The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1906-08-27

pense OF weak man; and to requir
them to be fully accountable to the
public for the service which to their
own profit they render the public.
The previous congress, by the en-
actment of the Elkins law and by the
creation Of the department of CON-
merce and labor, including the bureau
OF interpretations, had enabled us to
take great strides In advance along the
path Of thus bringing the use of
wealth in business under the supervi-
sion and regulation Of the national
gOvernment-for in actual practice 1t
has proved sham and a pretense 70
say that the several states can thus
supervise and regulate it.
THE strides taken by the present
congress have been even longer in the
right direction. The enactment Of the
pure food bill and the passage of tie
bill which render effective the con-
troll of the government over the meat
packing industries are really along The
same general line as the passage of the
Interstate commerce law, and are seq
ond only to it in Importance.
Perhaps the peculiar merit of thes.
laws is best shown by the fact that
while they have aroused the deepest
anger Of the reactionaries, of the men
who make a fetish of wealth, they
have not satisfied the unwise extrem-
ist, and the present congress in achiev-
ing this merit has acted in the exact
spirit of Abraham Lincoln. who was
never to be frightened out of going
forward by the cries Of those who
feared progress, nor yet to be hurried
into the precipitate advance by the de-
mands of the crude thinking, though
often we'll meaning, men, who are not
accustomed SOLELY to distinguish be-
tween phrase making and action. To
the men who come in the latter cate
CORY all we need say is to bid them
possess their souls in peace They
have advocated action; but we have
taken action; and the fact that this
action has been sober and temperate
has been in so small degree the cause
of its far-reaching efficiency. To the
former classic the reactionaries.
who seem to fear that to deal in pro-
per fashion with the abuses of proper
ty is somehow an attack upon property
we would recall the words of Ed
mund Burke: If wealth is obedient
and laborious in the service of virtue
and public honor, then wealth is in
Its place and has its use. But if this
order is changed and honor is to be
sacrificed to the Conservation of riches.
riches, which have neither eyes nor
hands nor anything truly vital in
them, can not long survive the we'll
being of their legitimate masters. Ii
we command our wealth we shall be
rich and free. If our wealth COM
mands us we are poor indeed"
"1n addition thus to dealing with
the proper control of capitalistic
wealth congress has also taken impor-
tant steps in securing to the wage
worker certain great rights. At the
session that has just closed an employ
ers' liability law was enacted which
puts the national government in it's
proper place as regards such legisla-
ton. An eight-hour law was already
on the statute books, but, as it almost
inevitable with such laws, there has at
first been great confusion as to whose
duty it was among the different offic-
ials to enforce it. This confusion has
now been remedied and the law is in
process of thorough enforcement. IT
this enforcement demonstrates the
need of additional legislation to make
this eight-hOur law effective, shall
ask for such legislation.
u may add that next year shall
ask congress to put in the permanent
form of law the provision have made
bv executive order for securing to the
wage workers under the government
half holidays during the summer