The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-12-31

administration were held up in the work which 1t was doing. On the other hand. the men and the interests which were the subjects of attack were not idle. They had their partisans, guilty and innocent.
 "The guilty of course wished to de- feat the administration by any means. The innocent were those who had be- come involved with trust magnates in legitimate business transactions and to whom the attitude of the administra- tion seemed one general opposition to the whole business community. One of the great manifestations, one of the monuments in this moral progress was the passage of the railroad rate bill. It met the opposition of many of the railroads not because they were in sympathy with the trusts, for l think they in many respects had been more sinned against than sinping, but be- cause they resented that close control, that rigid supervision which the pub lie demanded in view Of the possibili- ties which the disclosure as to their past transactions revealed
 "The fight made by the administra- tion has been a noteworthy one. And now. after a victory has been won. after :hele has been introduced into the hearts of all men and especially of these leaders, these trust managers and financial opponents of the ad- ministration the fear of the law, the panic comes on. The trust magnates solidly entrenched with great finan- cial resources. are not the ones who suffer the most of it. It Is the men who have had no such unlawful or great body of business men and wage earners. This is the feature of the panic that arouses ones sympathy.
 The agents and sympathiZers and defe nders of the trusts and others, in- nocent but mistaken. now rush forward to place the blame of the present con ditions upon the administration They seek to use the panic as an argument for givng up the moral victory, which has been won. Apparently they would like a retrograde step back to the con ditions which existed five and six and ten years ago, when unhampered by statute law these trusts were building the financial bulwarks behind which they are now fighting. They rely upon the soreness and the mental strain and suffering through which all the honest business men of the community have had to pass a golden opportunity for driving home their attacks upoH the administration for paralyzing the on- ward movement toward the supremacy of the law.
 Opponents Specification.
 "I have set forth what I believe to he the real explanation of the panic. Let us examine the specifications of our opponents now, made to show that i the administration is responsible. In 1 the first place, it is said that the policy of the administration has been direct | ed for the last four years against or- | ganized capital and that 1t has there by frightened investors. I deny it. The l course of the administration has been directed against such organized capital as was violating the statutes of the United States and others. It had every 1 consideration and desire to assist organ | ized capital which was engaged in le- 1 gitimate business. It is true that the execution of the policy of the adminis- tration has involved the bringing to | tho light of public criticism the vio- lation of the law by influential and powerful corporations and their pros- | ecution. Through the investigation of | National and State tribunals, there have been revealed. as l have already | said. breaches of trust, stock jobbing over issue of stocks, and mismanage- ment in some of our largest corpor- | ations They have properly been se- verely condemned by all. Knowledge ot these things doubtless affected our cred l if in Europe and hastened the panic but those who are morally responsible for such a result are the guilty mana gers, not those who in the course oi l their official duty have made known tC l the business world the facts and com mented on them.
 "It is said the administration has ar raigned the whole business community as dishonest. I deny 1t.
 "The President has condemned the | law breakers. He has convinced those who have unlawfully accumulated enor' nous powers and capital that they are not immune. He has put the feal of the law in their hearts. They have been cute enough to attempt to pro tect themselves by giving the impres sion that his action has been directed against the whole business community If is true that the business men of oul community as a whole, are honest ant their methods are sound. The Presi
 dent has never said otherwise.
 Again it Is said that the rate bill
 for which the administration is respon
 sible caused the present panic Coul'
 anything be more absurd? The obJec
 of the rate bill was merely to bring
 the railroads under closer supervision
 of tribunal which could act upoI
 complaints of individuals suffering
 from their injustice. The immediate
 effect of its passage was the Volun
 tary reduction of rates. Subsequently
 under normal circumstances, justify
 ing 1t, the rates of the railways gener
 ally were increased. The continuance
 of the abuses of the railway manage
 ment were made by the rate bill mucl
 more difficult; but the rate bill hal
 not had the slightest effect upon thu
 legitimate business earnings of thu
 railroads. The utter hollowness in thu
 cry that the rate bill caused the pani ! is seen in the fact that those who nov venture to advance this proposition