The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-08-21


 whether we can be successful in a in civil action against the corpora ton itself, Any effective action on the part of the government is always ob- jected to, as a matter of course. by the wrongdoers, by the beneficiaries of the wrongdoers, and by their cham pions; and often one of the most eff fective ways of attacking the action of the government is by objecting to practical action upon the ground that 1t does not go far enough.
 1 One of the favorite devices of those who are really striving to prevent the enforcement of these laws is to clamor for action of such severity that it can not be undertaken because 1t will be lcertain to fail if tried. An instance of this is the demand often made for criminal prosecutions where such prosecutions would be certain to fail. We have found by actual experience that jury which will gladly punish Icorporation by fine, for instance, will acquit the individual members of that lcorporation if we proceed against them criminally because of those very things which the corporation which they direct and control has done. In a recent case against the Licorice ltrust we indicted and tried the two lcorporations and their respective pres idents. The contracts and other transactions establishing the guilt of the corporations were made through, and so far as they were in writing were signed by, the two presidents. Yet the jury convicted the two cor operations and acquitted the two men. Both verdicts could not possibly have been correct; but apparently the aver lage 1uryman wishes to see trusts broken up, and is quite ready to fine Ithe corporation itself; but is very re- Iluctant to find the facts proven be- Iyond a reasonable doubt" when it comes to sending to jail reputable member of the business community flor doing what the business com munity has unhappily grown to recog- Inize as well-nigh normal in business. Moreover, under the necessary techni- Icalities of criminal proceedings, often the only man who can be reached criminally will be some subordinate who is not the real guilty party at all
 Wealthy Criminals.
 Many men of large wealth have been guilty of conduct which from the moral standpoint is criminal, and their misdeed are to peculiar degree Ireprehensible, because those commit ting them have no excuse of want, of poverty, of weakness and ignorance Ito offer as partial atonement. When lin addition to moral responsibility (which can be proved so as to impress la judge and jury, then the depart Iment will strain every nerve to reach them criminally Where this is i'm possible, then it will take whatever ac- ltion will be most effective under the actual conditions.
 In the last six years we have shown that there is no individual and no cor Iporation so powerful that he or it stands above the possibility of punish ment under the law.
 During the present trouble with the stock market, have of course received countless requests and suggestions, public and private. that I should say or do something to ease the situation. Thereis a world wide financial disturb ance. It is felt in the bourses of Paris and Berlin and Britain consols are low CT, while prices of railway securities have also depreciated. On the New York stock exchange the disturbance has been particularly severe, most of it, believe. to be due to matters not par ticularly confined to the United States and to matters wholly unconnected with any governmental action, but it may we'll be that the determination of the government, in which, gentlemen ir will not v'aver, to punish certain male- factors oi great wealth, has been res- ponsible for something of the troubles at least to the extent of having caused these men to combine to bring about as much financial stress as they possibly can in order to discredit the policy of the government and thereby to secure a reversal of that policy so that they may enjoy the fruits of their own evil doing. That they have misled many good people into believing that there should be such reversal of policy. If so, am sorry, but it will not alter my attitude Once for all, let me say that as far as I am concerned, and for tho eighteen months of my administration that remain, there win be no change in the policy we have steadily pursued, no let up In the effort to secure the hon. est observance of the law, for I regard this contest as one to determine who shall rule this government-the people through their governmental agents, or few ruthless and determined men whose wealth makes them particularly formidable, because they hide behind the breastwork of corporate organiza- tion.
 I wish there to be no mistake on this point. It is idle to ask me not to prosecute criminals, rich or poor But I desire no less emphatleally to, have il understood, that we have undertaken and will undertake no action of vim dictive type, and above all, no action which shall infict great or unmerited suffering upon the innocent stockhold- CTS and upon the public as a whole Our purpose is to act with the mini mum of harshness compatible with ob- taining our ends. In the man of great wealth who has earned his wealth honestly and used it wisely, we recog- nize a good citizen worthy of all praise and respect. Business can only be done under modern conditions through corporations, and our purpose is tt heartily favor the corporations that dc well. The administration appreciate