The Green Forest tribune., 1906-12-08

mob is just as evil a thing as the tri- umph of the plutocracy. and to have Tn the end the honest man whether rich or. poor, who earns his ,own. living and and unworthy demagog. promising much and performing nothing, or else on tha o, fot eN Tho ,h rich as from the crafty corruptionist. who. for his own ends would permit
 he he Sepy %eah e1er e ths government fall into the hands of mer of either of these two claEses: we shall show ourselves false tp Amerca-- past Moreover, the demagog and corrup- tionist often work hand in hand. There are at this moment wealthy reaction aries of such obtuse morality that they . cutes them when they violate the law or who seeks to make them bear their share of the PHbf the violent agitator who hounds on the mob to pIunder the rich. There Is nothing to choose between such re- mentally they are alike In their selfish disregard of the rights of others; and 1t is natural that they should join in the aim is fearlessly to do exact and even justice to all.'
 Railroad Employees Hours.
 He asks for the passing of the bill linn. iting the number of hours of employment of railroad employees, and classes the measure as very moderate one. He says the aim of all should be to steadily reduce the number of hours Of laoor, with as goal the general in- ssts that on the 1sthmus of Panama the conditions are so different from what they are here that the introduction of an eight-hour day on the canal would be absurd, and continues just about es ab- surd as 1t is so far as the isthmus is concerned where white labor cannot be employed to bother 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 lumbia and the territories, and federal investigation of the subject of child and female labor throughout the country. He reviews tho work of the commission appointed to investigate labor conditions in the coal fields of Pennsylvania in 1902, 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- tion of controversies between employers and employees when they arise After referring to the fact that bill has al ready been introduced to this end he says:
 Many of these strikes and loc1outs would not have occurred had the parties to the dispute been required to appear before unprejudiced body representing 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 a misunderstanding by each of the others rights. aggravated by unwilingness of either party to ac- cept as true the statements of the other as to the justice injustice of the mat ters in dispute. The exercise of ji- representing repre- % the m federal 'e' government, sve such as would be provided by commits sion on conciliation and arbitration would tend to create an atmosphere of fricndiiness and conciliation between con- tending parties; and the giving each side an equal opportunity to present fully its, 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 come to terms.
 "In this age of great corporate and la bor combinations, neither employers nor the.mercy of the stronger party to dis. pute, regardless of the righteousness Of their respective claims. The proposed measure. would be in the line of securing recognition of the fact that in many strikes the public has itself an interest which cannot wisely be dsrcsarded an fence, for the question of just and proper public policy must also be con, sidered. :. In all legislation of this kind it is well to advance cautiously, testing each step by the actual results; the step proposed can surely be safely taken, TOT the decisions of the commission would not bind the parties in legal fashion, and yet would give chance for public opin. ion to exert its full force for the right Control of Corporations.
 considerable portion of the message is devoted to the subject of federal con- trol of corporations in what he refers to rate, meat inspection and food laws, and says that all of these have already justi- fled their enactment. but recommends the amendment of the meat inspection law so as to put dates on the labels of meat products, and also to place the cost of inspection on the packers rather this subject of the control of corporations by the federal government he says:
 "It cannot too often be repeated that ex- perience has. conclusively shown the ime possibility of securing by the actions ot nearly half hundred different state
 legislatures n anything deane nIt Mts the great corporations which do not operate exclusively within the limits of any one state. In some method, whether py 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 corp4hra- ppthar things prevent the evils of excessive overcapitalzation, and that will compel the QlSClOSureS Dy eaCn DIE COTpoiatioh of its stockholders and of its properties and business, whether owned directly or thru subsidiary or affiliated corporations. This will tend to put stop to the secur7 ing of inordinate profits by favored individuals at the expense whether or the general public, the stockholders, or the Wageworkers. Our effort should De not so much to prevent consolidation as such, but to supervise and control It as to see that 1t results in no harm 10 ! the people. The reactonary or ultracoH- servative apologists for the misuse or wealth assail the effort to secure Sucn control as a step toward socialism. AS matter of fact 1t is these reactionaries and ultraconservatiyes who are them selves most potent in increasing soclals. methods of avertng the consequences or a dangerous agitation, which is so per l cent wrong, is to remedy the 20 per cent i of evil as to which the agitation IS wei founded. The best way to avert the very undesirable move for the governmental ownership of railways is to secure py i the government on behalf of the peopie as a whole such adequate control ana regulation of the great interstate com mon carriers as will do away with me evils which give rise to the agltatlon against them. So the proper anUdote i to the dangerous and wicked agitauoh 1 against the men of wealth as such IS 10 secure by proper Legislation and execu- ! abuses which actually do obtain Tn conI nection with the business use or wealth under our present system-or rather no system-of failure to exercise any ade- ouate control at all Some persons speak as If the exercise of such governmental