene
more securely than ever the very evils
} which their misguided followers believe
they are attacking.
More important than aught else is the
development of the broadest sympathy
OF man for man. The welfare of the
wage worker. the welfare Of the tilleT
of the soil. upon these depend the well
fare of the entire country; their good
is not to be sought in pulling down
others: but their good must be the
prime object of all our craftsmanship.
Materially we must strive to secure
, a broader economic opportunity for all
- Oh shall ha,-a l,ottor