The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1907-12-05

To the Senate and House of Repre-
sentatives:
No nation has greater resources
than ours, and | think it can be
truthfully said that the citizens OF no
nation possess greater energy and in
dustrlal ability. In no nation are
the fundamental business condi-
'ons sounder than in ours at this
very moment; and it is foolish, when
such Is the case, for people to hoard
money instead of keeping it in sound
banks; for it is such boarding tha;
l. the immediate occasion of money
~t1ngency. Moreover, as a rule, the
business OF our people is conducted
with honesty and prObity, and this
applies alike to farms and factories.
TO railroads and banks, to all our leg
Ultimate commercial enterprises.
In any large body of men, how
ever, there are certain to be some
who are dishonest, and if the condi-
tons are such that these men pros
per or commit their misdeeds with
lmpunity, their example is a very evil
thing for the community. Where
these men are business men Of great
aagaclty and Of temperament both
Cnscrupulous and reckless. and where
jIe conditions are such that they act
without supervision or control and at
irsi without effective check from
Hdbllc opinion, they delude many in
uocent people into making invest
ments or embarking i'll kinds of bus
mess that are really unsound. When
the misdeeds of these successfully
dishonest men are discovered. suffer
Ing comes not only upon them, but
upon the innocent men whom they
have mIsled. It Is painful awak-
cnlng, whenever it occurs: and, nat
urally, when it does occur. those who
suffer are apt to forget that the Ion
ger 1t was deferred the more painful
1t would be. In the effort to punish
the guilty it is both wise and proper
TO endeavOr so far as possible to min
ImlZe the distress Of those who have
been mlsled by the guilty. Yet it is
not possible to refrain because of
such distress from striving to put an
end to the misdeeds that are the ulti-
mate causes Of the suffering, and, as
means to this end. where possible
TO punish those responsible for them.
Our steady aim should be by leeis-
lation, cautiously and carefully un-
dertaken, but resolutely- persevered
IN, to assert the sovereignty of the
National Government by affirmative
action
Interstate Commerce.
No small part of the trouble that
we have comes from carrying to an
extreme the national virtue Of self
reliance, of independence in initiative
and action. 1t is wise to conserve
this virtue and to provide for its
fullest exercise, compatible with see
ing that liberty does not become Il
liberty to wrong others. Unfortu-
nately, this Is the kind of liberty that
the lack of all effective regulation
inevitably breeds. The founders of
the Constitution provided that the
National Government should have
complete and sole control of inter-
state commerce. There was then
practically no interstate business
save such as was conducted by water,
and this the National Government
at once proceeded to regulate in
thoroughgoing and effective fashion.
Conditions have now so wholly
changed that the interstate commerce
by water is insignificant compared
with amount that goes by land, and
almost all big business concerns are
now engaged in interstate commerce.
As a result, it can be partially and
iaperfectly controlled or regulated
by the action of any one Of the sew
eral States; such action inevitably
tending to be either too drastic or
else too lax. and in either case inef-
fective for purposes of justice. Only
the National Government can In
thoroughgoing fashion exercise the
needed control This does not mean
that there should be any extension of
Federal authority, for such authority
already exists under the Constitution
in amplest and most far-reaching
form; but it does mean that there
should be an extension of Federal
activity. This is not advocating cen
tralization. 1t is merely looking facts
in the face, and realizing that cen
tralization in business has already
come and cannot be avoided or un-
done, and that the public at large
can only protect itself from certain
evil effects of this business centrail-
zafion by providing better methods
for the exercise of control through
tse authority already centralized in
t!ss National Government by the Con-
stitution itself. There must be no
halt in the healthy constructive
course Of action which this Nation
has elected to pursue, and has stead
ilY pursued. during the last six years,