The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-11-01

vestigations on the plea that these dis turb confidence, and make the inno- cent suffer But the whole responsi- bility should be placed where it be- .longs-upon the perpetrators of mis- deeds, and not upon those who, in the discharge of the duties of their high offices, have been the means of turn ing on the light and preventing future operations of the kind Those who have trifled with the public interest, and displayed a blind disregard of the peoples rights, are inc real transgres- sors.
 It becomes daily more evident that when all our railway and Industrial corporations are known to he honestly managed, and when stockholders and investors get their due, vl'ues will De more stable. and American credit, which is now at a low ebb tl all the great financial centers of the world, will be restored to it's righlful place.
 Throughout all these disclosures of illegal methods, and wholesale grarc there is one gleam of encouragement, and that is, that pubic opinion is aroused and will insist upon clean as well as capable corporate manage ment in the future, and thus, these disclosures will result III the raising of the moral standard of corporate man agement. Meanwhile, the public is disturbed by these revelations, and wonders what financial irregularity will be brought to light next, The ac- ton of many corporate managers has seemed to indicate that they think little of violating the laws, and that, if they are broken by one higa in au- thority, or in social life, immunity must be granted; or some subordinate be made to suffer instead of them selves. If poor man commits crime, he is sent to jail Sympathy for his family may sometimes make the judge lenient as to the time of his incarceration, but however short the term, 1t generally brings sorrow and want to the family for which he is the sole provider. Thus. the innocent have to suffer with the guilty in such cases.
 In corporate matters, if a manager or controlling capitalist breaks the law, justice should punish him, as il would anyone else. The law should be no respeetor of persons.
 | Sodom and Gomorrah were destroy ed because the people broke natures laws; and this government although the best known to man, would be de- stroyed in the course of time, if the rich and interruptions were permitted to break the laws with impunlty while the poor are punished for much less serious offenses. This invidious distinction has caused those who have suffered by the corrupt and illegal practices of corporations and their managers to unload their grievances upon the president. In their com manifestations they tell him that, while many from their ranks are being sent to prison, they fail to see any of the i rich being sent there, although the evidence against them is unquestion- able. This unjust distinction, If it continues, I repeat, cannot fail to have an unsettling effect upon the American people, and may finally re- suit in something more, as this is a government of the people, for the people and by the people, and a dis crin1ination in favor of the wealthy whether corporations or individuals will not be very long permitted by the plain people, who are largely in the majority.
 lv President Roosevelt took the oath at
 his inauguration to be guided by the constitution, and as the constitution
 requires that the executive of the na-
 ton shall enforce the laws, he would have been derelict in his duty and un-
 faithful, to his oath if he had not taken the action he has, to compel
 corporations to conform to the Inter-
 state commerce and Sherman antl-
 trust laws and their amendments.
 Whenever evidence has reached him,
 through the complaints of people who
 have suffered in consequence of the
 ciolation of these laws, he has very properly handed the material received over to the attorney general to make the necessary investigation, and as in
 every case thus prosecuted the results have justified all he has done as to these, he deserves great credit. The so-called indiscrininate attacks that ! are claimed to have been made by him upon corporations and business , interests have no sound basis. So far as his Intentions go, he has only at tackled dishonesty and law-breaking. While I fully approve of what MT. foRoosevelt has done in the way of re- form, I confess I do not fully approve f of his too oft repeated passionate ut
 terances on the subject during the re- , cent period of distrust, It undoubted- lily has helped to unsettle the minds of 5 timid investors and weak-minded de- < positors The president has probably
 been little too outspoken at a time l, when silence would have been golden, i There are periods when the least said { the better; still, applaud his good in-
 tentlons and his excellent deeds, [ which cannot fail to prove fruitful in : the end We should all be willing, l therefore, to overlook his recent volu- s bility and frequent reiterations.
 z A short time ago France stood ready i. to invest large sums in American bonds and stocks But just after her first . venture in Pennsylvania railroad bondt 3 our corporation scandals filled the ali 5 with their unpleasant odor and French l capital was locked at once against ev' l erything American.
 When all the old evils have been ex. t posed, and wrongs lighted, and foreigr Q as well as home investors again seek { investments for their funds in our SC. - curities, we may rest assured that - having undergone rigid investigation