Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-10-04
Extension Of National Powers.

A similar extension OF the national power
to oversee and secure correct behavior In
the management of all great corporations
engaged in interstate business will in SINH
lar fashion render far more stable the pres
ent system by doing away with those grave
abuses which are not only evil In them
selves but are also evil because they furnish
an excuse for agitators to inf1ame we'll
meaning people against all forms of prop
erty, and to commit the country to schemes
of wild, would-be remedy which would work
infinitely more harm than the disease it
self. The government ought not to conduct
the business Of the country; but 1t ought
to regulate 1t so that it shall be conducted
in the interest of the public.
Perhaps the best justification Of the
course which in the national government
| we have been pursuing In the past few
years. and which we intend steadily and pro-
gressively to pursue in the future, is that it
| is condemned with almost equal rancor
| alike by the reactionaries-the Bourbons-
| on one side, and by the wild apostles of I'M
rest on the other. The reactionary Is bit
| terly angry because we have deprived him
of that portion Of his power which he mis-
uses to the public hurt; the agttator Is an
gered for various reasons, including among
others the fact that by remedying the
abuses we have deprived him of the full
crum of real grievance, which alone rem
ders the lever of irrational agitation for
midable.
We have actually accomplished much.
| But we have not accomplished all, nor
anything like all. that we feel must be
accomplished. We shall not halt; we shall
steadily follow the path we have marked
out, executing the laws we have succeeded
In putting upon the statute books with abso-
and unresting in our endeavor to strength
en- and supplement these by further laws
which shall enable us in more efficient and
more summary fashion to achieve the ends
we have in view.
Some Vital Questions.
During the last few years Congress has
| had to deal with such vitality important
questions as providing for the building of
the Panama canal. inaugurating the vast
system of national irrigation in the states
| OF the Great Plains and the Rocky noun
tains, providing for a Pacific cable, and 50
forth. Yet In addition to these tasks, some
Of which are OF stupendous Importance.
Congress has taken giant strides along the
I path Of government regulation and control
Of corporations; the Interstate commerce
law has been made effective in radical and
farreaching fashion. rebates have been
stopped. q pure-food law has been passed.
proper supervision Of the meat-packing
business provided, and the bureau of cor
porations established-a bureau which has
already done great good, and which can
and should be given q constantly increas-
ing functional power.
The work Of legislation has been no more
important than the work done by the De.
partment of Justice in executing the laws
l not only against COTpOTdtlOuS ana lnQlVlO.
| uals who have broken the antitrust or in.
terstate commerce law, but against those
who have been engaged in land frauds
Scores OF suits, civil and criminal. have
been successfully undertaken against of.
tenders Of all kinds-many of them against
the most formidable and wealthy combina.
tons in the land: in some the combinations
have been dissolved. in some heavy fines
have been imposed. in several cases tht
chief offenders have been imprisoned.
Behooves Us to Look Ahead.
It behooves us Americans to look ahead
and plan out the right kind OF civiliza
ltion, as that which we intend to develop
from these wonderful new conditions O.
vast industriat growth. 1t must not be, i
shall not be. the civilization of mer,
plutocracy, a banking house, Wall-street
syndicate civilization; nor yet can there b.
submission to class hatred. to rancor, bru
tally, and mob violence. for that woult