The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1906-04-26
THE MUCK RAKE MAN.
President RooseAelt Scores
Professional Scandal Mon
gers
SAYS WORLD GROWS BETTER
Would Not Shinld Rogues But OBJ
jects To Wholesale Denunciations
Now So Popular in Magazines,
[Continued from last week.

IContinued from last week.
cit is important to this people to
grapple with the problems connected
with the amassing of enormous fort
unes and the use of those fortunes,
both corporate and individual, in BUSH
ness. We should discriminate in the
sharpest way between fortunes we'll
won and fortunes ill-won; between
those gainedas an incident to perform
ing great services to the community
as a whole, and those gained in evil
fashion by keeping just within the
limits of mere law honesty. Of course
no amount of charity in spending such
fortunes in a way compensates for
misconduct in making them. AS a
matter of personal conviction, and
without pretending to discuss the de-
tails or formulate the system, feel
that we shall ultimately have to con-
slider the adoption of some such
scheme as that of progressive tax on
all fortunes, beyond certain amount,
either given in life or devised or be-
queathed upon earth to any indivi-
dual 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 certain amount to any
one individual; the tax, of course, to
be imposed by the national and not
the state government. Such taxa
tion should, of course, be aimed mere
ly at the inheritance or transmission
in their entirety of those fortunes swol-
len beyond all healthy limits.
Corporation Problem.
Again the national government
must in some form exercise super
vision over corporations engaged in
interstate business and all large cor
porations are engaged in interstate
business whether by license or
otherwise, SO as to permit us to deal
with the far-reaching evils of over
capitalization. This year we are
making beginning in the direction
of serious effort to settle some of
these economic problems by the rail
way rate legislation. Such legislation,
if SO framed, as | am sure it will be,
as to secure definite and tangible re-
suits, will amount to something of it
self; and it will amount to great
deal more in so far as it is taken as
a first step in the direction of policy
of superintendent and control over
corporate wealth engaged in interstate
commerce, this superintendent and
control to be exercised not in asplrit
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
servants who are to deal in this shape
with corporations, whether as legis-
latures or as executives, in honesty.
This honesty can be no respecter of
persons. There can be no such thing
as unilateral honesty. The danger
is not really from corrupt corpora
tions; it springs from the corruption
itself, whether exercised for or
against corporations.
Honesty A Requisite
"'The eight commandment reads, =
Thou shalt not steal..' 1t does not
read, Thou shalt not steal from the
rich man, 1t does not read, Thou
shalt not steal from the poor man. 1t
reads simply and plainly, Thou shalt
not steal No good whatever will
come from that warped and mock
morality which denounces the mis-
deeds practiced at their expense
which denounces bribery, but blinds