The Washington herald., 1907-11-14
The presideut and corporations.


tive and purpose OF President Roosevelt s
corporation programme by the simple
process Of reverting 10 his speeches and
messages and gathering from these ut
terances their plain meaning. Thus the
New York Times. after rereading the
Presidents last annual message, finds
that the recommendations then submitted
were in a direction quite opposed TO
that which his policies are generally con-
nected in the public mind" Similarly.
Mr.. Roosevelt has made ready answer
10 number of his critics by merely ask
ing them TO glance at his published opin-
ions. which are az variance with current
| legends as TO Presidential policy. The
stories. aflOat in the press of a change
in Mr.. Roosevelt's attitude toward cor
porations appear 20 have no better foun-
datiOn than a realization on the part Of
the more candid of his censors that his
programme has all along been cOnstruc-
tive rather than destructive in intent as
| may be gathered from a study Of Presi-
Dental utterances during the past six
years.
Mr.. Roosevelt has from the first held
that trusts are a normal industrial de-
velopment, as he has from the first held
that they should be regulated and super
vised by the national government. These
biz aggregatiOns are an inevitable de-
velopment Of modern industrialism' he
said I'm his second annual message, and
the effort to destroy them would be futile
unless accomplished in ways that would
work the utmost mischief 10 the entire
! body polite" His present conviction that
! a Federal corporation law affords the
| best means OF regulating corporations
| doing an interstate business is a logical
| sequence Of the recommendations OF his
| earlier messages. Even his belief that
| the Sherman law is harmful in some OF
! its provisions, which has been noted as
evidence that the President had seen the
error Of his ways, antedates the message
of last December, wherein be urged its
amendments, for in the famous message
of 1905 Mr.. Roosevelt remarked the use
iessness Of trying to prohibit all restraint
on competition. whether il be reasonable
or unreasonable. and deprecated legisla-
tion Of prohibitive or negative kind. in
stead Of affirmative and constructive
legislation. Moreover. in that message he
anticipated precisely the criticism now
being made of trust prosecutions. that
they are Ineffective. by saying that events
had proved the impossibility of adequately
/ enforcing the antitrust law by incessant
appeals to the courts. or four years ef-
! fort to enforce antitrust legislation, the
! President said:
Particularly marked has been the mora3 effect Of
the prosecutions; but It is increasingly evident that
there viii be 4 very insufficient beneficial result in
the way Of economic change. The successful prose
oItion Of one devior TO eTade the law Immediately
develops another device to accomplish the sane pur-
pose. What is needed is not sweeping prohibition
Of every arrangement, good or had which may tend
10 restrict competition. but such adequate super
vision and regulation viii prevent any restriction
or competition from being 10 the detriment Of the
public. well such supervision and regulation as
viii prevent other abuses in no way connected with
restriction Of competition. OF these abuses rerhaps
| the chief. although by means the only one Is
0YerCapitazation- itself the result Of dis
honest promOtiOn-because Of the myriad evils il
brings in its train for such OTercaptslzaton often
means imitation that invites business panic. IL
always eoneeals the true relation Of the profit
| earned to the capital actually invested and il
| creates a burden Of interest payments which Is a
fertile cause of improper reduction in or limitation
OF wages; il damages the small investor disco1rares
thrift. and encourages gambling and speculation:
while perhaps worst Of AL. is the triciness and dis
| honesty which it imDlies-for harm 10 morals Is
worse than any possible harm TO material inter
ests and the debauchey Of politics and business by
great dishonest corporations is far worse than any
/ evil do fha
national government obtains in some manner which
! the wisdom Of the Congress may suggest. proper
control the big corporations engaged In inter
state commerce-that Is over the great majority Of
the big corpOTaIions-it viii be impossible 70 deal
I adequately with these evils
| We feel sure that the experience Of the
past two years in prosecuting trusts has
but confirmed the President in the opiu-
ion expressed above as TO the Ineffective
ness of mere court proceedings under a
| law admittedly too sweeping in it's prohi-
| billions 70 reach the real evils Of corporate
management; while the events Of the last
| few months, with their revelations of dis
/ honest fnanciering. eliminating in a dis
| turbance due in large part TO speculative
causes, strongly reinforce Mr.. Roosevelt :
argument for constructive corporation leg
islatlon. That the Presidents recommenda.
tions to the incoming Congress Will be in
principle the same as those outlined in
his 1905 message is evident from tie tenor
or his Provincetown and other addresses
| Of the summer. 1t may be confidently
expected that these recommendations will
not be menacing in intent or dangerous
If put into effect, for the whole tendency
Of the Presidents corporation policy on
! its legislative side is toward construc-
tive solution Of the problem Of trust reg
ulation-a solution that demands working
out at the earliest opportunity.