Rock Island Argus., 1906-12-04

in increasing socialistic feeling. One
of the most efficient methods of avert
ing the consequences of a dangerous
agitation which is so per cent wrong
is to remedy the 20 per cent Of evil
as to which the agitation is well found
ed. 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 peo-
pie as a whole, such adequate control
and regulation of the great interstate
common carriers as will do away with
the evils which give rise to the agita-
ton against them. So the proper an
tidote to the dangerous and wicked
agitation against the men of wealth as
such Is to secure by proper legislation
and executive action the abolition of the
grave abuses which actually do obtain
in connection with the business use OF
wealth under our present system, or.
rather, no system, of failure to eXer-
else any adequate control at all. Some
persons speak as if the exercise of such
governmental control would do away
with the freedom of individual initia-
tive and dwarf individual effort. This
is not fact. 1t would be a veritable
calamity to fail to put premium upon
individual initiative, individual capaci
ty and effort, upon the energy. char
acter and foresight which it is so i'm
portant to encourage In the individual.
But, as a matter of fact, the deadening
and degrading effect Of pure socialism,
and especially of its extreme FORM
communism, and the destruction of in
dividual character which they would
bring about are in part achieved by
the wholly unregulated competition
which results in single individual or
corporation rising at the expense Of all
others until his or its rise effectually
checks all competition and reduces
former competitors to position of ut
ter inferiority and subordination.
In enacting and enforcing such leg
islation as this congress already has to
its credit we are working on coherent
plan. with the steady endeavOr to Sc
cure the needed reform by the joint
action of the moderate men, the plain
men who do not wish anything hys-
terical or dangerous, but who do in
tend to deal in resolute common sense
fashion with the real and great evils
of the present system. The reaction
aries and the violent extremists show
symptoms of joining hands against US.
Both assert, for instance, that. if log
ical. we should go to government own
ership of railroads and the like. the re-
dictionaries because on such an issue
they think the people would stand with
them while the extremists care rather
to preach discomfort and agitation than
to achieve solid results. AS n matter
of fact, our position is as remote from
that of the Bourbon reactionary Us
from that of the impracticable or sin
lister visionary. We hold that the gov
ernment should not conduct the bust
ness of the nation. but that it should
exercise such supervision as will in
sure its being conducted in the inter
est of the nation. Our aim is, so far
as may be, to secure for all decent.
Woodworking men equality of Oppor
tunity and equality of burden.
Necessity of Combinations.
The actual working of our laws has
shown that the effort TO prohibit all
combination, good or bad, is noXious
where it is not Ineffective. Combina-
ton of capital. like combination OF la
Dor, is necessary element of our pres |
ent industrial system. 1t is not posi- |
BILE completely to prevent it. and if it |
were possible such complete preven-
ton would do damage to the body pol |
itic What we need is not vainly TO
try to prevent all combination, but to
secure such rigorous and adequate con-
troll and supervision of the combina- |
tions as to prevent their injuring the |
public or existing in such form as in
evitably to threaten injury, for the |
mere fact that IL combination has Sc |
cured practically complete control of |
q necessary of life would under any /
show that such combi- |
nation was to be presumed to be adj
verse to the public interest. 1t is un-
fortunate that our present laws should |
forbid all combinations instead of /
sharply discriminating between those :
which do good and those
which do evil.
Rebates, 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. Often rail
roads would like to combine for the
purpose of preventing q big shipper
from maintaining improper advantages
at the expense of small shippers and
Of the general public. Such a combina
ton, instead of being forbidden by
law should be favored. In other words,
It should be permitted to railroads to
make agreements, provided these agree
ments were sanctioned by the inter
state commerce commission and were
published. With these two conditions
with, it is impossible to see
what harm such a combination could
DO to the public at large. 1t is a public
evil to have on the statute books law