Bisbee daily review., 1906-12-05

pure socialism, and especially of its l extreme form communism, and the destruction of individual character | which they would bring about. are in part achieved by the wholly unregul- l ated competition which results in a single individual or corporation rising l at the expense of all others until his or its rise effectually checks all com petition and reduces former competi tors to a position of utter inferiority and subordination.
 Tn enacting and enforcing such. leg islation as this Congress already has to its credit. we are working on a CO., herent plan, with the steady endeavor to secure the needed reform by the joint action of the moderate men. the plain men who do not wish anything hystericaI or dangerous. but who do intend to deal in resoIute common sense fashion with the real and great evils of the present system. The re- actiOnarIes and the violent extremists show symptoms of joining hands against us. Both assert, for instance. that if logical. we should go to govern ment ownership of railroads and the like; the reactionaries. because on such an issue they think the people would stand with them. while the ex- tremists care rather to preach dis content and agitation than to achieve solid results. As a matter of fact, our position is as remote from that of the Bourbon reactionary as from that of the impracticable or sinister visionary. We hold that the Government should not conduct the business of the na- ton. but that it should exercise such supervision as will insure it's being conducted in the interest of the na- tion. Our aim is. so far as may be. to secure. for all decent. hard working men. equality of opportunity and equality of burden.
 The actual working of our laws has shown that the effort to prohibit all com mbination. good or bad, is noxious where it is not ineffective. Combina- ton of capital like combination of la bor is necessary element of our pres ent industrial system. It Is not possi- ble completely to prevent it: and if It were possible. such complete preven- ton would do damage to the body polite. What we need is not vainly to try to prevent all combination. but to secure such rigorous and adequate control and supervision of the combin- ations as to prevent their injuring the public. or existing in such form as inevitably to threaten injury-for the mere fact that a combination has se- cured practically complete control of necessary of life would under any circumstances show that such com bination was to be presumed to be 1 adverse to the public interest. It is unfortunate that our present laws should forbid all combinations. in l stead of sharply discriminationg be- tween those combinations which do good and those combinations which
 do evil. Rebates. for instance. are as , often due to the pressure of big ship
 pers Gas was shown in the investiga-
 ton of the standard oil Company and as has been shown since by the inves- ] tigation of the tobacco and sugar trusts) as to the initiation of big rail-
 roads. often railroads would like to
 conbine for the purpose of preventing
 a big shipper from maintaining inn
 proper advantages at the expense of
 small shippers and of the general pub
 lie. Such combination. instead of
 being forbidden by law. should be fla
 vored. Tn other words. 1t should be
 permitted to railroads to make agree
 ments. provided these agreements
 were sanctioned bv the Interstate
 Commerce Commission and were pub
 iished. With these two conditions
 complied with it Is impossible to see
 what harm such combination could
 do to the public at large. It is a pub fcornrued cn Page Four,