Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1907-12-04

but insisting upon this, II Is also true
that where there is no governmental
restraint or supervision some of the
exceptional men use their energies
not in the ways that are for the com
mon good, but in ways which tell
against this common good. The for
tunes amassed through corporate or
g%anization are now so large, and vest
such power in those that WELD them,
as to make II a matter of necessity to
give to the sovereign-that is, to the
government. which represents the peo-
pie as a Wholesome effective power
of supervision oVer their corporate
use. In order to insure a healthy So
Ella and industrial life. every big cor
poration should be held responsible
by. and be accountable TO, some SOW
ereign strong enough to control its
conduct. / am in no sense hostile to
corporations. This is an age of com
bination, and any effort to prevent all
combinations will not only be useless,
but In the end vicious. 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
effected by corporate agencies in a
county, such as ours, and the wealth
Of in4ellect. mercy, M tdelity de-
voked TO their service, and therefore
ndfmally to the service OF the pubic,
bNrheir officers n directors. The
corporation has come to stay. just as
the trade union has come to stay.
Each can do and has don great good
Each should be favored so long as it
does good. But each should be
sharply checked where it acts against
law and Justice.
The makers of our national consti-
tuition provided especially that the re-
gulation Of interstate commerce
should come within the sphere Of
the general government. The argu-
ments in favor OF their taking this
stand were even the overwhelming.
But they are far stronger today, in
view Of the enormous development Of
great business agencies. usually cor
porate in form. Experience has
shown conclusively that it Is useless to
try to get any adequate regulation
and supervision Of these great corpo-
rations by state action. such regula-
ton n supervision can only be ef-
fectively exercised by a sovereign
whose Jurisdiction is COeNtensive with
the field work OF the corporations
that is. by the national government.
I believe that this regulation and SUI
pervision can be obtained by the en-
actment of law by congress.
our steady aim should be by leg.
islation. cautiously and carefully un-
%dertaken. but r%esolutely preserved in,
to Assert the sovereignty of the ma
tional government by affirmative ac-
ton.
This is only in form an innova-
tion. In substance IL is merely a
restoration: for from the earliest time
regulation of industrial activi-
ties has been recognized I'm the action
of the lawmaking bodies: and all that
/ propose j. 20 meet n changed con
ditions I'm such as will pre-
vent the commonwealth abdicating
the power IL has always possessed,
not only in this country, but ais In En-
gland before and since this country
became a separate nation.
1T has been a misfortune that the
national laws on this subject have
hitherto been Of a negative or prohi-
bitive rather than an affirmative kind,
and still more that they have i'm part
to prohibit what could not he
prohibited. and have in part
in their prohibitions co~nfounded what
be and what should
not be allowed. II Is generally
useless to try to prohibit all restraint
competition. whether this restraint
be reasonable or unreasonable. and
where II Is not useless II Is generally
The successful prosecution
of one device to evade the law inn
NEN NA1NHHL
to accomplish the same purpose.
what IL needed is not sweeping prohi-
bition Of every arrangement. good or
bad. which MAY tend to restrict COM
petition. mi such adequate s%upervis-
and regulation as will prevent any
restriction Of competition from being
to the ~detrVment Of the public, as vel
such supervision and regulation as
viii reven other abuses In no way
connected with restriction OF competi-
7 have called YOU attention IN
these quotations to What I have al
ready said because ] am satisfied that
IL Is the duty Of the national gov
eminent to embody IN action the prln-
thus expressed
No small part o. the trouble that
We have comes from carrying to an
extreme the national virtue Of s~elf-re-
lance. OF Independence In initiative
and action. IL Is wise Co conserve
this virtue and 10 provide for hs
fullest exercise, compatible with see
ing that liberty does not become .
liberty 90 wrong others. Unfortunate
Ia this b. the Kind OF liberty that the
lack OF All effective regulation neNi-
tabiv breeds. The founders Of the
constitution provided that the national
government should have complete and
sole control Of Interstate commerce
was then practically no Inter
state business save sucn as was con