The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1908-02-06

place TO prevent its doing dire evil to
the republic, and in the next place TO
avoid the ,vindietive and dreadtui Faui,
calism which, if left uncontrolled, IT is
certain in the end to arouse. sweeping
attacks upon all property, upon all men
Of means, without regard to whether they
knell of the republic and such attacks
become inevitable If decent citizens per-
NIT those rich men whose lives are cor
rupt and evil to domineer in swollen
pride, unchecked and unhindered, over
the destinies of this country. We act III
no vindiCtive spirit, and we are no re-
SpeCters of persons. If labor union
does wrong, we oppose 1t as hrmly as
we oppose corporation which does
wrong; and we stand equally stoutly LOT
the rights of the man of wealth ana TOT
the rights of the wage-worler We seek
to protect the property of every man VINO
acts honestly, of every corporation that
wealth honestly accumulated
and honestly used. We seek TO stop
wrong doers only so far as is necessary
to achieve this end.
Campaign of Lawhreakers
Against Governments Policy
There are ample material rewards for
those who serve with fidelity the mann
mon of unrighteousness; but they are
dearly paid for by the people who per
init their representatives, whether in pub
lie life, in the press, or in the colleges
where their young men are taught, to
preach and to practice that there Is one
law for the rich and another for the poor.
The amount of money the representatives
of certain great moneyed interests are
willing to spend can be gauged by thelr
recent publication broadcast throughout
lantic to the Pacific, of huge advertise
ments attacking with envenomed bitter
ness the administrations policy OF
warning against successful dishonesty,
,nt,a NNl Nfr, ~ VNl
books prepared with the same object;
while they likewise push the circulation
of the writings and speeches OF men Wno'
whether because they are misled, or Pc
cause, seeing the light, they yet are will
ing to sin against the light serve these
their masters of great wealth to the cost
of the plain people: The books ana
pamphlets, the c9rtrolled Newspapers tfe
which l refer, are usually and especially
in the interest of the Standard Oil Trust
and of certain notorious rallroad com
binations, but they also defend other in
dividuals and corporations of great
wealth that have been guilty of wrong
doing 1t is only rarely that the men re-
sponsible for the wrongdoing themselves
speak or write. Normally they hire oth-
ers to do their bidding, or find others VINO
will do it without hire. From the rail-
road-ratc law to the Pure-food law, every
measure for honesty in business tnat haSs mas
been opposed by these men on It's pas
sage and in its administration with every
resource that bitter and unScrupuiouS
craft could suggest and the command OF
almost unlimited money secure. But for
the last year the attack has been mace
with most bitterness upon the actual az az
ministration of the law especiahllyt h,t
through the department or justice, put
also through the Interstate commerce
Commission and the bureau of corpora
tions. The extraordinary violence or the
assaults upon our policy contained IN
editorials articles. a0
Vertisements, and pamphlets ana tne
enormous sums of money spent in these
various ways. give fairly accurate
measure of the anger and terror which
our public actions have caused the cor
rupt men of vast wealth to feel in the
very marrow of their being. The attack
is sometimes made openly against US lor
enforcing the law, and sometimes with
certain cunning, for not trying TO en-
fore it in some other way than that
which experience shows to be practical
One of the faVorite methods of the lat
ter class of assailant is to attack the ad-
ministratiOn for not procuring the I'M
prsonment instead of the flne OF oHend-
ers under these antitrust laws. The man
making this assault is usually either
prominent lawyer or an editor who taxes
his policy from the financiers and his
arguments from their attorneys. II the
former he has defended and advised
many wealthy malefactors, and he knows
well that, thanks to the advice of lawyers
like himself. certain kind OF modern
corporation has been turned into an ad-
mirable instrument by which to render IT
well-nigh impossible to get at the head
of the corporation, at the man who IS
really most guilty. When we are ape
to put the real wrongdoer in prison, TINS
is what we strive to do; this is what we
have actually done with some very
wealthy criminals. who, moreover, repre-
Sented that most baneful of all alliances,
the alliance between the corruption OF
organized politics and the corruption of
high finance. This is what we have done
in the Gaynor and Greene case, IN the
case Of the misapplication of funds in
connection with certain great banks In
Chicago, in the land-fraud cases, where,
as in other cases likewise. neither the
highest political position nor the posses
sion of great wealth, has awaited TO save
the offenders from prison. The federal
government does scourge sin; 1t does pa
sinners fear; for it has put behind the
bars with impartial severity, the powerful
tinancier, the powerful politician, the rich
land thief the rich contractor-all, no
| matter how high their station. against
whom criminal misdeeds can be proved
| All their wealth and power can not pro-
tect them. But it often. happens that the
| effort to imprison given defendant Is
| certain to be futile. while it Is possible
| to fine him or to fine the corporation OF
which he is head; so that, In other words
the only way of furnishing the wrong is
by finng the corporation, unless we arc
| content to proceed personally against the
minor agents. The corporation lawyers
| to WhOm releT anu tHelI SlllpluS SCIo a.
the men mainly responsible for THIS
| state of things, and their responsibility is
| shared with all who ingeniously. oppose
| the passing of just and effective laws. ol
who fail to execute them when they have
| been put on the statute books.
| Much is said. in these attacks upor
| the policy of the present adminstra
SGGt the Ths TShtS stoekhdidep S
not innocent who voluntarily purchases
| stock in a corporation whose method!
and management he knows to be cor
| rupt; and stockholders are bound Il
try to secure honest management o.
else are estopped from complainins
| about the proceedings the government
finds necessary in order, to compel tn
| corporation to obey the law. There ha
been in the past grave wrong done in
7ocent stockholders by overcapttaliza
ton. stock tering, stock -jobing
sought to prevent. first by exposing tn
thing done and Furnishing the ofende
when any existing law had been VIC
ated; second. by recommending the pas
,age of laws which would make unlaw
'ul similar practices for the future f9tnre
Who loudly proclaim their sympathy TO
the "innocent stockholders" when
| treat law -defying corporation is pun
shed are the first to protest with fran
tic vehemence against all EFFORTS b
qw to put a stop to the practices whic
lamage alike to the stockholders an
he public. The apologists of success
eul dishonesty always declaim agains
ny effort to punish or prevent 1t. @
he ground that any such EFFORT Wi
'unsettle business" 1t is they. VIII
w their acts have unsettled business
md the very men raising this cry spen
hundreds of thousands of dollars In Sc