The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-04-02

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the demands of justice are required 10
do what their fellows who are RESPONSE
BILE to the demands of justice would ne
glad to do of their own accord
Message to Congress.
In his message to congress at the be-
ginning Of the first session Of the Fifty
ninth congress, Dec. l, 1905, the president
said:
THE people of this country continue
/ TO enjoy great prosperity. Undoubtedly
there will be an ebb and flow in such
prosperity. and this ebb and flow Will
De felt more or less by all members Of
the community. both by the deserving
and the undeserving. A panic
part of the business community would
hurt the whole business community But
such stoppage of welfare, though it might
lie severe. would not be lasting. I"
Something can be done by legislation to
help the general prosperity; but no such
! help of permanently beneficial charac-
ter can be given to the less able and
less fortunate, save as the results of
policy which shall inure to the advantage
Of all industrious and efficient people
who act deCently, and this is only another
way of saying that any benefit which
comes to the less able and less fortu-
nate must of necessity come even more
TO the more able and more fortunate If
therefore the less fortunate man is moved
by envy of his more fortunate brother
TO strike at the conditions under which
they have both. though unequally. pros
peTed the result will assuredly be- while
damage may come TO the one struck at
| it will visit with an even heavier load
the one who strikes the blow. Taken
as a whole. we must all go up or so
! down together.
Yet. while not merely admitting, but
insisting upon this, it is also true that
| where there Is no governmental restraint
or supervision some of the exceptional
mon use their energies. not in ways that
are for the common good, but in ways
! which tell against this common good.
! The fortunes amassed through corporate
organization are now so large and vest
such power i'm those that WELD them as
10 make II q matter of necessity to give
TO the sOVeTeign-that is to the govern
ment. which represents the people as a
Wholesome effective power Of SuperNiS-
I ion over their corporate use In order
To ensure A healthy social and industrial
( life. every big corporation should be he'd
some sovereign power strong enough to
control its conduct. I am in no sense
! hostile to corporations. This is an age
| of combinations and any effort to pre-
vent all combination Will not only De
useless but in the end vicious, because
of the contempt for law which the fail
uTe % enforce law inevitably produces
We should moreover. recognize IN cor
dial and ample fashion the immense good
effect by corporate agencies in a coun-
try as ours, and the wealth of intellect,
ice, and therefore normally to the service
of the public. by their officers and d.
rectOrs The corporation has come TO
stay. Just as the trade union has come
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
States Cannot Regulate.
Experience has shown coEclusively
that il is useless to try to get any ade-
quate regulation and supervision of these
. rTfaNn
| regulation and supervision can only be
effectively exercised by a sovereign who's
jurisdiction is co-eXtensive with the field
of work of the corDoratiOn-that is, by
I the national government. I believe this
regulation and supervision can be obtained
/ by the enactment of law by the con-
gress. Our steady aim should be by leg
1 iSlatiOn. cautiously ana carefully under
taken. but reSoutely persevered in. to
| assert the sovereignty of the national gov
eminent by affirmative action
| 1t has been a misfortune that the ma
| tiOnal laws on this subject have hitherto
| been of negative or prohlbitlve rather
! than an affirmative kind, and still more
| that they have in part sought to pro-
hibit what could not be effectively pro-
hibited. and have in part in their pro-
! hibitions COMPOUNDED what should be al
/ lowed and what should not be allowed.
/ 1t is generally useless to try to prohiblt
all restraint In competition. whether this
/ restraint be reasonable or unreasonable;
and where it is not useless il is generally
hITtrul. w nat Is needed Is
not sweeping prohibition of every arrange
ment good or bad which may tend to
! restrict competition. but such adequate
| SUPERVISION and regulation as will pre-
vent anv restriction of competition from
! being to the detriment of the public, as
well as such supervision and regulation
| as will prevent other abuses in no way
| connected with restriction of competition
OF these abuses perhaps the chief, al
though by no means the only one, is over
ENTHUSIASTICALLY itself the result
/ of dishonest promotiOn-because of the
4 myriad evils it brings in its train; for
/ such over-ca pitalization often means an
/ initiation that invites business panic; l.
! ALWAYS conceals the true relations of the
profit earned to the capital invested. and
| ii creates a burden of interest payments
which is a fertile cause OF improper re-
duction in or limitation of wages; II
damages the small investor dlscourageS
/ thrift and encourages gambling and spec
I ulation; while perhaps worst OF all is the
1 thickness and dishonesty which IT I'M
| DIies-for harm to morals is worse than
( anv possible harm to material interests,
| and the debauchery of politics and bust
| ness nv great dishonest corporations IS
/ far worse than any actual. material evil
/ thew do the public. Until the national
/ government obtains, in some manner
which the wisdom of the congress may
suggest proper control over the big cor
porations engaged in interstate commerce
that is. over the great majority OF the
hie corporations--it will be impossible TO
urifb these evils. . .