The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-10-05

W III DC OlCi Cu at CAti eiOi Oinot Pi -NC's but a large stock of slightly used, power of supervision and control over the business use of this wealth-in the first place, over all the work of the com mon carriers of the nation, and in the next place over the work of all the great corporations which directly or indirectly do any interstate business whatever-and this includes almost all of the great cor pora tions.
 During the last few years the national government has taken very long strides in the direction of exercising and secur- ing this adequate control over the great corporations, and 1t was under the lead- ership of one of the most honored pub lie men In our country, one of Penn sylvanias most eminent sons-the present senator, and then Attorney General, Knox that the new departure was begun. Events have moved fast during the last five years and 1t is curious to look back at the extreme bitterness which not mere ly the spokesmen and representatives of organized wealth. but many most excel lent conservative people then felt as to the action of Mir. Knox and the admin istratlon.
 Result of Securities Suit.
 
 country were certain that MT. Knox 8 Northern Securities suit if won would plunge us into the worst panic we had ever seen. They denounced indictment to anarchy, the advocacy of policies that either have now become law or are in fair way of becoming law; and yet these same policies. so far from representing either anarchy or socialism, were in real ity the antidotes to anarchy. the anti dotes to socialism. To exercise con- stantly increasing and constantly more efficient supervision and control over the great common carriers of the country prevents all necessity for seriously con siderlng such project as the govern ment ownership of railroads-a policy which would be evil in its results from every standpoint.
 similae extension of the national power to oversee and secure correct be- havior in the management of all great corporations engaged In interstate busi- ness will In similar fashion render far more stable the present system by doing away with those grave abuses which are not only evil in themselves. but are also evil because they furnish an excuse for agitators to infame well-meaning people against all forms of property, and to commit the country to schemes of wild, would-be remedy which would work in- f1ntely more harm than the disease It. self. The government ought not to con- duct the business of the country; but 1t ought to regulate it so that it shall be conducted in the interest of the pub lie.
 Condemned By Both.
 Perhaps the best Justification of the course which in the national government we have been pursuing in the past few years, and which we intend steadily and progressively to pursue in the future. is that it is condemned with almost equal rancor alike by the reactionaries-the Bourbons-on one side, and by the wild apostles of unrest on the other. The reactionary Is bitterly angry because we have deprived him of that portion of his power which he misuses to the public hurt: the agitator is angered for various reasons, including among others the fact that by remedying the abuses we have deprived him of the fulcrum of real griev- ance. which alone renders the lever of irrational agitation formidable.
 We have actually accomplished much. But we have not accomplished all. nor anything like all, that we feel must be ac- complished. We shall not halt; we shall steadily follow the path we have marked out. executing the laws we have succeed ed in putting upon the statute books with absolute impartiality as between man and man, and unresting in our endeavor to strengthen and supplement these by fur ther laws which shall enable us in more efficient and more summary fashion to achieve the ends we have in view.
 During the last few years Congress has had to deal with such vitally important questions as providing for the building of the Panama canal, inaugurating the vast system of national irrigation In the states of the great plains and the Rocky noun tains. providing for Pacific cable, and at t,, to some of which are of stupendous impor- tance, Congress has taken giant strides along the path of government regula- tion and control of corporations; the in- terstate commerce law has been made ef- fective In radical and far-reaching fash ion, rebates have been stopped a pure food law has been passed, proper super vision of the meat-packing business pro- vided, and the bureau of corpora tions es- tablshed-a bureau which has already done great good, and which can and should be given a constantly increasine functional power.
 The work of legislation has been no more important than the work done by the department of justice in executing the laws, not only against corporations and individuals who have broken the anti trust or interstate commerce law but against those who have been engaged in land frauds. Scores of suits civil and criminal have been successfully under taken against offenders of all kinds many of them against the most formid- able and wealthy combinations in the land; in some the combinations have been dissolved, in some heavy fines have been imposed. in several cases the chief of lenders have been imprisoned.
 Plan Out Right Conditions. It behooves us Americans to look ahead and plan out the right kind of a civ.