Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1906-04-14

fffH
gible results, will amount to some
thing of itself; and il will amount
to a great deal in so far As II
is taken as n first step IN the d.
r%ection of a policy Of superntend-
ence and control over corporate
wealth engaged in interstate com
mcrce, this superintendent and con
troll not 10 be exercised in "A spirit of
m~aleyoleuce toward the men who
have created the wealth, but with the
firm purpose both to do justice to
them and to see that they IN turn do
Justice to the public at large.
The first requisite in the public
servants who are TO deal IN this shape
with corporations, whether as legls-
latorS or as executives, is honesty.
This honesty can be no respecter of
persons. There can be no such thing
unilateral honesty. The danger IS
not really from corrupt corporations;
il springs from the corruption itself,
whether exercised for or against cor
poratlonS.
The eighth Commandment reads,
"Th0u shalt not steal" 1t does not
| read, "Thou shalt not steal from the
rich man." 1t 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 which denounces the
misdeeds of men of wealth and for
gets the misdeeds practiced at their
expense; which denounces bribery,
but blinds itself to blackmail; which
foams with rage if a corporation Sc
cures favors by improper methods,
and merely leers with hideous mirth
if the corporation is itself wronged.
The only public servant who can be
trusted honestly to protect the
rights Of the public against the mis-
deed of a corporation is that public
man who will just as surely protect
the corporation itself from wrongful
aggression. If a public mar is will
ing to yield to popular clamor and
do wrong to the men Of wealth OF 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 corporation.
But, IN addition to honesty, we
need sanity. No honesty will make
a public man useful if that man is
timid or foolish, if he is hot-headed
zealot or an impracticable visionary.
As we strive to reform We find that
it is not at all merely the case of an
uphill pull. On the contrary, there
is almost as much of breeching work
as of collar work; to depend only
on traces means that there will soon
be a runaway and an upset. The
men of wealth who to-day are trying
to prevent the regulation and control
of their business in the interest of
the public by the proper Government
authorities will not succeed, in my
judgement, in checking the progress
of the movement. But if they did sue
coed they would find that they had
sown the wind and would surely
reap the whirlwind, for they would
ultimately provoke the violent ex-
cesses which accompany a reform
coming by CONFUSION instead of by
natural growth.
On the other hand, the wild preach
ers Of unrest and discomfort, the wild
agitators against the present existing
order, the men who act crookedly,
whether because of sinister design or
from mere puzzle-headedness, the
men who preach destruction without
proposing any substitute for what
they intend to destroy, or who pro-
pose a substitute which would be far
worse than the existing evils-all
these men are the most dangerous
opponents of real reform. If they
get their way they will lead the peo-
pie into a deeper pit than any into
which they could fall under the pres
ent system. If they fail TO get their
way they will still do incalcuable
harm by provoking the kind of re-
action. which in its revolt against
the senseless evil of their teaching,
would enthrone more securely than
ever the very evils which their mis-
guided followers believe they are
attacking.
More imnortant than aupht alsp is