The Washington herald., 1908-02-01

corporation whose methods and manage
meut he knows to be- corrupt. and stock
holders are bound 10 try to secure honest
management or else are estOpped from
complaining about the proceedings the
government finds necessary in order 10
compel the corporation 10 obey the law.
There has been ln the past grave wrong
done innocent stockholders by OVerCapi-
talfZdtiDn. srOCk-W1 teTiUg, StOCh-1 -1DbbiuE.
stock-manipulation. This we have sought
TO prevent first, by exposing the thing
done and Furnishing the offender when
any existing law had been violated, sec
Oud, by recommending the passage OF
laws which would make unlawful similar
practices for the future. The public men,
lawyers. and editors who loudly proclaim
/ their sympathy for the innocent stock
holders when a great law-defying cor
p0TItICn ls punished, are the nTsJ 10 pro-
test with frantic yanemence against all
efforts by law 10 put "a stop To the prac-
tees which are the real and ultimate
sources of the damage alike 20 the stock
holders and the public. The apologists
of successful dishonesty always declalm
It, OU the ground that any such effort
Will "uusettle bus ness i IS they who
/ by their acts have unsettled business;
and the very men raising this cry spend
hundreds Of thousands Of dollars IN se-
curing, by speech, editorial. book, or
pamphlet. the defense Gf mlsstatemeutS
Of what they have done, and yet when
public servants correct their misstate-
meuts by telling the truth they declalm
against them for breaking silence. lest
/ values be deprecated They have hurt
honest business men, honest working
men, honest farmers and now they clam
/ or against the truth being told
( The keynote Of all these attacks upon
/ the EFFORT 20 secure honesty iu business
and ia politics is well expressed iu brazen
protests against any effort for the moral
regeneration of tine business world, on
I the ground that it is unnatural unwar-
ranted. and injurious and that business
panic Is the necessary penalty Tor such
effort 10 secure business honesty The
morality of such "a plea is precisely as
great as If made on behalf OF the men
caught in a gambling establishment when
3 that gambling establishment is Talded by
the police. If SuCh words mean anything
/ they mean that those whose sentiments
/ they represent stand against the effort TO
bring about a moral regeneration of buSt-
ness which viii prevent a repetition or
the Insurance, banking, and street rail-
I road scandals in New York. repetition
/ Of the Chicago and Alton deal, repetl-
I ton Of the combination between certain
/ professional politicians, certain PROBES
I sIOndl labor leaders, and certain hiE
I fu4uCieTS from the disgrace of which
/ San Francisco has just been rescued, a
J repetition or the successful effort by the
+ Standard oil people To crush out every
/ competitor, to oveTawc the common car
{ rleTs, and 10 establish monopoly which
/ treats the public with contempt which
I the public deserves SD long as II permits
men Of such principles and such sentI-
meuts 90 aVCW and act on them with I'a-
puuiJy. The OutCry against stopping dis
/ honest practices among WrOngdoeTS who
happen 10 be wealthy is precisely similar
/ To the outcry raised against every effort
. for cleanliness and deceucy IN city gov
. eminent because. f0rS0Uth, IL viii hurt
: business. The same OUtcry is made
{ against the Department Of Justice for
/ prosecuting the heads OF colossal corpora
/ tons that has been made against the
. men who IN San Francisco have prCse-
cuted with impartial severity the wrong
dOers among business men. public Off
4 Cials. and labor leaders alike The prin-
CIple is the same In the two cases Just
as the hlackmailer and bribe giver stand
/ on the same evil eminence of IDfany, 50
( the man who makes an enormous fortune
by cOrrupting legislatures and municipal
/ tiles and fieecing his stockholders and the
public. stands on the SAM moral .evel
with the creature who fattens on the blood
money of the gambling house and the
saloon. Moreover. In the last analysis
/ both kinds of corruption are far more
intimately connected than would at first
sight appear, the WTOngdOIng is al not
tom the same. Corrupt business and cor
rupt politics act and react with ever IN
! CreasiuE debasement. one on the other,
the corrupt head of a corporation and the
corrupt labor leader are both in the same
degree the enemies of honest corpora
tons and honest labor unions. the rebate
taker the franchise tTaffickeT the manip-
UlatoT of securities. the purveyOr and pro-
teCtor of vice. the blackmaiiing ward
boss, the ballot-boX stufter, the dema-
+ goguc, the mob leader, the uired bully
and mankilIer-all alike work at the same
web of corruption. and all alike should
be abhoTTed by honest men.
Deserves To BE Hurt.
The business which is hurt by the
movement for honesty is the kind Of busi-
ness which. in the long run, II pays the
country to have hurt. II is The kind of
! business which has tended to make the
very name high finance a term Of scan
dal TO which all honest American men of
! business should join in putting an end.
The special pleaders for business dishon-
esty in denouncing the present admin
istratiou for enforcing the law against
the huge and corrupt corporations which
have defied the law, lSO denounc2 II Tor
endeavOTing TO secure sadly needed IaD0I
legislation. such as "a fdT-TeaChluE law
Imaking employers liable for injuries tC
their employees. It Is meet and fit that
the apologists for corrupt wealth should
oppose every effort TO relieve weak anC
helpless people from crushing misf0r
tune brought upon them by injury in tht
business from which they gain a bare
livelihood The burden should be listrib
uted It is hvpOcriticaI baseness 20 speak
Of q girl who works in a factory where
the dangerous machinery is unprotected
as having the right freely u contracj
| to expose herself to dangers to life anC
limb She has no alternative bur 70 suffer
want or else TO expose herself to SucT
dangers. and when she loses a hand or j,
otherwise manned or disfgured for life
il is a moral wrong that the whole bur
/ den of the risk necessarily incidental [,
the business should he placed with crush
ing weight upon her weak shoulders. ant
all who profit by her work escape scot
free This is what opponents of a Jus
employers liability law advocate and i
/ is consistent that they should USUALLY
also advocate immunity for those mos
dangerous members of the criminal class
the criminals Of great wealth.
Our opponents have recently been bit
! terly criticising the two judges referred
/ To in the accompanying communication
! from the Standard Oil Company and tho
Santa Fe Railroad for having imposed
heavy fines on these two corporations
| and yet these same critics of these tw,
, judges exhaust themselves in denOuncinl
/ the most respectful and cautious discus
sion of the official action of a judge
which results in immunity to wealthy an,
[ powerful WrOngdOers. Most certainly j
behOOVeS Us all to treat with the utmOS