Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1906-10-18
CURLING THE POWER OF CORPORATIONS
A PROBLEM IN AMERICAN POLITICS
PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT POINTS CHARACTER OF THE
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE,
Regulation
form Progress Through the Republican Pary-Fed-



President Roosevelt delivered a notable
address at the dedication OF the new
Pennsylvania State house, In which he
discussed anew some of the question con-
corning which he has said much and done
much In recent years. Among other
things he said:
do not come here to speak only OF the
past, and still less to appeal merely 10
state pride. We can show that the past
Is with us living force only In the way
In which we handle ourselves In the
present, and each of us can best show his
devotion to his own state by making evil
dent his paramount devotion to that, un-
lon which includes all the states, The
study of the great deeds OF the past Is OF
chief avail In so far as II incites us TO
grapple resolutely and effectively with the
problems OF the present. We are not now
menaced by foreign war. Our union Is
firmly established. But each generation
has Its special and serious difficulties;
and we OF this generation have 10 strug-
gle with evils springlng from the very
proud, from the very growth and pros
perity of which, with Justice, we boast.
| The extraordinary industrial changes OF
| the last half century have produced
| totally new set of conditions. under which
new evils flourish; and for these new evils
new remedies must be devised
Need of Gre alter Federal Powers.
| Some OF these evils can be grappled
| with by private effort only; for We never
| can afford to forget that In the last analy-
| sis the chief factor In personal success.
| and indeed in national greatness, must
| be the sturdy self reliant character or
| the individual citizen. But many OF these
evils are OF such a nature that no private
effort can avail against them. These evils
| therefore, must be grappled with by gov
ernmental action. In some cases this gov
| ernmental action must be exercised by
| the several states individually. In yet
ne hna hAa ataa Nnne IA q N Nfl
| that no efficient state action Is possible,
| and that we need through executive ac-
ton, through legislation and through tu-
| dicial Interpretation and construction OF
| law to increase the power OF the federal
government.
If we fail thus to Increase II, we show
| our impotence and leave ourselves at the
| mercy of those ingenious legal advisers
| of the holders OF vast corporate wealth.
| who, in the performance of what they re-
| gard as their duty, and 10 serve the ends
| OF their clients, invoke the law at one
time for the confoundlng OF their rivals,
! and at another time strive for the NULL
| ficatlon OF the law In order that they
themselves may be left free to work their
| unbridled will on these same rivals, or
| on those who labor for them, or on the
| general public.
Tricks of Corporation Men.
In the exercise OF their profession and
| in the service OF their clients these astute
| lawyers strive to prevent the passage OF
efficient laws and strive to secure judicial
! determinations OF those that pass which
| shall emasculate them. They do not in
woke the constitution In order to compel
| the due observance OF law alike by rich
! and poor, by great and small; on the con-
| trary they are ceaselessly on the watch
| 10 cry out that the constitution Is vlo-
| lated whenever any effort Is made to In
woke the aid OF the national government,
| whether for the efficient regulation OF
| railroads, for the efficient supervision OF
| great corporations, or for efficiently Sc
| curing obedience to such a law as the ma
tionai .eight-hour law, and similar So
| called labor statutes"
] The doctrine they preach would make
| the constitution merely the shield OF In
competence and the excuse for govern
mental paralysis; they treat IT as JUS
| tihcation for refusing to attempt the REM
edy of evil, instead OF as the source Of
| vital power necessary for the existence
| OF a mighty and ever growing nation.
| Strong nationalist though / am, and
| firm though my belief IL that there must
| be wide extension OF the power or the
national government TO deal with ques-
tons of this kind I freely admit that AS
regards many matters OF first rate Inn
| portance we must rely purely upon the
| states for the betterment OF present con-
! dltions. The several states must do their
| duty or our citizenship can never be put
| on a proper plane.
State Reforms Good.
| President Roosevelt here turned to mat
1
and congratulated the people OF that state
| on their legislature having done so much.
| He especially mentioned the passage OF
| primary election law (which guarantees
| to the voters free expression In the Sc
| lection OF candidates for office" and An
| ally he said
/ You have passed n law containing n pro-
| vision which / most earnestly hope will
| In substance be embodied likewise In
| law by the congress az the coming session
"a provision prohibiting the officers Of
| ton OF the money of that corporation to
any candidate or any political committee
! for the payment OF any election expenses
| whatever
| President Roosevelt also complimented
| Pennsylvania on having secured n child
| labor law and expressed the hope that
| congress would do something along the
! same line. Continuing he spoke OF the
doctrines as taught by Justice Wilson
| Of Pennsylvania and said
In remarkable letter In which he ad-
| vocated setting forth In early and clear
! fashion the powers of the national gov
| eminent, he laid down the proposition
that 1t should be made clear that there
| were neither vacancies nor interverences
between the limits OF state and national
| Jurisdiction. and that both jurisdictions
| together composed only one uniform and
| comprehensive system OF government and
| laws that is, whenever the states cannot
act because the need TO be met Is not
| one of merely n single locality, then the
| national government, representing all the
| people, should have complete power TO
| act II was in the spirit OF Wilson that
| Washington. and Washington's lieutenant
| Hamilton, acted; and II was In the same
| spirit that Marshall construed the law
Big Fortunes Must Be Controlled.
All honest men must abhor and repro
bate any effort TO excite hostility TO men
/ of wealth as such. We should do all we
| can to encourage thrift and business en-
| ergy. to put a premium upon the conduct
| OF the man who honestly earns his livel-
| hood and more than his livelihood, and
! who honestly uses the money he has
| earned. But II is our clear duty to see,
! In the interest of the people, that there
! is adequate supervision and control over
| the business use OF the swollen fortunes
| OF today. and also wisely to determine
| the conditions upon which these fortunes
| are to be transmitted and the percentage
| that they shall pay TO the government
| whose protecting arm alone enables them
| to exist. Only the nation can do this
work To relegate II to the states is a
farce and is simply another way of say-
ing that II shall not be done at all.
Power To Deal With Wealth.
Under wise and far seeing interpreta-
ton OF the interstate commerce clause OF
the constitution, / maintain that the ma
tIonal government should have complete
power TO deal with all OF this wealth
which in any way goes into the com
hafu bo CT nd