The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-05-15
INDUSTRIAL BUCCANEERS
Despises Those Who Reap Question able Gain Through Manipulation
 of Capital Regardless of
 Legitimate Rights of Others.

No longer are we looked upon merely
 as an agricultural nation, for the output
 of our factories is beginning to exceed
 In value the output of our farms. We are
 becoming the workshop as well as the
 granary of the world. Who can foretell
 the greatness of our future?
 Some can see in the strenuous commer-
 cialism of the nation only maddened scramble for wealth, but l believe when
 the spirit of industry is properly depicted fin our literature 1t will be found that it's
 keynote Is not the sordid worship of the almighty dollar but rather that innate characteristic to do and to excel.
 The industrial era has developed so rap idly that 1t would have been surprising had society adjusted itself to the new con dtions without friction and agitation. While the accumulation of capital is es- sential 10 the general material welfare, yet the visual evidences of its aecumula- ton appear to have baneful effect on certain clements of the population, in- flaming their minds with the lust for its possession and causing them to regard it as the legitimate spells of social warfare. Those afflicted with this passion for seiz- ing something that does not belong to them may aptly be termed industrial buc- cancers There are several kinds and de- grees of these buccaneers. Some endeavor to help themselves from the capital fund by using their wits-that is, dishonesty- and some rely on sheer physical force to encompass their ends. l do not refer to the petty swindler or to the vulgar high wayman. These are but common crlmi- nals But I do refer to the capitalstic
 buccaneers that reap questionable per
 sonal profit by the manulation of the
 capital they control regardless of the le-
 giminate rights of the public and some
 times of the rights of stockholders l also
 refer to the buccaneers that follow the
 red flag of socialism and would confscate
 all wealth in the name of the state. Also
 there are the radical trades unionists
 with their ''buslness creed that employ
 CTS and society at large must aecede to
 their arbitrary demands or suffer the
 stoppage of industry. The term industrial
 buccaneering is very inclusive and may
 be rightly applied to the efforts of all the various classes of people who by one method or another would either destroy or break down to some extent the rights of private ownership in capital To ab- rogate or interfere with the legitimate rights of private ownership is to knock the props from under human progress, | for upon the strict recognition of these | rights depends the accumulation and ef- ! ficient utilization of capital. Industrial 1 buccaneerng in all it's phases and degrees | is therefore to be regarded as a social crime. It is a violation of that ancient commandment thou shalt not steal only now We have to do with the application of the commandment to the conduct not so much of individuals as to that of orr ganizations of individuals.
 New Problems.
 But while the industrial era has brought new problems of social government it has also fortunately supplied the means for their solution. There has been a markable development on educational lines and the dissemination of knowledge is one of the wonders of the age. The minds of men are being constantly broadened, and in this fact lies the hope for the correct solution of industrial ques- tions and the application of proper reme- dies for evils that threaten progress. Dishonesty and mere physical force can not prevail against virtue and intelligence The decalogue as to individual conduct is well grounded, but new decalogue or rather an amplifica ton of the old one, must be evolved to meet conditions aris- ing out of industrial organization. In this new moral code the commandment: Thou Shalt Not Steal" will be seen to be as necessary a law unto men acting in a collective capacity. as unions, corpora tions or other organizations, as with men acting as individuals
 Organizations inimical to the eountry's welfare make ounter-organzations inn
 perative. A propaganda of evil is to be
 neutralzed only by propaganda of good Organized effort to keep public officials from enforcing the law must be met by organized effort of an opposite char acter Judges who base their decisions
 upon the law and the constitution are
 entitled to organized moral support when
 they are singled out for denuncatlon by
 organized lawbreakers. The members of
 Congress and the legislatures cannot be
 expected to stand alone in resisting or
 eanized coercion to compel them to enact
 socialistic or semi-socialistic legislation.
 The necessity for effective work for the
 protection of indvidualism Is apparent
 all over the country and the only method
 for the accomplishment of this work is through organization. The results achieved through organization in widely extending
 the open shop. in changing the public
 opinion and in preventing iniquitous legs-
 lation, during the past year are proofs
 of the power of organization. It should
 be our purpose to develop this work of
 organization to the fullest possible de-
 gree. Much has been done aiready, but
 much yet remains to be done.
 Would Not Crush Unions. It is Q mistake to assume that this movement for organization is directed against organized labor as such It is not the purpose to disband or crush the
 unions. But it is the purpose to prevent
 them from working injury to the com
 mon welfare. Labor organizations right ly conducted have a wide field of use- fitness in broadening the minds of labor
 and in promoting good citizenship, but
 they must learn that they cannot arro-
 gate to themselves a license to over
 ride the liberties of others or to stop the
 wheels of industry at their pleasure They
 must be taught the limitations of their
 power and reform themselves into agen-
 cies for good instead of evil
 Corporations are needful agencies in
 cheapening and enlarging production, and
 their formation and development should
 be encouraged. Nevertheless the managers
 of corporations must come to recognize
 that they have no license 10 rob the public
 for the benefit of the stockholders or to
 rob the stockholders for the benefit of
 themselves It is robbery of the public
 when they seek by the use of certain un-
 fair devices to stihe competition and to
 charge the prices of monopoly. 1t is rob
 bery of the stockholders when they use
 the capital of the corporation to further
 their own interests, an example of which
 was furnished us by some of those lately
 in charge of the great insurance com
 panies only instead of stockholders 1t
 was In this case the policyholders who were despolled.