The White Pine news. [volume] (Ely, Nev.) 1906-1910, 1908-12-09
MESSAGE
A SOOTHING DOCUMENT
LACKS INsISTENCE OF PREVIOUS MESSAGES, AL
THOUGH AFFIRMING sTEADFAsTNEss TO FOR
MER BELIEFS-URGES IMMEDIATE ADMITTANCE
OF ARIZONA AND NEW MEXICo-LABoR CoRPo
RATIoNs AND OTHER MATTERS ARE TREATED

Of them undue and improper consider
alton is To do injustice to the others.
Rates must be made as low as is com
patihle with giving proper returns To
all the employees of the railroad. from
the highest TO the lowest. and proper
returns To the shareholders. but they
must not. for instance. be reduced In
such fashion as to necessitate cut in
the wages of the employees or the
abolition of the proper and legitimate
profits of honest shareholders.
Telegraph and telephone compa nies
engaged in interstate business should
he put under the jurisdiction of the
Interstate Commerce Commission.
II IL very earnestly to be wished that
our people. through their represent
atiyes. should act In this matter. 1t Is
hard to say whether most damage to
the country at large would come from
entire failure on the part OF the public
10 supervise and control the actions OF
the great corporations, or from the eN-
efcisc or The necessary goNefnmen ntal
power In way which would do In
justice and wrong To the corporations
Both the preachers of unrestricted In
diViduaiism. and the preachers of the
oppression which would deny to able
men Of business the just reward OF
their initiative and business sagacity,
are advocating policies that would be
fraught with gravest harm to the whole
country To permit every lawless cap
italist. every law-defying corporation.
To take any action. no matter how In
| fqnitous. IN the effort to secure an i'm
proper profit and 10 build up privilege.
would be rninous Ia the Republic and
would mark the abandonment of the
/ efforts 10 secure in the industrial world
/ the spirit of democratic fair-dealing.
/ on the other hand. 10 attack these
| wrongs in that spirit of denlagogy
which can see wrong only when COM
| mittet by the men of wealth. and Is
dumb and blind in the presence of
wrong committed against men OF pro-
| pertN or by men of no property. Is ex-
/ aetly as evil as corruptly to defend the
/ TnnUHHinR
var We wage m Ist be waged against
| misconduct. against wrongdoing vher-
/ ever n Is found and We must stand
! heartily for the rights of every decent
| man. whether he be man of great
wealth or man who earns his liyeli-
| hood as a wage worker or tiller OF
II is IL the interest of all Of ms that
! there should be a premium put upon
| individual initiative and individual cap
| acity. and an ample reward FOR the
great directing inteiligences alone COM
| pftent To manage the great business
| operations of today II Is well tn
keep in mind that exactly as the an
| arehist is the worst enemy OF liberty
and the reactionary the worst enemy
Of order. 50 the men who defend the
| rights Of property have most to fear
| from the wrongdoers of great wealth.
| and the men who are championine
| popular rights have the most To fear
from the demagogues who in the name
| Of popular rights would do wrong 10
| est men of wealth. for the success of
either type of wrongdocr necessarily
| invites violent reaction against the
cause the wrongdoer nominally up
| holds. In point OF uanger To the Nation
ther, is nothing To chose between on
the one hand the corruptionist, the
bribe- giver the bribe-taker. the man
who employs his great talent to sWtndle
his fellow citizens on large scale.
| and on the other hand the preacher OF
class hatred. the man who. whether
Htsstf la
sacrifice his country In his ambition,
| persuades wcli-meaning but wrong
headed men to try 10 destroy the IN
| struments upon which our prosperity
mainly rests Let each group of men
| beware Of and guard against the short
eomings 10 which that group Is most
| liable. Too often We see the business
community in spirit nf mnhcaHhA
| class consciousness deplore the effort
10 hold to account under the law the
| wealthy men who In their management
| of great corporations whether rail
roads street railways. or other indus
| trial enterprises. have behaved IN a
| way that revolts the conscience of the
plain. decent people. such an attitude
can not be condemned too severely, FOR
/ men OF property should recognize that
thcN ieoparuize the rights Of property
| when they fail heartily To join the
| effort 10 do away with the abuses Of
| wealth. Dn the othor hand. those who
| advocate proper control on behalf Of
| tile public, through the STATE. OF these
| great corporations, and OF thr wealth
engaged on "A giant scale In business
operations. must ever keep IN mind that
! unless they do scrupulous justice to the
/ corporation. unless they permit ample
| profit. and cordially encourage capable
| men of business 50 long as they act
| with honesty. they are striking at the
root OF our national well-being. for in
| the long run. under the mere pressure
Of material distress. the people as a
| whole would probably go hack to the
reign of an unrestricted indiYidualism
] rather than submit to "a control by the
state So dra site and So foolish, con-
ceivcd In "A spirit of such unreasonable L.
and narrow hostility TO wealth, as 10
/ prevent business operations from bong
! profitable. and therefore 10 bring ruin
! upon the entire business community,
and ultimately upon the entire body OF
citizens
The opposition of Government con
! troll of these great corporations makes
| lis 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 pelleNe
in unrestricted indiVidualism IN bus
mess. Just as there were formerly many
| sincere men who believed in slavery
/ that is in the unrestricted right Of an
| individual 10 own another individual
/ These men do not by themselves have
/ great weight. however The effective
fight against adequate Government con-
troll and supervision ot indlNlduhl, ana
especially corporate, wealth engaged
in Interstate business is chiefly done
under cover. and especially under cover
of an appeal TO states rights II is not
| at all infrequent to read In the same
speech a dcnunciation of predatory
wealth fostered by special privilege and
defiant of both the public welfare and
law of the land. and dennnciathon
of Capitalization in the Central Govern
ment OF the power 10 deal with this
centralized and organized wealth. OF
course the policy set forth in such twin
denunciations amounts To absolutely
Continued On Page Two.)