Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-12-08

liberty and the reactionary the worst
enemy of order 80 the men ;ShO defend
the rights Of property have most to fear
from the wrongdoers OF great wealth, and
tne men who ere championing popular
rights have most to fear from the dema-
gOSues who in the name of popular rights
would do wrong to and Cypress honest
business men. honest men of wealth: TOR
the success of either type of wrongdoer
necessarily invites violent reaction
against the cause the wrongdoer ncmi-
nally uDholds.
In point OF danger to the nation there
is nothing 20 choose between on the enc
hand the corruptionist, the bride giver
the bride taker, the man who employs
his great talent to swindie his fellow
citizens on a large scale. and, on the
other hand, the preacher of class hatred
the man who. whether from ignorance or
from willingness to sacrifice mis- country
to his ambition. persuades well-meaning
but wrong-headed men to try to destroy
the instruments upon which our pros
perity mainly rests. Let each group OF
men beware OF and guard against the
shortcomings to which that group is
itself most liable.
Too often we see the business COM
munity in "A spirit of unhealthy class
consciousness deploTe the effort 10 hold
to account under the law the wealthy
men who in their management OF great
corporations, whether railroads. street
railways. or other industrial enterprises
| have behaved in way that revolts the
conscience of the plain decent people.
Such an attitude cannot be condemned
too severely, for men OF property should
recognize that they jeopardize the rights
of property when they fail heartily to
join in the effort to do away with the
abuses of wealth.
On the other hand, those who advocate
proper control on behalf of the public.
through the state. of these great corpora
tons. and of the wealth engaged on a
Lotto ht,Ci
ever keep in mind that unless they do
scrupulous justice to the corporation. TN
less they permit ample profit and cor
daily encourage capable men of business
SO long as they act with honesty, they are
striking at the root of our national we'll
being; for in the long run. under the
mere pressure of material distress, the
people as a whole would probably so
back to reign of unrestricted individ-
ualism rather than submit to a control
by the state so drastic and SO foolish,
conceived in a spirit OF such unreasonable
and narrow hostility to wealth, as to pre-
vent business operations from being
profitable. and therefore to bring ruin
upon the entire business community, and
ultimately upon the entire body of citi-
Zens.
Arguments Of Opposition.
The opposition to government control
of these great corporations makes its
most effective effort in the shape of an
| appeal to the Old doctrine of states
| rights.
! OF course there are many sincere men
| who now believe in unrestricted indvid-
| ualis,n in business. just as there We're
| formerly many sincere men who be-
| lcvcd in slavery-that is, the unrestricted
| right of an individual to own another in
dividual. These men d. not by them
selves have great weight. however.
| The effective fight against adequate
| government control and supervision of an
dividual and especially of corporate
| wealth engaged in interstate business is
F.! chiefly done under cover. and especially
| under cover of an appeal to states rights
| 1t is not at all infrequent to read in Tie
same speech denunciation of predatory
| wealth fostered by special privilege and
defiant of both the public welfare and
law of tho land, and Il denunciation of
| of the power to deal with this centralized
and organized wealth. OF course the pol
| icy set forth in such twin oenuncations
amounts to absolutely nothing for the
| first half is nullified by the second half
The chief reason, among the many
! sound and compelling reasons. that led to
| the formation of the national government
| was the absolute need that the t'n.on, and
| not the several states, should deal with
| interstate and foreign commerce: and the
I pcwer to al with interstate commerce
| was granted absolutely and pienarilv to
| the central government and was exercised
| completely as regards the only instrI-
| ments of interstate commerce known in
/ those dayS-the waterways. the high
/ roads as well as the partnerships Of in
! dividuals who ti;en conducted all of what
is now chiefly conducted by railroads;