Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-10-06
those fortunes in still vaster corporate


form in business.
and decisions of which complain, be
1t remembered, do not really leave to
the states power to deal with corpor-
ate wealth In business. Actual exper-
fence has shown that the states are
wholly powerless to deal with this sub
ject; and any action or decision that
deprives the nation Of the power to
deal with it, simply results in leaving
the corporations absolutely free to
work without any effective supervision
whatever; and such course is fraught
with untold danger to the future Of our
whole system of government, and, in
deed, to our whole civilization.
All honest men must abhor and re-
probate shy effort to excite hostility
to men of wealth as such. We should
do all we can to encourage thrift and
business energy, to put premium up
on the conduct of the man who honest
ly earns his livelihood and more than
his livelihood, and who honestly uses
the money he has earned. But 1t is
our clear duty to see. in the interest
Of the people, that there is adequate
supervision and control over the bust-
ness use Of the swollen fortunes of to-
day, and also wisely TO determine the
conditions upon which these fortunes
are to be transmitted and the percent
age that they shall pay to the govern
ment whose protecting arm alone en-
ables them to exist
"Only the nation can do this work.
To relegate it to the States is farce,
and is simply another way of saying
that 1t shall not be done at all
"Under a wise and farseeing inter-
probation of the interstate COM
merce clause Of the Constitution,
maintain that the National Govern
ment should have complete power to
deal with all of this wealth which in
any way goes into the commerce be-
tween the States-and practically all
Of it that is employed in the great cor
porations does thus go in. The nation
al legislature should most scrupulous-
ly avoid any demagogic legislation
about the business use of this wealth,
and should realize that it would be
better to have no legislation at all
than legislation couched either in a
indicative spirit of hatred toward
men of wealth or else drawn with
recklessness of impracticable vision
aries. But on the other hand, it shall
and must ultimately be understood
| that the United States government, on
behalf of the people of the United
States, has and is to exercise the
power of supervision and control over
the business use of this wealth-in,
the first place, over all the work Of
the common carriers of the nation,
and in the next place over the work of
all the great corporations which di-
rectly or indirectly do any interstate
business whatever-and this includes
almost all of the great corporations.
During the last few years the Ma
tionsl government has taken very
long strides in the direction of exercis-
ing and securing this adequate control
over the great corporations, and it
was under the leadership of one Of the
most honored public men in our coun-
try, one of Pennsylvania most emf
nent sons-the present senator, and
then Acknowledgement Knox-that the
new departure was begun. Events
have moved fast during the list FIVE
years, and it is curious to look back
at the extreme bitterness which not
merely the spokesman and represen-
tatives of organized wealth, but many
most excellent conservative people
] then felt as to the action of Mr. Knox
and of the administration.
MANY of the greatest financiers Of
this country were certain that Mr..
knox's Northern Securities suit, if
won, would plunge us into the worst
PAM: we had ever seen. They de.
nounced as Indictment to anarchy, as
an apology for socialism, the advo.
cacy of policies that either have now
become law or are in fair way of be-
coming law: and yet these same poll
cies, SO far from representing either
anarchy or socialism, were in reality
the antidotes to anarchy, the antidotes
to socialism.
ITO exercise constantly increasing
and constantly more efficient supervi-
sion and control over the great COM
mon carriers of the country prevents
all necessity for seriously considering
such a perfect as the government ow-
| n Nr dc,