The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-12-07

ton with b packing house inspection
law to provide for putting a date Oh the
Label and for charging the cost of in
spection o the packers. All these laws
have already justified their enactment
The interstate commerce law, for in
stance, has rather amusingly falsified
the predictions, both of those who as
serted that it would ruin the railroads
and of those who asserted that it did
not go far enough and would accom-
pfish nothing. During the last Ave
months the railroads have shown in
creased earnings and some of them I'M
usual dividends; while during the same
period the mere taking effect of the
law has produced an unprecedented. Il
hitherto unheard of, number of volun-
tary reduction IN freights and fares By
the railroads. Since the founding of
the commission there has never been
a time of equal length in which any
thing like so many reduced tariffs have
been put into effect. On August q. for
instance, WI days before the new law
went into effect. the commission re
ceived notice of over five thousand sep
arate tariffs which represented reduc-
tons from previous rates.
1t nus not he supposed, however, that
with the passage OF these laws it will
be possible to stop progress along the
line Of increasing the power of the ma
tlOna government over the use OF cap
ltal IN interstate commerce. For *
ample, there will ultimately be need
Of charging the powers Of the inter-
state commerce commission along sew
eral different lines. 50 as to give it a
larger and more efficient control over
the railroads.
1t cannot too often be repeated that
experience ~cOnclusively shows the i'm
possibility Of securing by the actions
Of nearly half a hundred different state
legislatures anything but Ineffective
chaos in the way OF dealing with the
great corporations which 90 not opel
ate exclusively within the limits Of ary
one state. In some method, whether
by a national license law or in other
fashion, WE must exercise, and that at
al early date, q far more complete con-
troll than at present over these great
COrpOratiOnS-a control that will
among other things prevent the evils
OF excessive Overca~p italiZatiOn, n
that will compel the disclosure by each
big corporation of its stockholders and
of it's properties and business, whether
owned directly or thru subsidiary Or
affiliated corporations. This will tend
to put a stop to the securing of in
ordinate profits by favored individuals
at the expense whether of the general
public, the stockholders. or the wage
workers. Our effort should be not
SO much to prevent consolidation as
such, but so to supervise and control it
as to see that it results in no harm TO
the people. The re%actionary or ultra
conservative apOlogists for the misuse
of wealth assaiI the effort to secure
such control as 4 step toward social
ism. AS Il matter Of fact it is these
readtiOnatries and hnltracOnserNatives
who are themselves most potent IN in
creasing socialistic feeling. One of the
most efficient methods Of averting the
consequences of a dangerous agitation,
which is 80 per cent wrong, is to rem
edy the 20 per cent. of evil as to WhicA
the agitation is well founded. The
best way to avert the very undesirable
o for the governmental ownership
of railways is to secure by the govern
nent Oh behalf of the people as q
whole such adequate control and regu-
latiOn of the great interstate common
carriers as will do away with the evils
which give rise to the agitation
against them. So the proper antidOte
to the wicked and dangerous agitation
against the men of wealth as such IS to
secure by proper legislation and exec
utiye action the abolition of the ave
abuses which actually do obtain in con
nectiOn with the business use Of Weal,h
under our present SyStem-Or rather
no svStem-Of failure to exercise any
adequate control at all. Some persons
speak as if the exercise of such govern
mental control would do away with the
freedom Of individual initiative and
dwarf Individual effort. This IS not
a fact. It would be a veritable caiam-
ity to fail to put a premium Upon inii-
yidual initiative, individual capaci Y
and effort; upon the energy, c~haracL-r,
and foresight which it is SO important
to encourage in the individual. But
as 4 matter of fact the deaden:ng and
degrading effect of pure socialism, aud
especially of it's extreme form commdn-
ism, and the destruction of individual
character which they would bring
about, are in part achieved by the
WHOLLY uIEcSuldlSu CO1iP II II
results in a single individual or COZ
poration rising at the expense OF al
others until his or it's rise efectHally
checks all competition and reduces fer
mer competitors to a position OF utter
inferiority and subOrdination.
In enacting and enforcing such legis-
lation as this congress already has 20
it's credit. We are working on a coher n
plan, with the steady endeavor to 9
cure the needed reform by the Jol !.
action of the moderate msn, the p ain
men who do not wish anything ays-
terical or dangerous, but who Go en-
to deal in resolute common-sel,Se
fashion with the real and great e il
Of the present system. The reactl 4
aries and the violent extremists show
symptoms Of joining hands against us.
Roth assert for instance, that If loS
c@l. We should 60 to government own
elship Of railways and the like; tx
-a3ctiOnarieS heca1lSa on such an iSSue