Mexico Missouri message., 1908-12-10

great directing intelligences alone com
petent 60 manage the great business op-
erations OF to-day. II is we'll 70 keep In
mind that exactly A. the anarchist is the
worst enemy OF liberty and the reaction
airy the worst enemy OF order, 80 the
men who defend the rights OF property
have most TO fear from the wrongdoers
OF great wealth. and the men who are
championing popular rights have most
90 fear from the demagogues who In the
name OF popular rights would do wrong
20 and oppreas honest business men,
honest men OF wealth: for the success OF
either type OF wrongdoer necessarily In
vites a violent reaction against the cause
the wronEdoer nomlnaily upholds.
Need Of Capitalization.
The proposal 10 make the ma
tlonal government supreme over, ana
therefore TO give II complete control over.
the railroads and other instruments OF
Interstate commerce IL merely propos-
al 70 carry out TO the letter one OF the
prime purposes. ~ not the prime purpose
for which the constitution was founded
II does not represent Capitalization. IL
represents merely the Acknowledgement
| Of the patent fact that Capitalization has
already come In business. II this IRE
aponsible outside business power Is 10 DC
| controlled In the Interest Of the Eenerhl
| public II can only be controlled In one
| way: by giving adequate power OF CON
trol 10 tho one HoNereiEuty 'Aphbl' W ~
ercisinE such power-thc national govern
ment To abandon the effort for national
! control means 20 abandon the enort for
all adequate control and yet 20 render like
! ly continual bursts OF action by state leg
ialaturcs. which cannot achieve the pur-
pose sought FOR. but which can do
great deal OF damage to the corporation
without comforting any real beneht on
| the public.
There should be regulation by the ma
| tionnl government cf the great interstate
| corporations. including "A simple method
Of account keeping. publicity, supervision
| OF tho issue Of securities, abolition OF
rebates and ~ special privileges. There
! should be short-time franchises for all
corporation engaged In public business;
| including the corporations which get
power from water rights. There should
| be national az well rs state guardianship
| Of mines and forests. The labor legisla-
| ton hereinafter referred 10 should con-
currently be enacted into law.
To accomplish this. means n certain In
crease In the use of-not the creation Of
power by the central government. The
power already exists. II does not have
TO be created; the only question is
| whether II shall be used or LEFT idle
and meanwhile the corporations over
which the power ought TO be exercised
| will not remain idle. Tho danger TO Amer
| lean democracy lies not In the least in tho
| concentration Of administrative power in
| responsible and accountable hands. II
| lies In having the power insuiiiciently
concentrated. so that no one can be held
responsible to the people for It's use.
| Concentrated power Is palpable visible.
| responsible. easily reached. quickly held
| to account. Democracy is In peril
wherever the administration Of po-
lticai power Is scattered among
variety OF men who work In
secret whose very names are un-
known 20 the common people. II is not
In peril from any man who derives Ru-
| thority from the people. who exercises
| II In sight Of the people. and who Ia
| from time TO time compelled to give an
account Of its exercise to the people.
Legislation for Wageworker.
There are many matters affecting labor
| and the status OF tho wageworker TO
| which ! should like to draw your atten-
| tion. but an exhaustive discussion OF the
problem In all It's aspects Is not now nee
easary. believe in steady ef-
fort. or perhaps It would be more
| accurate to say IN steady efforts
| In many different directions. to bring
| about condition of affairs under which
the men who work with hand or with
brain. the lRborcrs, the superlntendents,
the men who produce the market and the
men who find a market for the articles
produced. shall own n far greater share
than at present 81 the wealth they pro-
ducs. and be enabled TO invest II in the
tools and instruments by which alb work
is carried on. As far as possible I hope
to see a frank recognition OF the advan-
tagcs conferred by machinery. orEaniZa-
tlon and division OF labor. accompanied
by an cffort 20 bring about "A larger share
In the ownership by wage worker OF rail
way. mill and factory.
| Postal Savings banks will make II
easy for the poorest TO keep their saw
| tTt al In N.NWF hE N1aW Ion,
Of the national highways must be such
that they shall serve all people with
equal justice Corporate finances must
he supervised 80 as to make II far safer
than at present for tho man OF small
means to invest his money in stocks
There must be prohibition OF child la
bor. S.sminutlDn OF women labor, short
eninE of hours OF all mechanical labor;
stock watering should be prohibited,
and stock gambling so far as is possi-
BILE discouraged. There should he a
| progressive inheritance tax on large
fortunes. Industrial education should
be encouraged. As far as possible we
should tighten the burden OF taxation
on the small man. We should put n
premium upon thrift. hard work and
business energy; but these qualities
cease to he the main factors in accu-
mulRting fortune long before that
fortune reaches n point where II would
bo seriously affected by any inheri-
tRnce tax such as propose. II Is emf
nently right that the nation should fix
the terms upon which the great for
tunes are inherited. They rarely do
good and they often do harm TO those
who inherit them In their entirety
There should no longer be any palter-
ing with the question OF taking care OF
the wagewoTkers who. under our pres
ent industrial system, become killed
crippled. or worp out as part OF the
= regular incidents OF given bust.
> ness. As far concerns those
I | who have been worn out. I call your
p attention 20 the fact that definite
steps toward providing old-RRe pen.
sions have been taken IN many OF ouI
3 private industries. These may be in.
/, definitely extended through voluntary
association and contrlbutory schemes
Z | or through the ugency of savings
r banks. as under the Massachusetts
8 plan.
Urgent Need Of Reform.