Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-10-04
cial decisions which confident time will
show to have been erroneous and a damage


show to have been erroneous and a damage
to the country would have been avoided
If our legislators and jurists had ap-
preached the matter of enacting and con-
STRUNG the laws of the land in the spirit
of your great Pennsylvania, Justice Will
son-in the spirit of Marshall and of Wash
ington. Such decisions put us at a great
disadvantage in the battle for Industrial
order as against the PRESENT industrial
chaos. If we interpret the Constitution in
narrow instead of broad fashion, if we for
sake the principles of Washington, Mar
shall, Wilson and Hamilton, we as a peO-
pie will render ourselves impotent to deal
with any abuses which may be committed
by the men who have accumulated the
enormous fortunes of today, and who use
form in business.
The legislative or judicial actions and de-
cisions of which l complain be it remem-
bered. do not really leave to the states
power to deal with corporate wealth in
business. Actual experience has shown that
the states are wholly powerless to deal
with this subject, and any action or deci-
sion that deprives the nation of the power
to deal with 1t, simply results in leaving the
corporations absolutely free to work with
out any effective supervision whatever; and
such a course is fraught with untold danger
to the future of our whole system of gov
eminent, and, indeed, to our whole civili-
ZatiOn.
IASOuAu6S AA4AAIs
All honest men must abhor and repro
bate any effort to excite hostility to men of
wealth as such. We should do all we can
to encourage thrift and business energy,
to put a premium upon the conduct of the
man who honestly earns his livelihood and
more than his livelihood, and who honestly
| uses the money he has earned. But it is
our clear duty to see, in the interest of the
peoDe, that there is adequate supervision
nd fro1 nyor h11ci n hQ
swollen fortunes of today, and also wisely
to determine the conditions upon which
these fortunes are to be transmitted and the
percentage that they shall pay to the gov
ables them to exist. Only the nation can
do this work. To relegate 1t to the states
| is a farce, and is simply another way of
saying that it shall not be done at all.
Under wise and farseeing Interpretation
of the interstate commerce clause of the
Constitution, I maintain that the national
government should have complete power to
| deal with all Of this wealth which in any
| way goes into the commerce between the
states-and practically all Of 1t that is en-
ployed In the great corporations does thus
go in The national legislators should
most scrupulously 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
spirit of hatred toward men of wealth or
| else drawn with the recklessness Of i'm
! practicable Missionaries. But, on the other
| hand, it shall and must ultimately be I'M
derstood that the United States govern
| ment, 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 directly
! or indirectly do any interstate business
! whatever-and this includes almost all OF
the great corporations.
Takes Long Strides.
( During the last few years the national
government has taken very long strides
In the direction Of exercising and securing
this adequate control over the great cor.
porations, and 1t was under the leadershiK
| Of one of the most honorable public men II
| our country, one of Pennsylvania mos
eminent sons-the present senator, and
then Attorney General. Knox-that the
new departure was begun. Events have
. moved fast during the last five years. an
1T is curious to look back at the extreme
bitterness which not merely the spokesmeI
and representatives of organized wealth
but many most excellent conservative peo
pie then felt as to the action of Mr. Knol
and of the administration.
Many of the greatest f1nanciers Of thi
country were certain that Mr.. KNOBS
Northern Securities suit, IL won, woule
plunge US into the worst panic we hat
ever seen. They denounced as incite
ment to anarchy, as an apology for social
ism, the advocacy Of policies that eithe