Daily Kennebec journal., 1906-04-16


| 1t will be, as to secure definite and
tangible results, viii amount to some
thing of itself; and it will amount TO
Il great deal more in so far as il is
taken as a first step in the direction
Of a policy of superintendent and
control over corporate wealth engaged
in interstate commerce, this superin-
tendence and control not to be eyer.
cised in a spirit of malevolence toward
the men who have created the wealth.
but with the firm purpose both to do ius-
tice to them and to see that they in
their turn do justice to the public at
large
The first requisite in the public SER
wants who are TO deal in this shane
with corporations, whether as leeisla-
tors or as executives, is honesty. This
honesty can be no respecter of per-
sons. There can be no such thing as
unilateral honesty. The danger is nor
really from corrupt corporations: it
springs from the corruption itself,
whether exercised for or against cor
pOratiOnS.
The eighth commandment reads
Thou shalt not steal" 1t does not
read, Thou shalt not steal from the
rich man." II does not read .Thou
shalt not steal from the poor man {"
1t reads simply and plainly, Thou shalt
not steal" No good whatever will come
from that warped and mock morality
Wnlch denounceS the miSdeeds of men
OF wealth and fOrgets the misdeeds
practlced at their expense; which de-
hounces bribery. but blinds itself to
placKmall; which foamS with rage if
corporation secures favors by i'm
proper methods, and merely leers with
hldeous mirth if the corporation is
itself wronged. The. only public SER
want who can be trusted honestly to
protect the rights of the public against
the miSdeed of a corporation is that
public man who will just as surely pru
tect the corporation itself from wrong
full aggression. If public man is will
ing TO yield TO popular clamor and do
wrong to the men of wealth or to rich
corporations. it may be set down as
certain that if the opportunity comes
he will secretly and furtively do wrong
TO the public in the interest of a cor
poration.
But, in addition to honesty, we need
sanity. No honesty will make a public
man useful If that man is timid or fool
lsh, IL he is hot-headed zealot or an i'm
practicable visionary. AS we strive for
reform we find that it is not at all merely
the case of long uphill pull. On the
contrary, there rs almost as much of
breeching work as of collar work: to de-
penu only on traces means that there viii
soon be runaway and an upset Tn,
men OF wealth who today are trying to
prevent the regulation and control of
their business in the interest of the pub
ne by the proper Government authorities
VIII not succeed. in my Judgment. in
fRhucffnE enc 81 ,h the h progress Of the movement.
that they had sown the wind and rWouId
surely reap the whirlwind for they would
Ultimately provoke the violent excesses
Whlch accompany n reform coming by
convulsion instead Of by steady and natu.
raj growth '''''"
On the other hand, the wild preachers
OF d:rest and discomfort. the wild agtt:.-
men who act crooketfly whether hecansa
of sinister design or from mere nuzzie
medicines, the men who preach destruc
.r1il ,..l without proposing any substitute for
what they intend to destroy, or who pro-
pose substitute which would be far
worse than the existing evils-all these
men are the most. dangerous opponents
o. OF real reform If they get their way
than any into which they could fail under
the present system. If' they fail to get
their way they. will still do incalculable
harm by provoking the kind of reaction
which in its revolt against the senselcss
cVll OF their teaching, would enthronn
more securely than ever the very evils
which their misguided followers bclievr
they are attacking.
More important than aught else is the
development of the broadest sympathy OF
man for man. The welfare of the wage
WORKER. the welfare Of the tiller of tha
SOIL. upon these depend the welfare of the
entire country; their good is not to he
sought in pulling down others: hut their
good must be the prime object of ali our
craftsmanship.
Materially we must strive to secure 7
broader economic opportunity for all
men, so that each shall have a better
chance to show the stuff of which he is
made. Spiritually and ethically we must
strive to bring about clean living and
right thinking. We appreciate that tn"
nI,rss,o things OF the body are important: but ",
are immeasurably more important. Thn
foundation stone of national life is. and
ever must be. the high individual char
acter of the average citizen.