The Lafayette advertiser. [volume] (Vermilionville [i.e. Lafayette], La.) 1865-19??, 1906-11-21
The Reform of Corporate Character

The Reform of Corporate Character.
n. o. Daily States.
No man has made a more profound
study of corporations and the cOndi-
tons produced by them in this cOun-
try than Judge Peter Grosscup, of the
Federal Circuit Court, of Chicago. In
his recent address on this subject in
Cincinnati he declared that the time
when a clerk could rise to a partner
ship had gone with the old order OF
things. and vast bodies of really
able men are constantly being rele-
gated to a subordinate state. and the
most they can hope for is to rise to he
the head or chief clerk of some divi-
sion of a great corporation. In this
connection the eminent jurist says:
"Were the corporation turned into
an institution, not of the few who avail
themselves of its looseness to plumber
all who come in contact with it, within
or without. but of the people whose
capital has created it and whose pa
trOnage must support it: were CORPORA
tions so easily over-capitalized that
that fact lone could have been meant
only for harm, made impossible: were
the labyrinthian corporation made m
possible: were tangible inducements
given to the workman, the clerk. the
employee of every kind, to secure a
proprietorship: were the corporation
made worthy of trust instead OF being
a mere shell under which ~treachery
and theft thrive, the streams OF our
great industrial life would turn back
into ways that would open up again to
the people of the country the proprle-
torship of the property of the coun-
try"
Socialism has made great progress
in this country in recent years because
a great many people believe that it
was the only effective remedy for she
conditions against which Judge Gross
cup has lodged his indictment, but sne
iurist himself believes that the right
remedy will be found in the rebuilding
of the corporations. 1t is not enough,
he contends, to make them obey the
law, but, like men, they must possess
character that will inspire confidence
and respect. However, whether OF
not the remedy be worked out along
the line he has suggested, he says there
must be action taken which will result
in the elimination of the rascaRy cOr-
porations, otherwise the remedy Of
fered by socialism will be adopted by
the people, and much sooner than most
of us expect. The conservative In
dianapolis News appreciating the
meaning and significance of Judge
Grosscup's address has this to say:
"There is no question about the re
atty of the situation. The wealth. o.
the country is diverted by a o.
wrongful manipulation by corpora
lions to the hands of a few: and sNcf
things as q protective tariff and TIN
laws in various States that aid in thu
great monopoly created by it must b'
changed SO that the people shall shar'
more adequately in the wealth the.
help create. And this is said not q
socialism says it, but as it should b
said, by those who would hand on tn
liberty they have inherited, which is
freeman's chance in the world"
It is heartening to note that men @
genuine patriotism possessing bot
! brains and foresight realize that as
result of corporate greed, ~lawbreakin
, and dishonesty conditions have bee
, produced which are fraught with grav
danger, and unless something is don
at once-something that will be g
fective and lasting the consequences I
! the country will be frightful. JudG
= Gresscup knows that it is the time I
. speak and speak. plainly. There /
. little reason to doubt that other cod
!. ageous, and patriotic men viii foll4
his example. II
w Is Ii9a3. 9slamM|. g
via So Group. u
Fl. A reliable medicine and one th'