The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-08-21

clhmorous insistefce, now by a Rroup
 or predasory capitalists, now by n group ofs sinister anarchistic leaders and agitators, whenever a special champion Of either class. no matter now evil his general life, is acquitted
 ot some one specific crime Such q view is wicked whether applied to cap
 itailst or labor leader. to rich man or poor man. and all that have said as to desirable or undesirable citizens re-
 mains true. But we have to take this Ieeling into account when we are de- batting whether 1t is possible to get a conviction in a criminal proceeding against some rch trust magnate, many or whose actions are severely to De condeiI ned from the moral and social standpoint. but no one of whose ac- tions seems clearly to establish such technical guilt as will ensure a convic-
 ton. As q matter of expediency. in
 enforcing the law against great cor poration, we have continually to weigh
 the arguments pro ana con as to wheth- CT prosecution can successfully be entered into. and as to whether we can
 against the chief individuals in the cor poration. and if not whether we can at
 least be successful in a civil action
 against the corporation itself. Any ef- feotive action on the part of the gov- ernment is always objected to, as a matter of course, by the wrongdoers
 by the beneficiaries of tiIe wrongdoers.
 and by their champions: and often one oA euC ikhoSt cLCCtiN0 ways OI dLtHChlnk
 the action of the government is by obs
 jecling to practical action upon the
 ground that 1t does not go far enough.
 One of the favorite devices of those
 who are really striving to prevent the enforcement of these laws is to ciamor
 for action of such severity that it can
 not be undertaken because 1t will be
 certain to fail if tried. An instance of criminal prosecutions where such pros
 cautions would be certain to fail. We
 have found by actual experience that a
 jury which will gladly punish a corpo- the individual members of that corpo-
 ration if we proceed against them crim-
 inally because of those very things
 which the corporation which they di-
 case against the Licorice Trust we in-
 dicted and tried the two corporations and their respective presidents. The contracts and other transactions es- tablishing the guilt Of the corporations were made through. and so far as they were in writing were signed by, the two presidents. Yet the jury convicted the two corporations and acquitted the two men. Both verdicts could not pos
 sibly have been correct; hut apparent ly the average turyman wishes to see
 trusts broken up. and Is quite ready to fine the corporation itself; but Is very
 yond reasonable doubt" when 1t comes to sending to jail reputable member of the business community for doing
 what the business community has un-
 happily grown to recognize as we'll
 nigh normal in business. Moreover.
 under the necessary techricalities of
 criminal proceedings, often the only
 man who can be reached criminalfy
 will be some subordinate who Is not
 the real guilty party at all.
 Criminal Conduct.
 Men of large wealth have been guilty
 ~f I,t, ~ka
 point Is criminal. and their misdeeds are to q peculiar degree reprehensible, because those committing them have no excuse of want, Of poverty, of weakness and ignorsnce to offer as partial atonement. When in addition to moral responsibility these men have a legal responsibility which can be
 proved so as to impress a judge and jury, then the Department will strain every nerve to reach thems criminally
 When this Is impossible, then 1t will take whatever action will be most ef- fective under the actual conditions.
 In the last six years we have shown that there is no individual and no cor poration so powerful that he or 1t stands above the possibility of punish ment under the law.
 During the present trouble with the stock markets I have of course receiy- ed countless requests and suggestions, public and private. that I should say or " SOiltLI1NB lO ease t06 ElLualiOU- There Is a world wide financial dis turbance. It is felt in the bourses of Paris and Berlin and British consols are lower while prices of railway se- curities have also depreciated.
 On the New York stock exchange the disturbance has been particularly se- we're, most of 1t, I believe to De due to matters not particularly confined to the unconnected with any Governmental action, but 1t may we'll be that fhe de- termination of the Government In which 1t will not waiver, to punish certain maiefactors of great wealth who have been responsible for something of the troubles at least to the extent of hav- ing caused the combine to bring about as much financial stress as they pos- sibly can in order to di"credit the poll icy of the Government and thereby to secure a reversal of that policy so that they ray enjoy the fruits of their own evil doings. That they have misled many good people Into believing that Is possible. If so. I am sorry, but 1t will not alter my attitude.
 Once for all let me say that as far as am concerned for the eighteen months of my administration that remain there will be no change in the policy we have steadily pursued, nor let up in the effort to secure the honest observance of the law for regard this contest as one to determine who shall rule this goYernment+the peop.e through their governmental agents or a few ruthless and determined men whose wealth makes them particularly formidable, because they are behind the breast works of corporate organization.
 wish there to be no mistake on this Doint. It is idle to ask me not to prosecute criminals rich or poor. But desire no less emphatically to have 1t understood that we have undertaken and will undertake no action of a vim dictive type. and above all no action which will bring suffering on the in- lie as a whole. Our purpose Is to act with the minimum harshness compati- ble with obtaining our ends
 In the man of great wealth who has earned his wealth honestly and used 1t wisely we recognize a good citizen worthy of all praise. Business can only be done under modern conditions through corporations and our purpose IS to heartily favor the corporations that do well. The administration ap- praises that liberal profit for legitimate promoters and generous dividends for capital employed either in founding or an honest business venture. ful corporation activity and therefore for generally prosperous business con- ditions.
 All these are compatible with fair dealing as between man and man and rigid obedience to the law. Our aim is to help every honest man. every hon. est corporation, and our policy means expansion of business activ- ities, of honest business men and honest corporations.
 I very earnestly hope that the Iegis- lation which deals with the regulation of corporations engaged in interstate