Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-06-21
CARELESS Of management, regardless

0ASoS
of results, regardless Of the future, and
with the responsibility of speech and
action that denotes the radical and
unthinking. 1t is this indiscriminate
assault upon capital, wherever coop
Grated, that is producing today, in the
most glorious era of prosperity ever
known to civilized people, feeling
of vague unrest. Every use Of capital
that is used to develop the country Is
attacked as common enemy. Mis-
management and wrong-doing have
been found in several corporations
Therefore, all corporations must be
mismanaged, and all officers and direc.
tors must have been held up to the
public as no better than they should
be. AS much reason to kill all dogs
because some few go mad. And the
muck-rakers do not all belong to the
yellow journals and saffron magazines.
Any business man, any conservative,
right-thinking citizen who encourages
or abets this indiscriminate attack on
all forms of co-operated capital is as
much to blame, proportionately as the
black-flag editorial which inspires an
archy and socialism. Whatever agen-
cy sets class against class, appeals to
the passions, the envy, the malice, the
jealousy of mankind is as much a
traitor to the republic as he who fires
upon his flag"
Mr.. Armstrong strikes the right note
when he decries the wild and unreas-
onfng wish so prevalent among many
honest but misguided and unthinking
men. to tear down all that means per-
manence to American progress and
prosperity. He does not decry the de-
sire to reform that which needs re-
forming, but he warns the nation
against carrying the reform idea into
radicalism and past the limits Of good
judgment and sense. In explaining his
position he said:
Il am not here to defend any corpor-
alton whose business code is short Of
the standard Of old fashioned honesty.
Wrong-doing, .mismanagement and
neglect have been discovered in some
quarters. They should be punished,
and so drastically that the lesson will
not be forgotten. The cor
porations which have been found want
ing in the scale Of business, honor and
common honesty have been the excep-
tions to the rule-the rare exceptions.
If it were possible to compare the man
agement of the corporation with the
management Of the individual firm, I
dare assert that the comparison would
not be to the disadvantage Of those in
stitutions founded upon the co-opera-
ton Of capital. In that lies the crime
Of this irresponsible, continuous, per-
sistent, Observation-Disclosures cry,
that all co-operated forms of capital
are inimical to the success, the pros
perity and permanent welfare Of the
American people.
Zone of these mornings you will
miss Prosperity at breakfast. There
will be many excuses for her absence
from her usual place. One will say
bad crops, another will say over pro-
duction', another will say abnormal
extension of credits But none of
these will be the real reason, though
they may be contributory The real
reason will be an epidemic Of fear, of
timidity; of distrust, produced by un-
warranted, continuous attacks upon
every instrument of progress and de-
velopment which has made and is
making this country great. Fortified
as this country is with its unparalleled
prosperity, the nation has SO far with.
stood the assaults upon the developing
agencies which have produced our
boundless prosperity; had there been
less cushion for the impact, financial
and industrial depression would al.
ready have overtaken US. No COM
merce can keep its courage in the face
of the demagoguery Of politicians, vel.
low journals and the envious"