New-York tribune., 1906-04-15
RAPS MUCK" BAKE MAN
Continued from first pags

! sweeping generalizations as to include decent
men in the general condemnation means the
soaring of the public conscience. There results
general attitude either of cynical belief in and
Indifference TO public corruption or else of dis
trustful liability to discriminate between the
good and the bad. Either attitude is fraught
with untold damage to the country a whole.
The fool who has rot sense to discriminate be
tween what is good and what is bad is we'll
nigh as dangerous as the man who does dis
crminate and yet chooses the bad. There is
nothing more distressing 10 every good patriot.
TO every good American than the hard. scofinS
spirit which treats the allegation of dishonesty
in a public man as Il cause for laughter Such
laughter is worse than the cracking of thorns
under a pot for il denotes not merely the va
cant mind. but the heart in which high emotions
have been choked before they could grow TO
fruiton.
There is any amount of good in the world, and
there never was a time when loftier and more
disinterested work for the betterment of man
kind was being done than now. The forces that
tend for evil great and terrible. but the
forces of truth and love and courage and hon
esty and generosity and sympathy are also
stronger than ever before. II is foolish and
tmd no less than a wicked thing 10 blink the
fact that the forces Of evil strong. hut Il is
even worse to fail to take into account the
strength of the forces that tell for good. Hys-
terical sensatonalism is the very poorest
weapon wherewith to fight for lasting righteous
ness The who with stern Sobriety and
truth asSail the many evils Of our time, whether
in the public press. in magazines in
books. the leaders and allies OF all engaged
in the work for social and political hetterment.
they say II they chill The ardor of those who
demand truth primary virtue they thereby
betray tho good cause and play into the hands
OF the very men against whom they are noIni-
nally at war
In his "FcclesasticaI Ponty" that fine old
Eliza bethan divine Bishop Hooker. wrote
He that goeth about 10 persuade multitude
that they are not well governed as they ought
10 he, shall never want attentive and favorable
hearers: because they know tn" manifold defects
whereunto every kind of regimen II subject. but
the secret lets and difficulties. which in public
proceedings are inrumerahle and inevitable. they
have not ordinarily the judgment to consider"
PASSING THROUGH PERIOD OF UNREST.
This truth should be kept constantly in mind
by every free people desiring to preserve tho
sanity and poisc Indispensable 10 the permanent
success Of clf-gOyernment. Yet. on the other
sanity and self-command TO degenerate into mere
mental staGnaton. Bad though a state Of hys-
terical excitement is and evil though the results
are which come from the violent oSciiIutions
such excitement invariably produces yet a sod
den acquicScence IN evil IS even worse. ~ this
moment passing through period of
great unrest-socal political ana industrial un-
rest. 1t IL OF the utmost Importance for our
future that this should prove To- be not the un-
rest OF mere RIGHTEOUSNESS against life. of rncre
disRatsfaction with the inevitah hle inequality ~
conditions. hut the unrest OF resolute ana
eager ambition TO secure the hcttorment OF the
individual and the nation So far as this move
ment Of agitation throughout the country takes
the form OF a fierce discomfort with evil. OF a
determination 10 punish the authors or eNli
whether IN industry or politics. the feeling is 20
be heartily welcomed Il sign of healthy life.
II. the other hand il turns into a mere
crusade Of appetite against appetite. OF a con-
test between the brutal greed Of the 'haVe-notS'
and the brutal greed OF the "haves." then It has
no Significance for good hut only for evil It
IL seeks To establish line of cleavage, not along
the line which divides good men from bad. but
along that other line. running at right angles
thereto. which divides those who are Wei of
from those who are less well off, then II VIII he
fraught with immeasurable harm 10 the BODY
polite.
we can no more and no less afford to condone
evil in the man Of capital than evil In the man OF
no capital The wealthy man who eXuits ne
cause there il a failure Of Justice In the effort
TO bring some trust magnate to an account for
his misdeeds is as bad as. and no wors" than.
tho so-calIed labor leader who clamorously
strives excite a foul class feeling on behalf OF
some other labor leader who is implicated i'll
murder one attitude is as bad as the other,
and worse In each case the accused is en-
titled to exact Justice; and In neither case is
there need of action by others which can be con-
strued into an expression OF sympathy for
crime.
rest is TO result in permanent good the emotion
shall be translated into action, and that the
tion shall be marked by honesty. sanity ana self
restraint There is mighty little good in n
mere spasm OF reform. The reform that counts
is that which comes through steady, continuous
growth: violent emotionalism leads To exhaus-
ton
It is important to this people TO grapple with
the problems connected with the amassing OF
enormous fortunes, and the of those fort
unes, both corporate and individual, in business.
We should discriminate In the sharpest way be-
between those gained an incident to perform
ing great services to the community a whole,
and those gained In evil fashion by keeping just
within the limits of mere law honesty OF course
no amount OF charity In spending such fortunes
in any way compensates for misconduct In max
ing them. AS n matter of personal conviction,
and without pretending to discuss the details or
formulate the system. feel that shall ulti-
mately have 10 consider the adoption of
such scheme as that of a progressive tax on ali
fortunes. beyond a certain amount, either given
in life or devised or bequeathed upon death to
any individual-a tax so framed as to put ii out
of the power OF the owner of one OF these enor-
nous fortunes to hand on more than certain |
amount 10 any one Individual: the tax, of course
to be imposed by the national and not the state
government. Such taxation should. OF course
be aimed merely at the inheritance or trans
mission in their entirety Of those fortunes swol-
len beyond all healthy limits.
NATIONAL SUPERVISION NECESSARY. |
Again the national government must in some |
form exercise supervision over corporations en- |
gagged In interstate busness-and all large cor |
porations are engaged I'm interstate business |
whether by license otherwise. so as to permit |
us to deal with the far-reaching evils of over |
capitalization. This year we are making be- |
ginning In the direction of serious effort settle
some OF these economic problems by the railway |
rate legislation. Such legislation, IL framed |
as ! am sure it will be. as to secure definite ana
tangible results. Will amount to something OF |
itself; and il will amount TO great deal more |
In far it s taken as first step in the d. |
rection of q policy OF superintendent and con- |
troll over corporate wealth engaged In interstate
commerce. this superntendence and control not |
10 be exercised in spirit OF malevolence toward
the men who have created the wealth. but with i
the firm purpose both to Go justice to them and
10 that they in their turn do justice to the |
public at large.
The first requisite in the public servants who |
to deal in this shape with corporations !
whether as legislators or executives is hon |
esty. This honesty be no respecter of ner !
sons There can be no such thing as unilateraI |
honesty. The danger is not really from corrupt |