Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1906-12-06


conoitions are so different from what
tney are here that the introduction OF an
e,gn.-nour day on the canal would be
surd as II 10, SO far as the isthmus IL
concerned. where white labor cannot be
employed; to bother as TO whether the
WORK IS done by alien black men or alien
yellow men,"
Investigation Of Disputes.
He urges the enactment of a drastic
child labor law for the District of Co.
iumoia and the territories. and a federal
female labor throughout the country.
he reviews the work of the commission
appointed to investigate labor conditions
and refers to the wish of the Commission
that the state and federal governments
should provide the machinery for what
may be called the compulsory investiga-
ton of controversies between employers
and employees when they arise" After
referring to the fact that a bill has al
ready been introduced to this end he
MANY of these strikes and lockouts
would not have occurred had the partier
to the dispute been required to appear
before an unprejudiced body represesting
the nation and, face to face, state the
reasons for their contention. In most
Instances the dispute would doubtless be
found to be due to misunderstanding
by each of the others rights, aggravated
by an unwillingness Of either party to ac-
cept as true the statements of the other
as to the justice or injustice of the mat
ters in dispute. The exercise OF Ju-
deai spirit BY ,.S dsnterested body
such as would be provided by commits
sion. on Cancellation and arbitration
would tend to create an atmosphere Of
friendliness and Cancellation between con-
tending parties; and the giving each sida
an equal opportunity to present fully its
case in the presence of the otber would
prevent many disputes from developing
into serious strikes or lockouts, and In
other cases, would enable the commits
sion to persuade the opposing parties to
I'm this age Of great corporate and Ia
Dor combinations, neither employers nor
employees should be left completely at
pute, regardless of the righteousness Of
their respective claims. The proposed
measure would be in the line of securing
strikes the public has itself an interest
which cannot wisely be disregarded; an
Interest. not merely of general conven-
proper public policy must also be con-
sidered. In all legislation of this kind
1t Is well to advance cautiously, testing
each step by the actual results; the step
proposed can surely be safely taken, for
the decisions of the commission would
not bind the parties in legal fashion, and
ion to exert its full force for the right"
Control of Corporations.
A considerable portion of the message
troll of corporations in what he refers to
the passage at the last session of the
rate, meat inspection and food laws, and
says that all of these have already justi-
fed their enactment, but recommends
the amendment of the meat inspection
law so as to put dates on the labels of
cost of inspection on the packers rather
than on the government Continuing on
this subject Of the control OF corporations
by the federal government he says:
1T cannot too often be repeated that ex-
perience has conclusively shown the i'm
possibility OF securing by the actions OF
nearly half hundred different state
chaos in the way of dealing with the
great corporations which do not operate
exclusively within the limits of any one
state. In some method, whether by a
national license law or in other fashion,
we must exercise, and that at an early
date, far more complete control than
at present over these great corpora
tions-a control that will among other
things prevent the evils of excessive
decentralization, and that will compel
the disclosures 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 stop to the secur-
ing of inordinate profits by favored
individuals at the expense whether of
the general public, the stockholders, or
the wageworkers. Our effort should be
not so much to prevent consolidation as
such. but so TO supervise and control 1t
the people The reactionary or ultracon-
sentative apologists for the misuse of
wealth assail the effort to secure such
control as a step toward socialism. As
matter of fact ii is these reactonaries
and ultraconservatiVes who are them
selves most potent In increasing socialis-
tic feeling. One of the most efficient
methods of averting the consequences of
dangerous agitation, which is 50 per
cent. wrong, is TO remedy the 20 per cent.
of evil as to which the agitation is we'll
founded. The best way to avert the very
undesirable move for the governmental
ownership of railways Is TO secure by
the government on behalf of the people
as whole such adequate control and
regulatory of the great interstate COM
mon carriers as will do away with the
evils which give rise TO the agitation
against them. So the proper antidote
to the dangerous and wicked agitation
against the men of wealth as such is to
secure by proper legislation and execu-
tive action the abolition of the grave
abuses which actually do obtain In con-
nection with the business use of wealth
under our present system-or rather no
sySteu--of failure to exercise any ade-
quate control at all. Some persons sseak
80 Il the exercise of such governmental
control would do away with the freedom
of individual initiative and dwarf indi-
vidual effort. This Is not fact. 1t
would be q yeritahle calamity to fail to
individual capacity and effort; upon the
energy, character and foresight which
L is 50 important to encourage In the
deadening and degrading effect Of pure
socialism,, and especially of its extreme
form communism. and the destruction of
Individual character which they would
bring about, ere in part achieved by the
wholly unregulated competition which
results in a single individual or corpor
alton rising at the expense of all others
until his or its rise effectually checks all
competition and reduces former compet-
tors to position OF utter inferiority and
subordnation.
"ln enActlng and enforcing such legis-
lation as this congress already has to its
credit we are working on a coherent
plan. with the steady endeavor to secure
the needed reform by the joint avsion of
the moderate men, the plain men who
do not wish anything hysterical or
dangerous, but who do intend to deal
In resolute commonsense fashion with
the real and great evils of the present
system The reactionaries and the vio-
lent extremists show symptoms of join
ing hands against US Both assert. for
instance, that Ii logical we should go
to government ownership OF Railroads.&c.
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 discomfort
and agitation than to achieve solid re-
suits As a matter of fact our position
is as remote from that OF the bourbon
reactionary as from that OF the imprac-
ticable or sinister visionary. We hold
that the government should not conduct
the business OF the nation, hut TINT II
should exercise such supervision as viii