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

and the great corporation has supplanted
the mass of small partnerships or indi-
viduals
The proposal to make the national gov
eminent supreme over. and therefore 70
give 1t complete control over, the rail-
roads and other instruments of inter-
state commerce is merely a proposal to
carry out to the letter one of the prime
purposes. if not the prime purpose. for
which the Constitution was founded. 1t
does not represent Capitalization. 1t rep
resents merely the acknowledgment of
the patent fact that Capitalization has
already come in business.
If this irresponsible outside business
power is to be controlled in the interest
of the general public it can only be con-
trolled in one way-by giving adequate
power of control to the one sovereignty
capable of exercising such power-the ma
tional government. Forty or fifty sepa-
rate state governments cannot exercise
that power over corporations doing bust
ness in most or all of them: first, because
they absolutely lack the authority to deal
with interstate business in any form: and
second. because of the inevitable conflict
of authority sure to arise In the effort
to enforce different kinds Of state regu-
lation. often inconsistent with one another
and sometimes oppressive in themselves.
Such divided authority cannot regu-
late commerce with wisdom and effect.
The central government is the only power
less thoroughly and adequately control
and supervise the large corporations
To abandon the effort for national con-
troll means to abandn the effort for all
adequate control and yet to render likely
continual bursts of action by state legis-
latures. which cannot achieve the pur-
pose sought for, but which can do a
great deal of damage to the corporation
without comforting any real benefit on the
public
Corporations Won Over.
I believe that the more far-sighted cor
porations are themselves coming to rec
ognize the unwisdom of the violent hos
tilty they have displayed during the last
few years to regulation and control by
the national government of combinations
engaged In interstate business. The truth
is that we who believe in this movement
of asserting and exercising a genuine
control in the public interest. over these
great corporations have to contend
against two sets of enemies, who though
nominaily opposed to one another, are
really allies in preventing a proper solu-
ton OF the problem.
There are, first. the big corporation
men, and the extreme individualists
among business mon. who genuinely be-
lieve in utterly unregulated business
that is. in the reign of p.utocracy; and.
second. the men who, being blind to the
economic movements of the day. believe
III movement of repression rather than
of regulation of corporations. and who de-
nounce both the power of the railroads
and the exercise of the federal power
which alone can really control the rail-
roads. Those who believe in efficient
national control, on the other hand. do
not in the least object to combinations;
do not in the least object to concentra-
ton in business administration.
On the contrary, they favor both, with
the all-important proviso that there shall
be such publicity about their workings,
and such thoroughgoing control over
them, as to insure their being in the in
terest and not against the interest OF
the general public. We do not object to
the concentration of wealth and admins
tration, but we do believe In the distribu-
ton OF wealth in profits to the real own
ers. and in securing to the public the full
benefit Of the concentrated administra-
ton.
We believe that with concentration in
administration there can come both the
advantage of a larger ownership ard OF
a more equitable distribution of profits.
and at the same time better service to
the commonwealth. We believe that the
administration should be for the benefit
Of the many: and that greed and rascal
ity, practced on a large scale. should be
punished as relentlessly as il practiced
on a small scale.
Remedies Not Easily Applied
We do not for A moment believe that
the problem will be solved by any short
and easy method. The solution will come
only by pressing various concurrent reme-
lilies. Some OF these remedies must lie