Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1908-05-08

. SiiS VI 70 Y oh0 1Ao
aries is, 1t is no worse In it's consequences
than the influence exercised by the man
Of ID great wealth or the man OF power wSd
by his lack OF sympathy with. and lack
of understanding of. still more by any
exhibition of uncompromising hostility to,
20 unite them against their fellow-Ameri-
cans who are better of in this worlds
working people that men Of means, that
men who have the largest proportion OF
the substantial comforts of life, are nee
cssarily greedy, srasping and cold-hearted,
and that they uniustly demand and APP
propriate more. than their share OF the
substance of the many. Stern condem-
and visionary who teach this untruth, and
even sterner upon those capitalists who
are in truth grasping and greedy and
~orutally ~d.sregardlful of the rights OF
others, and who by their actions teach
the dreadful lesson far more effectively
than any mere preacher of unrest; A
class grievance left too loES without
remedy breeds 'ciass consciousness" and
therefore class resentment.
The strengthening of the antitrust law'
is demanded upon both moral and eco
nomic grounds. Our purpose in strength
ening 1t is to secure more effective con-
troll by the national government over the
business use OF the vast masses of IN
dividual, and especially of corporate.
wealth, which at the present time mo
of the country; and de we beiievs the eon.
troll can best be exercised by preventing
the growth of abuses, rather than merely
by trying to destroy them when they have
already grown. In the highest sense of
the word this movement for thorough con-
troll of the business use OF this great
steer a safe middle course, which alone
can save us from a plutocratic class gov
eminent on the one hand. or a socialistic
class government on the other, either OF
which would be fraught with disaster to
our free institutions, state and national.
We are trying to avoid alike the evils
which would flow from pnvarnmant 0yCner-
ship of the public utilities by which In
t~erstate commerce is chiefly carried on,
and chaos of unrestricted individualism.
There is grave danger to our free In
situations in the corrupting influence exer-
trated in the hands of the few. we should
in sane manner try to remedy this dan
ger. in spite of the sullen opposition of
the fun purpose to protect them in all
their rights at the very time that we
require them to deal rightfully with 9TH
ers.
When with steam and electricity modern
business conditions went through the as
founding revolution which in this country
began over half a century ago, there was
at first much hesitation as to what par
ticular governmental agency should be
used to grapple with the new conditions.
years since, the effort was made to con-
troll combinations by regulating them
through the Interstate Commerce ccsnmis-
sion. and to abolish them by means OF
the antitrust act: the two remedies there
fore being In part mutually, incompatible,
duced admirable results, especially since
H. was strengthened by the Hepburn law
two years ago. The antitrust law. though
1t worked some good. because anything
is better than anarchy and complete alb
sence of regulation. nevertheless has
proved In many respects not merely in
6 the misuse of corporate power had
produced almost every conceivable form
Of abuse, and had worked the .grayest
injury to business morality and the pub
lie conscience. For a long time federal
regulation Of interstate commerce had
been purely negative, the national 1udici.
restrain the state from exercising a power
which 1t was clearly unconstitutional as
which nevertheless the national govern.
ment itself failed to exercise. Thus the
corporations monopolizing made
the law for themselves, state power and
common law being inadequate to accom-.
plish any effective regulation. and the
national power not yet having been put
extreme, and only short-sighted and utter
failure to appreciate the grossness of the
evils to which the lack Of regulation gave
rise. can excuse the well-meaning persons
who now desire to abolish the anti-trus,
law outright. or to amend 1T by simply
condernning unreasonable" combination
Power should unquestionably be lodged
somewhere in the executive branch of thu
government to permit combinations which
Will further the public interest; but 1
CARDS the great and wealthy combination.
through which most of the interstate bust
ness of today is done. the burden of prooi
nave q right to exist. No judicial tribuna
has the knowledge or the experience t
determine in the first place whether {
given combination is advisable or neces
sary in the interest Of the public. Som
body, whether a commission or a burea,
under the department of AM
| In nor. EhnH16 ha ctvan this n0uynr NJ,
personal belief is that ultimately we shat
have to adopt a national incorporation
law, though ! am well aware that thi
may be impossible at present. Over tn
actions of the executive body IN which
the power is placed the courts shoul'
ous to that obtaining in connection wit
the work of the Interstate Commerce com
mission at present. To confer this powe
merely be to carry still further the the
ory of effective governmental control q
corporations which was responsible 70
the creation of the Interstate Commerce
commission and for he enlargement 0
its powers, end for the creation of tn
bureau of corporations. The .nterstat
comLaerce legislation has worked admira
bly,. It has benefited the public; it ha
benefited honestly managed and wisel,
conducted railroads; and in spite of TIL
fact that the business of the country ha
enormously increased, the value of thi
federal legislation has been shown by tn
way in which it has enabled the fedora
@ NAS Alloo ~ DlO
nounced of the great and varied abuse
which existed in the business world TWEEN
ty years ago-while the many abuses tina
still remain emphasize the need OF fur
Their and more t~horough-going legislation
Similarly, the bureau of corporations ha
amply justified its creation. In othe
words, 1t is clear hat the principles en-
ployed to remedy the great evils In tn
business world have worked well, and the
that further commercial growth ha
brought more prominently to the surface
The powers and scope OF the Interstat
Commerce commission, and of any simiIa
body, such as the bureau of corporation.
which has to deal with the matter 4
hand, should be greatly enlarged so a
to meet the requirements of the presen
day.
The decisions Of the supreme court i
illustrate how impossible is a dual con
troll of national m The state
cannot control it. All they can do is {
control intrastate commerce, and this no,
forms but a small fraction of the COR
merce carried by the railroads throur
each state. Actual experience has show
that the effort at state control is sure I
be nullifed in one way or another soone
or later. The nation alone can act wit
effectiveness and wisdom: It should hay
the control both of the business and +
the agent by which the business ia don,
for any attempt to separate this contrc
must result In grotesque absurdity. Thj
means that we must rely upon nationf
legislation to prevent the mme
abuses that now exist and the others tha
are sure to arise unless some effcIer
governmental body has adequate power q