The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1908-12-11

concentration Of administrative power
in responsible and accountable hands
1t lies In having the power insufhclent-
ly concentrated, so that no one can be
held responsible to the people for its
use. Concentrated power is p%alpable,
VISIBLE, responsible, easily reached
quickly held to account. Power scat
tered through many administrators
many legislators, many men who work
behind and through legislators and
administrators, is impalpable, is un-
seen. is irresponsible. can not be
reached, can not be held to account.
Democracy is in peril wherever the
administration of political power is
scattered among a variety OF men " 20
work in secret, whose very names are
unknown to the common people. 1t Is
not in peril from any man who derives
authority from the people, who eXer-
cises it in sight of the people, and who
IS from time to time compelled to
give an of rs exercise to the
people.
Labor.
There are many matters affecting
labor and the status of the WageWork-
er to which / shoula like to draw your
attention., but an exhaustive discussion
of the problem in all it's aspects IS
not now necessary. This admin1stra-
ton is nearing it's end; and, more
over, under our form of government
the solution of the problem depends
upon the action of the states as much
as upon the action of the nation. New
ertheless. there are certain consldera-
tons which l wish to set before you,
because l hope that our people Will
more and more keep them in mind.
A blind and ignorant resistance to eV-
cry effort for the reform OF abuses ana
for the readjustment of society to
modern industrial conditions repre-
sents not true conservatism but an
Indictment to the widest radicalism;
for wise radicalism and wise conserv-
atism go hand in hand, one bent on
progress. the other bent on seeing that
no change is made unless in the right
direction.
l believe in "a steady effort, or per-
hapS it would be more accurate to say
in steady efforts in many different d.
rections. to bring about a condition or
Gffairs under which the men who work
with hand or with brain, the laborers,
the superintendent, the men who pro-
duce for the market and the men who
find a market for the articles produced.
shall W a far greater share thah at
present of the wealth they produce,
and be enabled to invest it in the tools
and instruments by which all work Is
carried on. AS far as possible l hope
to see a frank recognition of the ad-
Vantages conferred by machinery, or
ganization and division of labor. &C
companied by an effort to bring ABOUT
a larger share in the ownership by
Wageworkar OF railway, mill n rae.
tory. In farming, this simply means
that we wish to see the farmer W
his own land: we do not wish to see
the farms so large that they become
the property Of absentee landlords who
farm them by tenants, nor yet SO small
that the farmer becomes like A Euro
pean peasant. Again. the deDositors
in our savings banks now number over
one-tenth of our entire population.
These are all capitalists, who through
the savings banks loan their money to
the workers-that is, in many cases Il
themselves-to carry on their Variou,
industries. The more we increase
their number. the more we introduce
the principles Of cooperation into our
industry. Every increase in the num-
Der of small stockholders in corpora
tons is a good thirg, for the same
reasons; and where the employees are
the stockholders the result is particu-
larry good. Very much of this move
ment mus, be outside of anything that
can be accomplished by legislation;
but legislation can do a good deal
Postal savings banks will make it easy
lor the poorest to keep their savings
in absolute safety. The regulation of
the national highways must be such
that they shall serve all people with
equal justice. Corporate f%:nances
must be supervised so as to make 1T
far safer than at present for the man
of small means to invest his money
in stocks. There must be prohibition
Of child labor. diminution of woman
labor, shortening of hours of all me-
chanical labor; stock watering should
be prohibited, and stock gambling SO
far as is possible discouraged. There
should be a progressive inheritance
tax on large fortunes. Industrial edu-
cation should be encouraged. AS far
as possible we should tighten the bur.
den of taxation on the small man. We
should put a premium upon thrift.
hard work and business energy, but
these qualities cease to be the main
factors in accommodating a fortune long
before that fortune reaches a point
where it would be seriously affected by
any inheritance tax such as l propose
1t is eminently right that the nation
should fix the terms upon which the
great fortunes are inherited. They
rarely do good and they often do
harm to those who inherit them in
their entirety.
Protection for Wageworkers.
The above is the mereSt sketch,
hardly even a sketch in outline, of the
reforms for which we should work,
But there Is one matter Win wn1Cn the
congress should G at this session,
There should no longer be any palter-
ing with the question Of taking care
of the wageworkers who. under our
present industrial system, become kill
ed. crippled, or worn out as part OF
the regular incidents of a given bust
ness. The majority Of wageworkers
must have their rights secured fol-
them by state action but the national
government should legislate in thor
~oughgoing and far-reaching fashion
not only for all employees of the ma
tional government. but for all persons
engaged in interstate The
object sought for could be achieved
to a a measurable degree, as far as
those killed or crippled are concerned
by proper employers liability laws
AS far as concerns those who have
been worn out. I call your attention
to the fact that definite steps toward
providing old age pensions have beer
taken in any of u private indus
tries. These may be indefinitely ex-
tended through voluntary association
and contributory schemes. or through
the agency Of savings banks, as under
the recent Massachusetts plan. To
strengthen these practical measures
should be our immediate duty; it is
L -x-A --