Evening journal., 1906-12-04

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tention. The exercise OF a judicial
spirit by a dlsinterested body repre-
senting the fel raj government. such
hs would be provided by commission
pns concillation and arbitration. would
Tend to create an atmosphere Of friend
liaess and conclllation between con-
sending parties.
Control of Corporations.
II cannot too often be repeated that
experience has conclusively shown the
lmpossibility Of securing by the actions
Of .pearly half hundred different state
legislatures anything but ineffective
chaos in the way Of dealing with the
great corporations which do not oper-
ate exclusively within the limits Of
any one state. In some method, wheth-
er by a national license law or in other
fashion we must exercise, and that at
an early date, n far more complete
control than at present over these great
corporations--a control that will, among
other things, prevent the evils of ex-
cessive overcapitalization and that will
compel the disclosure by each big cor
poration of its stockholders and Of its
properties and business, whether own
ed directly or through subsidiary or
affiliated corporations This will tend
to put stop to the securing Of inor-
dlnate 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 1t as
to see that it results in no harm TO the
people. -s
Combination Of capital. like combina-
tion OF labor, IS necessary element Of
our present industrial system. 1t is
not possible completely to prevent it.
and II II were possible such complete
pretention would DO dahage Ito the
body polite. What Wesnsed is not
.vainly to try to ,pravente .csnbina-
ton, but to secure such rigorous and
adequate control and supervision Of
the combinations as to prevent their
injuring the public or existing in such
form as inevitably to threaten injury.
for the mere fact that combination
has secured practically complete con
troll of a necessary Of life would under
any circumstances show that such
combination was to be presumed to be
adverse to- the public interest 1t is
unfortunate that our present laws
should forbid all combinations instead
Of sharply discriminating between
those combinations which do good and
those combinations which do evil Re
bates, for instance, are as often due to
the pressure Of big shippers (as was
shown in the investigation Of the
Standard Oil company and as has been
shown since by the investigation of
the tobacco and sugar trusts as TO the
initiative Of big railroads. 0fthn rail-
roads would like to combine for the
purpose Of preventing a big shipper
from maintaining improper advantages
at the expense Of small shippers and
Of the general public. Such a combina-
tieps instead Of being forbidden by law.
should be favored In other words. Il
should be permitted TO railroads to
makeagreements, provided these agree
ments were sanctioned by the inter
state commerce commission and were
puUnsBed With these two conditions
complied with il is impossible to see
what harm such a combination could
do tothe public at large
mheritance and Income Tax.
The national government has long
derived its chief revenue from astQria
on imports and from an internal Of. ex
else tax. In addition TO these. there is
every reason why. when next our sys
TEN Of taxation IS revised. the national
government should impose O graduated
Inheritance tax and, If possible, a grad
uated income tax. -
am we'll aware that such a subject
as this needs long and careful study in
order that the people may become ia
mlliar with what Is proposed 10 be
done. may clearly see the necessity Of
proceeding with wisdom and self re
stramt and may make up their minds
just how far they are willing to go IN
the matter, while only trained legisla
tors can work out the project in .neces
sary detail. But feel that I'm the near
future our national legislators should
enact a law providing for a graduated
Inheritance tax by which steadily in
creasing rate of duty should be put
upon al moneys or other valuables
coming by gift. bequest or devise tc
any Individual or corporation. There
can be no question OF the ethical pro
priety Of the government thus deter
mining the conditions upon which any
gift or Inheritance should be received.
AS the law now stands it is undoubt
edly difficult to devise a national in
come tax which shall be constitutional
But whether it is absolutely impossible
is another question, and il possible II
is most certainly desirable. The first
purely income tax law was passed by
the congress in 1861. hut the most i'm
portant law dealing with the subject
( was that of 1894. This the court held
to be unconstitutional.
The question Is undoubtedly very in
trlcate, delicate and troublesome. The
decision Of the court was only reached
by one majority. 1t is the law OF the
land and Of course is accepted as suct
and Loyalty obeyed by all good citizens
Nevertheless the hesitation evidently
felt by the court as a whole in coming
to a conclusion, when considered TO
gether with previous decisions on the
subject, may perhaps indicate the pos
eil,fIft,v 10 dox-fcfncr a copetfft1ffonaI in