The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1906-12-05

fGr INcrpaSlNE
| fective National control OF the beef
| packing industry. mark an important ad-
vance In the proper direction. IN the
short session II VIII perhaps be difncui
to do much further along this line; and
| st may he best to wait until the laws
| have been In operation for number
of months before endeavoring TO increase
| their scope, because only operation VII,
| show with eXactness their merits ana
| ;heir shortcomings, and thus give oppor,
/ tuntv to define what further remedial
ment 1t will In the end be advisable In
connection with the packing house In
spection law 20 provide for putting a
date on the label and for charging the
cost OF inspection to the packers. All
these laws have already justified their
enactment The interstate commerce law
for instance. has rather amusingly falsi-
fed the predictions, both OF those who
asserted that II would ruin the railroads
and those who asserted that 1t did not
go far enough and would accomplish
nothing. During the last Ave months the
railroads have shown Increased earnings
and some OF them unusual dividends.
while during the same period the mere
taking effect OF the law has produced an
unprecedented. hitherto unheard OF.
number OF voluntary reductions In
freights and fares by the railroads. since
never been time Of equal length IN
which anything like so many reduced
tariffs have been put into effect: ON
August 27 for Instance, two days before
the new law went into effect, the com
mission received notices of over five
thousand separate tariffs which repre-
sented reductions from previous rates.
Control of Railroads,
IL must not be supposed. however,
that With the passage of these laws IL
will he possible 10 stop progress along
the line of increasing the power of the
National Government over the use OF
capital In Interstate commerce, For eX-
ample. there will ultimately be need of
enlarging the powers Of the Interstate
Commerce commission along several diff
ferent lines. so as TO give II larger
and more efficient control over the rail-
II cannot often be repeated that eN-.
perIence has conclusively shown the i'm
possibility of securing by the actions OF
nearly half a hundred different State
legislatures anything but Ineffective
chaos In tine way OF dealing with the
great corporations which do not operate
exclusively within the limits OF any one
State. In some method, whether by
National license law or in other fashion,
we must exercise, and that at an early
date, n far more complete control than
at present over these great corporations
a control that Will among other things
prevent the evils OF excessive oVer-capi-
talizations and that Will compel the dis
closure by each big corporation OF It's
stockholders and Of It's properties and
business. whether owned directly or
through subsidiary or affiliated corpora
lions. This viii tend to put n stop TO
the securing of inordinate profits by tav-
ored individuals at the expense whether
Of the general public, the stockholders.
or the wageworkers Our effort should
be not so much TO prevent consolidation
as such. hut so to supervise and control
II as 10 see that It results In no harm
10 the people. The reactionary or ultra
conservative apologists for the misuse OF
wealth assal the effort TO secure such
control as step toward socialism. AS
a matter Of fact 1t is these reactionarles
and ultraconServatives who are them
selves most potent in increasing social
istic feeling
Points Out Antidotes.
One OF the most efficient methods of
aYert!nE the consequences OF a dangerous
agitation, which is so per cent wrong,
which the agitation Is we'll founded, The
best way TO avert the very undesirable
move for the Governmental ownership
ment on behalf OF the people 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 agitation against them SO
the proper antidote TO the dangerous and
wicked agitation against the men Of
wealth IS such is to secure by proper leg
islation and executive action the aholi-
tion OF the grave abuses which actually
do obtain I'm connection with the business
use Of wealth under our present system
or rather no system-of failure to eNer-
else any adequate control at all some
persons speak as II the exercise OF such
Governmental control would do away with
the freedom of individual initiative and
dwarf individual effort. This is not n
fact. II would be veritable calamity
initiative. Individual capacity and effort,
upon the energy. character and foresight
which It Is so important 70 encourage In
the Individual. But as matter OF TACT
the deadening and degrading erect Of
pure socialism, and especially OF It's eN-
treme form communism, and ihe destruc-
ton of individual character which they
would bring about, are In part achleved
by the wholly unreeulated competition
which results in single individual or
corporation rising a, the expense OF all
checks all competition and reduces former
competitors TO 2 position of utter in
fertority and subordination.
Working on Right Lines.
In enactlng and enforcing such legis-
lation as this Congress already has TO
Its credit. we are working on a coherent
plan with the steady endeavor to secure
the needed reform by the joint action Of
the moderate men, the plain men who do
not wish anything hysterical or danger
Gus. bu| who do intend TO deal in reso-
lutte fashion with the real and great
evils OF the present system. The reac-
lionafles ana the violent extremists SHOW
signs of Joining hands against us. Both
assert, for instance. that II logical. we
should go 10 Government ownership Of
railroads and the like. the reactlonaries
because on such an Issue they think the
people would stand with them, while the
extremists care rather to preach dsscon
tent and agitation than 10 achieve solid
results AS a matter OF fact, our position
is as remote from that OF the Bourbon
reactsonary as from that of the i'm
practicable or sinister visionary. We
/ hold that the Government should not
conduct the business of the Nation. but
that IL should exercise such supervision
as will insure Its being conducted In the
interest OF the Nation. Our aim is. so
far as may be. 10 secure. for all decent
hard working men. equality OF opportun-
lty and equality of burden.
:. !. .
Il =
= The actual working of our \
= laws has shown that the effort !.
= to prohibit all combination, good !.
= or bad, is noXious where it is =