The Norfolk weekly news-journal. (Norfolk, Neb.) 1900-19??, 1907-08-23

and to a natural ambition on the part
Of all to get it's full share from the
prevalent abundance.
There can be little ground for any
contention that the country wants
change from this present prosperity.
All will agree that things are flourish.
ing and that no step should be taken
which will in any way tend to impair
this prosperity. For that reason the
following paragraph from President
Roosevelts Proyincetown, Mass, ad.
dress should be given prominence by
the nations wellwishers and should
be given serious consideration and
weight by all good citizens, including
those who would Unfortunately at
tack all corporate enterprises with ad
verse legislation merely to crafty an
appetite for the blood of wealth:
81 wish there to be no mistake on
this point. 1t is idle to ask me not to
prosecute criminals, rich or poor. But
| desire no less emphatically to have
1t understood that we have undertaken
and will undertake no action of vim
dictive type, and above all no action
which shall inflict great or unmerited
suffering upon the innocent stockhold-
ers and upon the public as whole.
Our purpose is to act with the mini
mum of harshness compatible with
obtaining our ends.
"In the man of great wealth who
has earned his wealth honestly and
used it wisely we recognize a good
citizen worthy of all praise and re-
spect. Business can only be done UNI
der modern conditions through corpo-
rations. and our purpose Is to heartily
favor the corporations that do well.
THE administration appreciates
that liberal but honest profit for legit-
innate promoters and generous divi-
dends for capital employed either in
founding or continuing an honest bust
ness venture are the factors necessary
for successful corporate activity, and
therefore for generally prosperous
business conditions.
"All these are compatible with fair
dealing as between man and man and
rigid obedience to the law. Our aim
is to help every honest man, every
wi poldJloh, anu Jul pOliNS
means in it's ultimate analysis a
healthy and prosperous expansion of
business activities of honest business
men and honest corporations"
This, the most conservative feature
in the presidents address, while a
repetition of what he has often said
before, is particularly important at
this time in view of the proof which
has been given during the past year
that portions of the public easily mis-.
interpret an administrative attack
upon illegal and corrupt capital com
binations and trusts for an attack
upon all capital and all large corpo
rate institutions.
The tone of the presidents address
es a year ago was for equal railroad
rates" As a result practically every
Legislature in the nation enacted laws
for, not "eQual" rates but for lower
rates. Whether this legislation was
justified or not has not yet been
proved, excepting by the Wisconsin,
state commissions Investigations
which point to excess in trimming in
comes. States went into this class oil
legislation in a vindictive way, rather
than in a logical way and with, as
the president puts it, "a minimum OF
harshness compatible with attaining
desired ends"
The president in his speech this
week renews his declarations that al
illegal trusts and others guilty of law
violations shall be punished. This at
titude will meet with approval be
> cause laws are made to be obeye(
and officials are elected to enforce
them. But in order that innocent
stockholders may not suffer losses
: and in order that the country's pros
perity may not be checked, the presi
dents pledge that no vindictive actor
shall be taken by him should be borne
in mind by the public at large in Its
views and dealings For the public
:" has only recently seen movements 70,
I reform along certain set lines ge
away with the country and result il
i illogically vindictive action.
The president makes another appea
i for a greater concentration of powe
, in the federal government, both 70
e the regulation and supervision of in
L terstate commerce and for supervision
e of all large corporations. He woul,
q have the federal government instea,
X of the states take charge of incorpc
rating processes. His theory is tina
n those affairs which concern purel
$ one locality may be handled in tina
J. locality but that those matters havin
s. to do with the entire nation ought, il
d justice both to the public at large an
a to institutions themselves, to be unde
d the eye of the one central government
d II is this thaOrv that railway nreS