Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1907-12-04
PRESIDENT SMESSACE


gress says
No nation has greater resources than
ours, and think 1t can be truthfully
said that the citizens of no nation DOS
sess greater energy and Industrial abil
ity. In no nation are the fundamental
business conditions sounder than in
ours at this very moment. and 1t is
foolish when such is the case for peo
Pile to hoard money instead of keeping
1t In sound banks. for 1t is such hoard
ing that is the immediate occasion of
money stringency. Moreover us n
rule, the business of our people is con
Quoted with honesty and probity, and
this applies alike to farms and fac
tories, to railroads and banks, to all
our legitimate commercial enterprises.
In any large body of men, however,
there are certain to be some who are
dishonest, and If the conditions are
such that these men prosper or commit
their misdeeds with impunity their
example is q very evil thing for the
community. Where these men are
business men of great sagacity and Of
temperament both INSCRIPTIONS and
reckless, and where the conditions are
such that they act without supervision
or control and at first without effective
check from public opinion, they delude
many innocent people into making in.
vestments or embarking in kinds of
business that are really unsound. When
the misdeeds of these successfully dis
honest men are discovered, suffering
comes not only upon them, but upon
the innocent whom they have misled.
1t is painful awakening, whenever 1t
occurs, and naturally when it does oc-
cur those who suffer are apt to forget
that the longer 1t was deferred the
more painful it would be. In the effort
to punish the guilty it is both wise and
proper to endeavor so far as possible
to minimize the distress of those who
have been misled by the guilty. Yet It
is not possible to refrain because of
such distress from striving to put an
end to the misdeeds that are the ulti.
mate causes Of the suffering and, MS n
means to this end, where possible to
punish those responsible for them.
There may be honest differences of
opinion rs to many governmental poll
cies, but surely there can be no such
differences rs to the need of unflinch-
ing perseverance in the war against
successful dishonesty.
Interstate Commerce.
No small part of the trouble that we
have comes from carrying to an ex-
IRENE the national virtue of self reli-
ance, Of independence In initiative
and action. 1t is wise to conserve this
virtue and to provide for its fullest
exercise compatible with seeing that
liberty does not become liberty to
wrong others. Unfortunately this is
the kind of liberty that the lack of all
effective regulation inevitably breeds.
The founders of the constitution pro-
vided that the national government
should have complete and sole control
of interstate commerce. There was
then practically no interstate business
save such Us was conducted by water,
and this the national government Mt
once proceeded to regulate in thorough
going and effective fashion. Conditions
have now SO wholly changed that the
interstate commerce by water is insig-
nificant compared with the amount
that goes by land, and almost all big
business concerns are now engaged III
be but partially and impcrfectly con-
trolled or regulated by the action of
any one of the several states, such ac-
ton inevitably tending to be either
too drastic or else too lax and in either
case ineffective for purposes of justice
Only the national government can in
thoroughgoing fashion exercise the
needed control. This does not mean
that there should be any extension of
federal authority, for such authority
already exists under the constitution
In amplest and most far reaching form,
but it does mean that there should he
an extension Of federal activity. This
Is not advocating Capitalization. 1t is
merely looking facts in the face and
realizing that Capitalization In business
has already come and cannot be avoid
ed or undone and that the public at
large can only protect itself from GER
tain evil effects of this business CEN
tralization by providing better methods
for the exercise Of control through the
authority already centralized in the
national government by the constitu-
ton itself. There must be no halt in
the healthy constructive course of ac-
ton which this nation has elected to
pursue and has steadily pursued dur
ing the last six years, as shown both
in the legislation of the congress and
the administration of the law by the
department Of justice.
National License For Railroads.
The most vital need is in connection
with the railroads AS to these, in my
judgment, there should now be either
a national incorporation act or law
licensing railway companies to engage
in interstate commerce upon certain
conditions. The law should be so
framed as to give to the interstate
commerce commission power to pass
upon the future issue of securities,
while ample means should be provided
to enable the commission whenever in
Its judgment 1t is necessary to make a
physical valuation of any railroad. AS
l stated In my message to the congress
year ago, railroads should be given
power to enter into agreements SUBJ
ject to these agreements being made
public in minute detail and to the con-
sent of the interstate commerce COM
mission being first obtained. Until
the national government assumes prop
er control of Interstate commerce in
the exercise of the authority 1t already
possesses 1t will be impossible either
to give to or to get from the railroads
rull Justice. The railroads and all 9th
er great corporations will do well to
recognize that this control must come.
The only question is as to what gov.
ernmental body can most wisely eXer.
else 1t. The courts will determine the
limits within which the federal author
ity can exercise 1t, and there will still
remain ample work within each state