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

but, ill the distant future, the world at large will remember him as one who dared to suffer under unjust denunci- ation for the sake of right, and even now the great mass of the people are with him in his efforts to improve and purify business conditions.
 Those capitalists who have lost money largely by this years decline in prlces of stocks, and the monetary dis turbance, are naturally bitter and re- Sentful; but even the majority of such, down in their hearts, grant that in principle President Roosevelt is doing his plain duty, though in his speeches he may have said too much too often If what he has done is wrong, it is the fault of the law, for he has urged no greater punishment than the enforce ment of the lew, But the man would be daring, indeed in the face of the exposures already noted, who would presume to say that the law is unjust. It aims at equal justice for all, and we are law abiding people.
 In view of all the wrong doing in corporation management it must not, however, be forgotten that the ma jority of our corporations are ably and honestly managed in the intorost of the stockholders. It is net surprising that black sheep have crept into some of them, for a certain percentage of peo- pie in every walk of life and every as sociation, church or social club are bad at heart, and show up in their true colors, when subjected to tho tempta- tion to commit wrongs which will tend to their personal advantage, The as sumption that now prevails, that all corporation management is dishonest, is, thereforn, unjust and has been causing much of the hysteria that has prevailed in Wall street and elsewhere.
 To protest minority stockholders cs- pecially in the interstate railroads, tbev should have at leagt one repre- sentative in the board of directors, and he should be elected by the minority at cach annual meeting. If such d. rector was eool-headed, honest busi- hega r1aa, certain abuses, which have been prevalent in the past, could not have occurred and would be prevented ia .he future.
 It is much to be regretted that to aid personal schemes, some of the men in power, even in some of our large national banks, have resorted to meth ods which have caused loss Of conf denoe in them, which resulted in their practically under comptll- sion, as officers and directors It Is almost needless to say that, of all cor porations, our national banks should be the last to be used for illegal plr~ poses, or to promote personal gain or speculatiors
 When man in power inperils the solvency and good reputation of one of our banks, he is public enemy, and as mean and guilty as one who attacks the virtue of virtuous wo- man. 10 destroy confidence in that woman and her good name is to do her an irreparables wrong. Destroy confidence in a bank and you destroy that which is one of the cornerstones of business prosperity. Those who in- vest in railroad Stocks, or stocks of corporations, risk only the cost of their investment, but the holder of record of national banl1c stock Is liable for an additional amount equal to the par val ue of his holdings.
 Publicity is the greatest safeguard of the prosperity of any corporate en- terprse, and the best preventive of irregularities and frauds Many men will do in secret what they would fear and refuse to do under the public eye and if hitherto secret ways are, In the future, made known, and seen of all men, there will be less law breaking and unfaithfulness among many class es of business men in high places.
 This doctrine of publicity l have preached for years, and it was the topic of an address delivered before the wharton School of Political Econ cmy in the University of Pennsylvania eighteen months ago I saw then what was going on in corporate corruption ana grating, and railroad rehating but, of course, had no tangible evi- dence or legal proof of these misdo- ings.
 During the intervening time, how ever, so much of this came to light that there was no alternative for the national government, as well as many of the states, but to take drastic ac' ton to stop these evils, and probe righ' and left to locate and convict those responsible for them. President Roose' welt led the way to this laudable end
 He is not in favor of persecution, how ever; but he is in favor of the prose cution of those known to be guilty and I firmly believe that his courage ous stand In this movement to correct and punish corporate abuses will over shadow, in the history of his presiden' cy, all his other achievements.
 Remember, he would punish only the guilty and protect property interests in every way possible, so that the in nocent may not suffer with the guilty or at least suffer as little as possible.
 The lawyers engaged to defend wealthy corporate wrongdoers may
 sometimes prevent their conviction ant punishment; but the people are en' titled to the protection which comes
 fror, an equal administration of jus
 tict.
 In these days the truth of the bibh cal saying, that "the wicked flourish
 like a green bay tree, but they shall bt cut down." has become evident to u! in certain instances applicable to cor.
 pcrations.
 Some ancient cities and empires, in
 cluding the great Roman empire, wert rdined bt the lawlessness and unscru
 pulolpness of their rich men-the grea
 oppressors of those days-and oui
 America was fast falling too much un der control of large corporation and