Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1907-08-21


none of the conditions of modern bus
mess existed. They are wholly new
aud we must create new agencies 10
deal effectively with them. There Is
no objection in the minds of this peo-
pie to any mans earning any amount
of monev If he does II honestly and
fairly. IL he gets il as the result of
special skill and enterprise, as q re-
ward Of ample service actually rem
dered. But there is growing deter
mination that no man shall amass
great fortune by special privilege, by
chicanery and wrong doing. so far as
1t is in the power of legislation 10 pre-
vent; and that the fortune when
amassed shall not have a business use
that is anti-social. Most large cor
porations do a business that is not
confined to any one state. Expert
ence has shown that the effort To con-
trol these corporations by mere state
action can not produce wholesome re-
suits. In most cases such effort fails
TO correct the real abuses OF which
the corporation Is or may be guilty,
while in other cases the effort is apt
to cause either hardship. to the cor
poration itself, or else hardship 10
neighbOring states which have not
tried to grapple with the problem In
the same manner; and of course we
must be as scrupulogs to safeguard
the rights of the corporations as to
exact from them in return full
measure OF justice to the public. |
believe in a national Incorporation
law for corporations engaged in inter
state business. / believe furthermore,
that the need for action Is most press
ing as regards those corporations
which, because they are common car
riers, exercise a quasi-public function;
and which can be completely CON
trolled. in all respects. by the federal
government. by the exercise of the
power conferred under the interstate
commerce clause, and, IL necessary,
under the post road clause, of the
constitution. During the last few
years we have taken marked strides
in advance along the road of proper
regulation of these railroad corpora
tlons; but we must not stop In the
work. The national government should
exercise over them a similar superVis-
ion and control to that which II eXer-
cises over national banks. We can
do this only by proceeding farther
along the lines marked out by the
recent national legislation.
In dealing with any totally new set
Of conditions there must at the outset
be hesitation and experiment. such
has been our experience In dealing
with the enormous concentration OF
ness. Not only the legislatures, but
the courts and the people need to
be educated gradually so that they
may see what the real wrongs are and
what the real remedies. Almost eV-
cry big business concern is engaged
In interstate commerce and such
concern must not be allowed by
dexterous shifting of position, as has
been toe often the case I'm the past. to
Baf- lxf a
to state or to nation. The American
the need OF control over these great
aggregations OF capital especially
where they had a monopolistic ten
deney, before they became quite clear
as to the proper way of achieving the
control. Through their representa-
tives In congress they tried two rem
at least as int, Seted by the courts,
contradictory. N)n fhe one hand. un
der the antitrust law the effort was
made to prohibit all combination,
whether Il was or was not hurtful or
beneficial to the public. on The other
hand through the interstate COM
merce law a beginning was made In
exercising such supervision and con-
troll over combinations as To prevent
their doing anything harmful to the
body polite. The first law, the so
called sherman law. has filled use
ful place, for IL bridges over the tran
sition period until the American peo-
pie shall definitely make up its mind
that Il sill exercise over the great
corporations that thorough going and
radical control which il Is certain ul-
timately 10 find necessary The Erin-
ciple OF the sherman law so far as IL
prohibits combinations which, wheth-
er because of their extent or Of their
character, are harmful to the public
must always be preserved. Ultimate
~, and | hope with reasonable speed,
the national government must pass
laws which, while Increasing the SUI
pervisory and regulatory power of the
government, also permits such useful
combinations as are made with abso-
lutte openness and as the represent
atives OF the government may pre-
viously approve. But II Will not be
nossible To permit such combinations
save as the second stage in course
Of proceedings Of which the first
stage must be the exercise of far
more complete control by the ma
tiOnal government
In dealing with those who offend
against the antitrust and interstate
commerce laws the department of JUS
tice has to encounter many and great
difficulties. often men who have
been guilty Of violating these laws
have really acted in Crimiudl taSnlou,
and II possible should be proceeded
against criminally. and therefore II Is
advisable that there should be
clause in these laws providing for
such criminal action. and for punish
ment by Imprisonment as well as bv
fine. But. as o. we'll known, Ia a
criminal action the law Is strictly
construed IN favor Of the defendrnt.
and Ia our country, at least, both
Judge and jury are far more inclined
10 consider his rights than they are
the interests Of the general public.
while In addition u Is always true that
a mans general practices may be so
bad that civil action VIII lie when
% may not be possible To convict him
OF any one criminal act There is un-
fortunately a certain number Of our
fellow countrymeu who seem To accept
the view that unless man can be
proved guilty Of some particular
crime he shall he counted a gucd Citi-
zen. no matter how Infamous the life
ne has led. no matter how pernicious
his doctrines OF his practices. This is
the view announced from time L. time
with clamorous insistencc, now by
group Of predatory capitalists. now by
"A group of sinister anarchistic lead
ers and agitatcrs, whenever a special
champion Of either class. no matter
how evil his general life. is acquitted
Of some one specific crime. such
view Is wicked whether applied 20
capitalief or labor leader. tn rich man