Semi-weekly herald., 1908-12-10

the effort for all adequate control api
yet to render likely continual burst
OF action by state legislatures, whicl
cannot achieve the purpose sought for
but which can do a great deal of dam
age to the corporations without con
ferring any real benefit on the public
l believe that the more farsightet
corporations are themselves coming tC
recognize the unwisdom of the vtolen
hostility they have displayed durinl
the last few years to regulation ant
control by the national government Of
combinations engaged in Interstate
business. The truth is that we who
believe in this movement OF asserting
and exercising a genuine control, In
the public interest. over these great
corporations have to contend against
two sets of enemies, who. though nom
inally opposed to one another, are
really allies in preventing proper so
luton of the problem.
men, and the extreme individualists
among business men, who genuinely
believe in utterly unregulated business
that is, In the reign of plutocracy.
and, second, the men who, being blind
to the economic movements of the day,
believe in a movement of repression
rather than regulation OF corpora
uons. and who denounce both the
power of the railroads and the exer-
else of the federal power which alone
can really control the railroads.
Those who believe IA efficient nj.
tional control. on the otb1r hand, do
not In the least object to concentration
In business administrations. On the
contrary, they favor both. with the all
important proviso that there shall be
such publicity about their workings,
and such thoroughgoing control over
them, as to insure their being in the
interest. and not against the interest,
OF the general public.
We do not object to the concentra-
tion of wealth and administration; but
we do believe in the distribution of
the wealth in profits to the real own
ers. and in securing to the public the
full benefit of the concentrated ad
We believe that with
the concentration in administration
there can come both the advantage of
a larger ownership and of q more
equitable distribution of profits, and at
the same time better service to the
We believe that the
should be for the bene-
fit of the many; and that greed and
rascality, practiced on a large scale
should be punished as relentlessly as
II practiced on a small scale.
We do not for moment believe that
the problem will be solved by any
short and easy method. The solution
will come only by pressing various
concurrent remedies. Some of these
remedies must lie outside the domain
of all government. Some must lie
outside the domain of the federal gov
ernment But there is legislation
which the federal government alone
can enact and which is absolutely
vital in order to secure the attainment
of our purpose. Many laws are need.
ed.
There should be regulation by the
national government of the great in
terstate corporations, including sim
pie method of account keeping, public
ity, supervision of the issue of secur-
tiles, abolition of rebates and of spe-
cial privileges. There should be short
time franchises for all corporations en-.
gagged In public business; including
the corporations which get power from
water rights. There should be national
as well as state guardianship of mines
and forests. The labor legislation here.
matter referred TO should concurrent
ly be enacted into law.
To accomplish this means, of course
a certain increase in the use of-not
the creation of-power by the central
government. The power already ca
lists; 1t does not have to be created,
the only question is whether 1t shall
be used or left idle-and meanwhile
the corporations over which the power
ought to be exercised will not remain
idle.
Let those who object to the increase
in the use of the only power ayaila-
BILE. the national power, be frank. and
admit openly that they propose 10
abandon any effort to control the great
business corporations and TO exercise
supervision over the accumulation aud
distribution of wealth; for such su.
pervision and control can only come
through this particular kind of In.
crease OF power.
We no more believe in that empiri
cism which demands absolutely un
restrained indiyidualism than we dc
in that empiriclsm which clamors fol
deadening socialism which would
destroy all individual initiative and