Daily Kennebec journal., 1906-04-16

suits are which come from the violent
oscillations such excitement invariably
produces, yet a Sodden acquescence in
evil is even worse. At this moment
we are passing through Il period OF
great unrest-social. political, and in
dustrial unrest. 1t is of the utmost
importance for our future that this
shoGld prove to be not the unrest of
mere Righteousness against life, OF
mere dissatisfaction with the newt
able inequality of conditions, but the
unrest of q resolute and eager ambi-
ton to secure the betterment of the
individual and the nation. SO far as
this movement of agitation throughout
the country takes the form of a fierce
tiscontcnt with evil, of a determination
TO punish the authors of evil, whether
in industry or politics, the feeling is to
tie heartily welcomed as a sign OF
healthy life.
If. on the other hand, it turns into a
mere crusade of appetite against an-
petite, IF a contest between the brutal
greed of the "have-nOts" and the
brutal greed of the ''haves," then it has
no significance for good. but only for
evil. If it seeks TO establish a line of
cleavage, not along the line which di-
VideS good men from bad, but along
that other line, running at right angles
thereto, which divides those who are
well off from those who are less well
off. then it will be fraught with i'm
measurable harm to the body politics.
We can no more and no less afford to
condOne evil in the man of capital than
n hal nf a
wealthy man who exults because there
is failure of justice in the effort to
bring some trust magnate to an ac-
count for his miSdeedS is as bad as, and
no worse than, the SO-called labor lead
er who clamorously strives to excite a
foul class feeling on behalf of some
other labor leader who is implicated
in murder. One attitude is as bad
as the other. and no worse: in
each case the accused is entitled
to exact Justice; and in neither
case is there need of action by others
which can be construed into an express
sion of sympathy for crime.
1t is a prime necessity that if the
present unrest is to result in permanent
good the emotion shall be translated
into action, and that the action shall be
marked by honesty, sanity, and self
restraint. There is mighty little good
in a mere Spasm of reform. The re-
form that counts is that which comes
through steady. continuous growth:
violent emotionalism leads to exhaus-
ton.
1t is important to this people to grap-
pie with the problems connected with
the amasSing of enormous fortunes.
and the use of those fortunes, both cor
porate and individual. in business. We
should discriminate in the sharpest
way between fortunes well-won and
fortunes ill-won; between those gained
as an incident to performing great
services to the community as a whole,
and those gained in evil fashion by
keeping just within the limits of mere
law-honesty. OF course no amount of
charity in spending such fortunes in
any way compensates for misconduct
in making them. AS a matter of per-
sonal conviction. and without pretend
ing 10 discuss the details or formulate
the system. I feel that we shall ulti-
mately have to consider the adoption
of some such scheme as that of a pro-
gresSive tax on all fortunes, beyond a
certain amount. either given in life or
devised or bequeathed upon death to
any individual-a tax so framed az to
put it out of the power of the owner of
one of these enormous fortunes To hand
on more than a certain amount to any
one individual; the tax, of course, to
be imposed by the National and not the
State government. Such taxation
should, of course, be aimed merely at
the inheritance or transmission in tn, ir
entirety of those fortunes swollen be
yond all healthy limits.
Again the National Government
must i'm some form exercise supervision
over corporations engaged in inter-
state buSiness-and all large CORPORA
tions are engaged in interstate business
whether by license or otherwise. 50
as to permit us to deal with the far
reaching evils of overci ipitaiZatiOn
This year we are making beginning
in the direction Of serious effort to
settle some of these economic problems