Los Angeles herald., 1906-05-31


state in which we live was more inacces-
of darkest Africa.
The task Of establishing commercial
communication with the more thlckly
looked upon as well nigh impossible. and
hence Il was that when men came forth
willing to undertake IL the nation was
ready to graft them assistance In land
and money which appears to us at this
time to have been almost fabulous In its
munihcence
Wealth Then Power
The material wealth of the country
through which these railroads extended,
the vast increase of population generally
and the consequent development Of COM
merce has resulted in the establishment
OF individual fortunes SURPRISING the
wealth of nations Of a few centuries ago.
This accumulation of wealth has natur-
ely brought with It corresponding power
to its possessors and with the operations
of these great railroads, covering thou
sands Of miles Of territory, the destinies
of numberless communities dependent
upon Them they have risen from de-
pendents, with their hands out seeking
public assistance, to great forces in our
national development, at times indicating
a tendency to oppose the welfare Of the
body polite
Within recent years men have carried
into the commercial world that Idea.
which has always dominated the ma
tional character that lin unity there is
strength"
Commercial institutions which were
former competitors have been combined
and are now laboring together in the
same field and as their joint operations
have given them control, obedient to
natural human tendency, they have been
inclined to take advantage Of the situa-
tion thus created.
Correcting the Evils
Numerous independent railroad systems,
forming in some instances part of a
continuous line, and in others competing
lines in the same territory, have been
Joined into a single system, under one
head, and as they found themselves In a
position to do so, have also pursued the
same human tendency, charged all the
Great good is not infrequently Lccom-
panied by corresponding disadvantages /;
it is the province of sensible people to
correct the evil without destroying the
good.
These evils are but the natural out
growth of development and their correc-
tiou does now and will for some time TO
come require patient, conservative and
persevering attention of the American
people.
Our country is not the place and this
is not the time for the toleration of pes
Smism.
Our citizenship is Just as pure in it's
purpose as 1t was when the ballot was
cast for the first president and Father of
The fountains of justice are as free from
pollution today as they were at the time
when John Marshall, the great pioneer of
constitutional construction, occupied and
adorned the supreme bench of the ma
tion.
The national idea of human happiness,
the national conception of human life,
the individual idea of the divine purpose
of human liberty are all as high and
higher today than they have been at any
time in history. and however great may
be the power apparently concentrated in
the hands of few, however enormous
the accumulation of individual fortunes,
the spirit Of independence and love of lib
erty is now, as it has been throughout
character of the individual American, and
the real power and governmental force
of the United States is now and ever shall
be reposed in and retained and emphati-
cally asserted by the great body of the
American people, of, by and for whom
this government was established