The news-democrat. (Providence, R.I.) 1906-1909, 1907-12-03

with the same general effect. In
justice to all parties we ought prob
ably to add that IL is difficult to see
how our Interstate railways could be
operated with due regard TO the inter.
est OF the shipper and the railway
without concerted action Of the kind
afforded through these associations
This means that the law as con-
strued by the supreme court is such
that the business of the country can
not be conducted without breaking It,"
AS have elsewhere said:
''All this is substantially what have
said over and over again. Surely II
ought not to be necessary to say that
it in no shape or way represents any
hostility to corporations as such. On
the contrary, 1t means a frank recogni-
tion of the fact that combinations Of
capital, like combinations of labor, are
a natural result Of modern conditions
and Of our national development. AS
! far as in my ability lies, my endeavor
| is and will be to prevent abuse Of
power by either and to favor both SO
long as they do well. The aim Of the
national government Is quite as much
to favor and protect honest corpora
tions, honest business men of wealth,
as to bring to justice those individuals
and corporations representing dishon-
est methods. Most certainly there will
/ be no relaxation by the government
authorities in the effort to get at any
/ great railroad wrecker-any man who
+ by clever swindling devices robs in
vestors, oppresses wageworkers and
does injustice to the general public.
But any such move as this is in the
interest of honest railway operators.
of honest corporations and of those
who when they invest their small saw
| ings in stocks and bonds wish to be
assured that these will represent
money honestly expended for legitimate
| business purposes. To confer upon
| the national government the power for
which / asked would be a check upon
| overcapitaliZation. But 1t alone would
mean an increase In the value. an in
crease in the safety. of the stocks and
bonds of law abiding, honestly man
aged railroads and would render it far
easier to market their securities. i
believe in proper publicity. There has
been complaint of some of the investi-
/ cations recently carried on, but those
who complain should put the blame
where it belongs-upon the misdeeds
which are done in darkness and not
upon the investigations which brought
them to light. The administration is
! responsible for turning on the light,
but II is not responsible for what the
light showed. ! ask for full power to
be given the federal government, be-
cause no single state can by legisa-
ton effectually cope with these pow
erful corporations engaged in inter
state commerce and, while doing them
full justice, exact from them in return
full justice to others. The conditions
of railroad activity, the conditions Of
our immense interstate commerce, are
such as to make the central govern
ment alone competent to exercise full
supervision and control.
"The grave abuses in individual
cases Of railroad management in the
past represent wrongs not merely to
the general public, but. above all,
wrong to fair dealing and honest cor
! porations and men of wealth, because
they excite popular anger and dis
trust which from the very nature OF
! the case tend to include i'm the sweep
of It's resentment good and bad alike.
From the standpoint of the public l
cannot too earnestly say that as soon
IaS the natural and proper resentment
aroused by these abuses becomes in
I discriminate and unthinking it also be-
] comes not merely unwise and unfair.
! but calculated to defeat the very ends
which those feeling it have in view.
! There has been plenty of dishonest
| work by corporations in the past.
| There Will not be the slightest let-up i'm
! The effort To hunt down and punish ev-
/ cry dishonest man. But the bulk of
our business Is honestly done. In the
natural Indignation the people feel over
| the dishonesty it is all essential that
! they should not lose their heads and
] get drawn into an indiscriminate raid
| upon all corporations, all people of
wealth. whether they do well or ILL.,
! out of any such wild movement good
will not come, cannot come and never
has come. ON the contrary, the surest
way to invite reaction is to follow the
lead of either demagoguc or visionary
in Il sweeping assault upon property
values and upon public confidence,
which would work incalculable dam
age in the business world aAd would
produce such distrust of the agitators
that in the revulsion the distrust would
extend TO honest men who i'm sincere
and sane fashion are trying to remedy
the evils"
The antitrust law should not be re-
pealed, hut 1t should be made both
more efficient and more in harmony
with actual conditions II should be
So amended as 10 forbid only the kind
of combination which does harm to the
general public. such amendment TO be
lppOmuonipI by ny IN Il. ~, incident of