Albuquerque citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1907-1909, 1907-12-03

done by legislation to help the gem
eral prosperity; but no such help of
permanently beneficial character
can be given to the less able and less
fortunate save as the results of a
policy which shall insure to the ad-
vantage of all industrious and eff
cient people who act decently; and
this Is only another way of saying
that any benefit whicn comes to the
less able and less fortunate must of
necessity come ever more to the
more able and more fortunate IT,
therefore, the less fortunate man Is
moved by envy OF his more fortunate
brother to strike at the conditions
under which they have both, though
unequally, prospered, the result Will
assuredly be that while damage may
come to the one struck at, it will
visit with an even heavier load the
one who strikes the blow. Taken as
"a whole, we must all go up or go
down together.
yet, while not merely admitting,
but Insisting upon this. Ii is also true
THAI Hhere there Is no governmental
restraint or supervision some of the
exceptional men use their energies,
rot IN ways that are for the COM
mon good, but in ways which tell
against this common good. The for
tunes amassed through corporate or
snch power in thte thar WELD them,
as 10 make il a mater OF necessity
to give u the sovereign-this is, to
the government. hich represents the
people as a wholesome effective
power cf supervision over their cor
porate Use. In order to insure a
healthy social and industrial life,
every big corporation should be held
responsible by, and be accountable
to, some sovereign strong enough to
control its conduct. / am in no sense
hostile to corporations. This is an
age of combination, and any effort
TO prevent all com bination will be
not only useless, but in the end vici-
Gus, because of the contempt for
law which the failure to enforce law
inevitably produces. We should,
moreover, recognize in cordial and
ample fashion the immense good ef-
fected by corporate agencies in a
country such as ours, and the wealth
of intellect, energy and fidelity de-
voted to their service, and therefore
normally to the service of the public,
by their officers and directors. The
corporation has come to stay, just as
the trade union has come TO stay.
Each can do and has done great
good. Each should be favored so
long as 1t does good. But each should
be sharply checked where 1t acts
Sc" The makers of our ma
tional constitution provided especial
ly that the regulation Of interstate
commerce should come within the
sphere of the general government.
The arguments in favor of their TAX
ing this stand were even then over
whelming. But they are far stronger
today In view of the enormous de-
Velopment of great business agencies,
usually corporate in form. EXper-
fence has shown conclusiVely that IL
Is useless to try to get any adequate
regulation and supervision Of these
great corporations by state action.
such regulation and supervision can
only be effectively exercised by a
sovereign whose jurisdiction Is cock
tensive with the field of work OF the
corporations-that is, by the national
government. i believe that this reg
ulatton and supervision can be OBJ
tanned by the enactment of law by
the congress. our steady
aim should be by legislation. eau
lously and carefully undertaken, but
resolutely persevered in, to assert the
sovereignty of the national govern
ment by affirmative action.
This is only in form an innova-
ton. In substance Il is merely a re-
storatiqn for from the earliest time
such regulation of industrial activi,
Ties mas been recognized In the action
OF the lawmaking bodies; and all that
! suppose Is to meet the changed
conditions In such manner as viii
prevent the commonwealth abdicat-
ing the power Il has always possess
ed, not only in this country, but also
I'm England before and since this
country became separate nation. |
1T has been a misfortune that the |
national laws on this subject have !
been OF a negative or pro-
hibitive rather than ar affirmative