Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-05-31

remedial laws are demanded by the
shipping public
The admirable national legislation
Of recent years. in taking away from
me railroads the power of giving Illegal
favor. has taken away from them one
lCf the Legitimate methods by which
they used To protect themselves from
improper attack: and it is therefore
necessary that upright public servants
should be as Vigilant to protect them
against harm as to prevent them from
doing harm. Undoubtedly many high
lOtiicCrs among the railroad men have
followed the extremely unwise course
ECf endeavoring TO defeat the enactment
iOf proper laws for their own control.
land Of endeavoring to thwart. obstruct,
, and bring into discredit the admins
tration OF the laws But the folly of
some of their number in no way alters
our duty. nor the wisdom of perform
, ing this duty in a spirit of absolute
justice alike to the railroad. the ship
, Iper, and the general public.
Finally, friends. let us never forget
that this is not merely matter of bus
mess, but also Il matter of morals. The
. success of our whole system of gov
. eminent depends upon discriminating
between men, not with reference 20
! whether they are rich or poor, whether
\ they follow one occupation or another,
E but With reference solely to whether
they act as honest and upright citizens
should act.
Keep Out of Politics.
Let the local attorneys of the big
roads keep out of politics; and wnen
" they have to appear before the national
or any state legislature let their names
= be put on a special register, and LEI
u their business be above-bOard and open
u There are blackmailers in public life
and the citizen who is honest will Wal
e against the man who tries to black
" mail a railroad or a big corporation
with the same stern determination Il
punish him as against the man VIII,
corruptiy favOrs such corporation. Blu
~ let the railroad man remember that II
II purchase immunity in wrong-dOing O
u to defeat blackmail by bribery is thu
III worst and most shOrt-sighted of poll
- cies. Let the plain people insist on tn
one hand on governing themselves an
on the other hand on doing exact jus
tice to the railways.
LET the big railroad man scrupu
lousy refrain from any effort to il
huence politics or government save a
it is the duty of every good citizen /
legitimate ways to try to influence pc
o itics and government; let the people a
whole. in their turn. remember tina
. it is their duty TO discriminate in tn
- sharpest way between the railway ma
), who does well and the railway ma
- who does i'll; and. above all, to remen
Der that the irreparable moral harr
d done to the body polite by corruptio
= is just as great, whether the corruptio
g, takes the form of Matchmaking a hi
:: corporation or of cOrruptly doing II
bidding What we have 70 demand
ourselves and in our public servant
is honesty-honesty to all men; an
" if we condone dishonesty because W
a think it is exercised in the interests {
the people. we may rest assured thu
the man thus showing it lacks only II
70 opportunity 10 exercise it against ii
e interests of the people The man wi
le on occasion will corruptly do what
wrong in the interests of big corpo
alton is the very man eager to blac
mail that corporation as the opport
nifty arises. The man who is on occ
sion a corruptionist. is apt. when Il
gust of popular feeling blows hal
against the corporations he has &C
ruptly served, to. be the loudest, mo
RECKLESS. and most violent among tho
who denounce them. Hunt such M;
out of public life Hunt him out as l
morselessly if he is a blackmaiier
if he stands corruptly for special pr
ilege.
Honesty IL First.
Demand honesty-absolute, unfiinc
ing honesty-together with courage n
common sense, in public servant and
- business man alike. Make it evide