Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1906-06-13
CORPORATIONS SUBJECT TO
PUBLIC~CONTROL.

luS.
CORPORATIONS SUBJECT TO
UBLIC>CONTROL.
When you 80 beyond this field Of
cooperation, you reach Il field which
is now largely occupied by large cor
porations, which are exercising Il pub
lie use and for that reason subject to
public control.
L believe that eventually the public
ownership of ali public utilities is in
evftable In this country; but | am
not seliever-in u-theory that we
are ready to-day for municipal owner
ship ir;dl our cities or for the govern
ment ownership of all our railroads.
Municipal ownership without NUM-
.cipal integrity may lie greater evil
than corporate ownership, and the
last condition of that man be worse
than the first"
believe that political honesty must
come before public ownership, and
that the only way we viii ever get
political honesty is to restore the
great majority of our people to the
land, where they viii live close to
nature, and learn the obligations of
man to his fellow men, and the i'm
perative need of public integrity, by
learning to unite together to do things
for themselves.
HONESTY THE CORNERSTONE
OF CO-OIERAION.
Man is the product of his environ
1nent. Man win be what he is trained
to be. And Co-opera ton will train
men to be honest with each other and
with the public, because honesty and
integrity in the discharge of obliga-
tions to ones fellow men is the
corner stone of cooperation.
Without 1t cooperation is q house
built upon the sands.
With such Integrity, cooperation Is
a house built upon the eternal rocks
as foundation.
And SO il is that your movement for
the formation of farmers associations
in order that you may transact for
yourself the business of selling your
own soil products, is but Il single
thread In the great cable of co-opera-
ton which viii finally warp our ship
of state off the rocks, and draw it to
4 safe anchorage
The profits that you Will make for
Yourself in the formation of these CO.
operative associations. and their man
agement, is the least of the reasons
which should impel you onward ia the
movement.
y CRISIS IN OUR HISTORY.
We have reached crisis in our
country's history
1t is a crisis threatening greater
danger than when the cloud of dis
union swept up from the south and the
nation was drenchcd iii the blood Of IL
civil war.
The cancer of corruption following
In the wake of great wealth is eating
out the vitals of our country
Il have shown Won flnt fhpr,N Is hIIt
one cure, and it is to men of your class
that we must look for this cure
In training yourselves to cooperate
together to do things for yourselves
that one man cannot do for himself,
you are engaged in carrying out a
patriotic purpose just as noble as
though you had enlisted as Il soldier
10 shoulder your arms and march to
the front and lay down your life, if
need be, in repelling the army of a
foreign invader.
We are spending millions for forts
and navies and to maintain an army to
protect ourselves against the other
nations of the earth.
Our greatest danger is not from
foreign nations. 1t is in our midst.
is at the very heart of our political
and social life.
And you who are here to-day are
n'0neers in the great campaign which
y III result in overthrowing the cohorts
C corruption which will otherwise
destroy us
OPPOSITION A STIMULANT
1 have been told that your move
mont meets with opposition. Those
Who oppose it are most unwise. 1t is
The lesson OF all periods Of the history
of our race that reform movements.
movements for the bettertnent of man
kind. even movements which merely
rUrpOrt to be for human brtterment
md are of questionable character. have
hcen strengthened and built up and
perpetuated by opposition and per
gecutlOn.
10 greater stimulus to the growth Of
vmr movement could exist than to
lave it Systematically opposed. Such
opposition rouscS the COmbativcneSs
md aggressiveness which is in every
mans being. stimulates him to greater
effort. and encourages him to pcrsevere
until obstacles have been overcome
which would otherwise have caused
failure.
STRENGTH COMES FROM
STRUGGLE.
II i7 another law of nature that
strength comes from strenuous strug-
Gle The strong arm is the arm that
is used The strong mind is the mind
'|1t thinks The strong man is the
nHn who has developed every fibre of
i.s physical vigor by use. The strong
r1crs Of the earth are those which
hIve survived oppression and over
come great obstacles in their develop
mcrt
BE not discouraged by any condition
That may confront you