davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-12-09

instead of gradual, action, who advocates
ill-considered and sweeping measures OF re-
form Especially II they are tainted with
viudictiveness. and disregard for the rights
of the minority is particularly blameworthy.
The several Legislatures are responsible Tor
the fact that our laws are often prepared
with slovenly haste ana lack Of confederation:
Moreover, they are often prepared, and still
more frequently amended during passage, at
the suggestion of the very parties against
whom they are afterwards enforced. Our great
clusters OF corporations, huge trusts ana lad
ulousy wealthy multimill onaires, employ the
very best lawyers they can obtain to pick
faws In these statutes after their passsgs.
but they also employ class OF secret agents
who seek, under the advice OF experts, to
render hostile legislation innocuous by making
1t unconstitutional, often through the inssr-
ton of what appear on their face to be drastic
and sweeping provisions against the interests
of the parties inspiring them; while the DEM
aRogues, the corrupt creatures who introduce
blackmailing schemes to Strike" corporations
and all who demand extreme, and undesirably
radical measures, show themselves to be the
worst enemies OF the very public whose loud
mouthed champions they profess to be
The courts hold a place Of peculiar and de-
served sanctity under our form of government
Respect for the law is essential to the per-
rnanance of our institutions; and respect for
the law is largely conditioned upon respect
Continued on Page Threel
Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-12-09
CLASS HATRED

The violence of the crusade for this legisla-
ton and its complete failure illustrate two
truths which 1t is essential our people should
learn. In the first place, they ought to teach
the workingman, the laborer, the wageworker,
that by demanding what is improper and i'm"
possible he plays into the hands OF his toes.
Such q crude and vicious attack upon the
courts even if it were temporarily successful,
would inevitably in the end cause violent
reaction and would band the great mass OF
citizens together, forcing them to stand by all
the Judges competent and incompetent alike,
rather than to see the wheels OF justice
stopped. A movement of this kind can ulti-
mately result in nothing but damage to those
in whose behalf it is nominally undertaken.
This is a most healthy truth, which 1t is wise
for all our people to learn. Any movement
based on that class hatred which at times 3
certain ultimately to fail, and II II tenn
pararily succeeds to do far-reaching damage
"Class consciousness" where 1t Is merely an
other name for the odious vice of class SELFISH
ness, is equally noxous whether in an EN-
ployer's association or in workingmahs asso-
citation. The movement in question was one
in which the appeal was made to all working
men TO vote primarily, not as American cltl-
zens, but as individuals of certain class in
society. Such an appeal in the hrst place re-
volts the more high-minded ana far-slghted
among persons to whom 1t is addressed, and in
the second place tends to arouse strong
antagonism among all other classes OF citizens
whom it therefore tends to unite against the
very organization on whose behalf it is issued.
The result is therefore unfortunate from every
standpoint. This healthy truth, by the way
will be learned by the Socialists If they ever
succeed IN establishing in this country an I'M
portant national party based on such class
consciousness and selfish class interest.
The rapid changes In opr social and indus.
trial life which have attended this rapid
growth have made 1t necessary that, In apply
ing to concrete cases the great rule of right
laid down in our constitution there should be
a full understanding and appreciation OF the
new conditions to which the rules are to be APP
Piled. What would have been an infringe
ment upon liberty half century ago may be
the necessary safeguard of liberty today
Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-12-09

Iation hereinafter referred TO should concur
rently be enacted into law.
To accomplish this, means OF course a GER
tain Increase in the use of-not the creation
of-power, by the central government. The
power already exists 1t does not have to be
created; the only question is whether 1t shall
be used or left idle-and meanwhile the cor
porations over which the power ought to be
exercised will not remain idle. Let those
who object to this increase in the use OF the
only power available, the national power, be
frank, and admit openly that they propose
10 abandon any effort to control the great
business corporations and to exercise super
vision over the accumulation and distribu-
ton Of wealth; for such supervision and con-
troll can only come through this particular
kind Of increase Of power. We no more be-
lieve in that empirieism which demands alb
soiutely unrestrained indlvldualism than we
do in that empirieism which clamors for a
deadenfng socialism which would destroy all
individual initiative and would ruin the couu-
try with a completeness that not even an
unrestrained individualism itself could achieve.
The danger to American democracy lies not
In the least In the concentration Of admins
trative power in responsible and accountable
hands. 1t lies in having the power insult
1cientiy concentrated, so that no one can be
held responsible to the people for its use.
Concentrated power is palpable, visible re-
sponsible, easily reached, quickly held to &C
count.
Power scattered through many administra-
tors many legislators, many men who work
behind and through legislators and admins
traitors, is impalpable, is unseen, is irrespon-
sihle cannot he reached cannot be held to
account Democracy is in peril wherever the
of political power is scattered
among a variety Of who work in secret
whose very names are unknown to the COM
mon people. It IS not In peril from any man
who derives authority from the people, who
exercises It in sight of the people, and who
is from time TO time compelled to give an
account Of its exercise TO the people
Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-12-09
PUBLIC SUPERVISION

It is very earnestly to be wished that our
peopie through their representatives, 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 TO supervise and control the actions
OF the great corporations or from the exer~
else of the necessary governmental power in a
ygav which would do injustice and wrong to
the corporations. Both the preachers of an
unrestricted individualism and the preach
ers of an oppression which would deny to
able men Of business just reward Of
their Initiative and business sagfacity are
advocating policies that would be fraught with
the aravest harm to the whole country To
permit every lawless capitalist, every law
defving corporation, to take any action, no
matter how Ubiquitous, in the effort to ss-
ileee would be ruinous to the republic and
would mark the abandonment OF the effort to
secure In the Industrial world the spirit OF
democratic fair dealing. On the other hand.
to attack these wrongs In that spirit OF
fenlaeogy which can see wrong only when
Committed by the man of wealth and is dumb
and blind in the presence of wrong COM
rnftted against men Of property or by men
Of no property is exactly as evil as currupt-
lv 10 defend the wrongdoing OF men Of
wealth. The war we wage must be waged
,Tberever Il Is found, and we must stand
heartily for the rights Of every decent man,
whether ne be a man Of great wealth or
man who earns his livelihood as a wage
worker or tiller of the soil.
IL Is to the interest of all OF us that there
aho,,Id be a premium put upon individual
sritiafive and Individual capacity, and an
aupIe reward for the great directing intel
Licences alone competent to manage the great
Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-12-09
INTERSTATE CONTROL

believe that the more far-sighted corpora
tons are themselves coming to recognize the
unwisdom of the violent hostility they have
displayed during the last few years to reg
ulaton and control by the national govern
ment of combinations engaged In interstate
business. The truth is that 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 solution of the
problem. There are, first, the big corpora
ton men, and the extreme individualists
among business men, who genuinely believe
in utterly unregulated business-that is, in
the reign of plutocracy; and, second, the men
who. being blind to the economic movements
Of the day, believe in movement of re-
preston rather than OF regulation of cor
porations, and who denounee both the power
of the railroads and the exercise of the fed
eral power which alone really control
the railroads 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 concentration in BUSH
ness 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 interest
and not against the interest Of the general
public We do not object to the concentra-
ton of wealth and administration; but we
do believe in the distribution of the wealth
to the public the full benefit Of the concen-
trated administration. We believe that with
concentration in administration there can come
both the advantage of a larger ownership
and Of a more equitable distribution of profits,
and at the same time better service to the
commonwealth. We believe that the admin
istration should be for the benefit of the
many; and that greed and rascality, prae-
tced on a large scale, should be punished
as relentlessly as II practieed on small
scale.
we do not for moment believe that the
problem will be solved by any short and easy
method. The solution will come only by press
ing various concurrent remedies. Some OF
these remedies must lie outside the domain
Of all government. Some must lie outside
the domain of the federal government. But
there is legislation which the federal govern
ment alone can enact and which Is absolutely
vital in order to secure the attainment OF
our purpose. Many laws are needed. There
should be regulation by the national gov
eminent Of the great interstate corporations,
including a simple method of account keep
ing, publicity, supervision Of the issue Of Sc
curities abolition OF rebates and Of special
privileges There should be short time
franchises for all corporations engaged in
public business; including the corporations
which get power from water rights. There
should be national as well as state guardian
ship Of mines and forests. The labor legis-
Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-12-09

business operations of today. It is we'll to
keep IN mind that exactly as the anarchist is
the worst enemy of liberty and the reaction
airy the worst enemy of order, so the men
who defend the rights Of property have most
TO fear from the wrongdoers Of great wealth,
and tho men who are championins popular
rights have most TO fear from the dema-
gogues who in the name of popular rights
would do wrong TO and Cypress honest men,
honest men of wealth, for the success Of
either type Of wrongdoer necessarily invites
a violent reaction against the cause the wrong
doer nominally upholds. In point of danger
TO the nation there Is nothing to choose be-
tween on the one hand the eorruptonist, the
bube-g1ver, the bribe-taker. the man who
employs his great talent to swindle 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 willing
ness to sacrifice his country TO his ambition
persuades well meaning but wrong headed
men to try to destroy the instruments upon
which our prosperity mainly rests. Let each
group Of men beware OF and guard against
the shortcomings to which that group is It.
business community in a spirit of un-
healthy class consciousness deplore the eff
fort to 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 a way that reyolts the conscience
Of the plain, decent people. Such an attl-
tuds cannot be condemned too severely, Tor
men OF property slOulu IecoBnlAe Nhht AheS
jeopardize the rights of property when they
fail heartily TO join in the efrort to do
away with the abuses Of wealth. On the
other hand, chose who advocate proper con-
troll on behalf OF the public, through the
state, Of these great corporations and OF the
wealth engaged giant scale in business
operations. must ever keep in mind that IN
less they do scrupulous justice to the eorpo-
rations, unless they permit ample proht ana
cordially 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
whole would probably go back TO the reign OF
an unrestricted individualism 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 prevent business operations from being
profitable. and therefore to bring ruin upon
the entire business community and ultimately
upon the entire body OF citizens.
Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-12-09
HoARDED WEALTH

The huge wealth that has been accumulated
by a few individuals Of recent years, In
what has amounted to a social and indus
trial revolution, has been as regards some OF
these individuals made possible only by the
improper USE of the modern corporation.
certain type of modern corporation, with its
offcers and agents its many issues of Sc
eurities, and its constant consolidation with
allied undertakings, finally becomes an In
strument so complex to contain greater
number of elements that under various 1u-
dIcial decisions lend themselves to fraud
and oppression than any device yet evolved
in the human brain. Corporations are neces-
sary instruments of modern business. They
have been permitted to become menace large
ly because the governmental representatives
of the people have worked slowly In providing
for adequate control over them.
The chief offender in any given case may
be an executive, a legislature OF a judge
Every executive head who advises violent.
Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-12-09

death by accident in the course of his en-
ployment. And In the event of death occur
ring, say, ten or eleven months after the ac-
cident, the family would only receive as COM
pensaton the equivalent Of one or two months
earnings. In this respect the generosity OF
the United States towards is employees com
pares most unfavorably with that Of every
country in Europe-even the poorest.
Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-12-09
JUDICIAL CHANGES

What would have been injury to property
then may be necessary to the enjoyment Of
property now. Every judicial decision involves
two terms-one, an Interpretation Of the law;
the other the understanding Of the facts TO
which 1t Is to be applied The great mass q
our judicial officers are believe alive to these
changes Of conditions which 50 materially
affect the performance Of their Judicial duties.
Our judicial system is sound and effective at
core, and it remains. and must ever be main
tanned, as the safeguard OF those principles or
Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-12-09

theory that in the long run the will of the
people is supreme, the ultimate safety OF the
nation can only rest in training and guiding
the people so that what they will shall be
right, and not in devising means 70 defeat
their will by the technicalities OF strained
construction.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-12-16
DAMAGE AWARD CONFIRMED.
Realty Near Union Station Interest
ed in DISPOSITION of $16. 800.

Justice Gould of the Supreme Court OF
the District of Columbia today. at the in
STANCE of A. I.eftwich Sinclair. special
attorney for the District, signed an order
ratifying and confirming the appraise-
ments of damages recently reported to the
court by the Union station grade-damage
commission as to real estate on the north
side of / street southeast between 9th
and 7th streets.
The damages awarded the property own
ers aggregate $1,000 There were thir-
teen properties involved in this proceed
ing. The properties were damaged by
raising the grade OF street in connection
with the railroad termina' improvements.
The confirmation of the awards was
consented to by Attorneys Howard Boyd
and Wolf & Rosenberg, who appeared for
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-12-16
PENAL SYSTEM BAD
Scored by Assistant District
Attorney Turner.
DISTRICT JAIL A DISGRACE
Denounced as the Blacklist Blot
Upon Our Civilization.
W0RKH0UsE IS LITTLE BETTER
Probationary Sentences for Prison
ers and Employment During
Terms Strongly Favored.

A vigorous attack upon the penal sys-
| TEN of the District of Columbia was made
last night by Charles H. Turner. assistant
United States District attorney before
the Mems Society of the Church of Our
Father In the meeting. which was open
to the public. we're many prominent work
ers along the line indicated, including
Robert V La Dow of the Department of
Justice. one of the three commissioners
appointed by the President to investigate
Jail and workhouse conditions in the Dis
trct of Columbia.
The probation system and the indeter-
inmate sentence were vigorously advocat-
ed by Mr.. Turner He then characterized
conditions at the District Jail as indie
scribable.
1T is the blacklist blot upon our civil
zation.' he said. II have no right to
speak of the worst things that exist No
newspaper can print the worst.
ION the eve of a report by the Presi-
dents penal commission. it is an oppor-
tune moment to discuss the great question
of prison reform" said Mr.. Turner 1.-THE
year will not close without a significant
utterance from the three distinguished
men of the Jail commission on this sub
ject. Mr.. Justice Stafford today said to
me that no matter what the commission
may report there is need of agitation and
education by our people to get legisla-
ton that we need. 1t is time for COM
prehensive changes. 1t is not question
as to whether We shall change in our
dealing with criminals. The question is
how soon we shall change.
'JInder our present system federal pris-
oners of our District. sentenced for more
than one year. have been sent to all parts
of the country. No one follows them up.
No one knows what is done with them ex-
cept the officials of the different institu-
tons.
persons sentenced for less than one
year are sent to the Jail. Those sent for
six months or less are sent to the work
house.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-12-16
BEAR TAKES PASSAGE
Comes Aboard When Ship
Butts Into Iceberg.
SEA WET AND NIGHT DARK
That Was Before the Big Conger
Eel Stuck in Port Hole.
HALF OF WHICH CREW ATE UP
And It Was After the Carpenter
Was Washed Overheard and Then
Washed Back Again.

NEW YORK, December 16.-If any one
foolshly believes that the age of romance
is dead. that sailormen have become ma
chinists and dull arithmeticians and that
polar bears no longer met with ex-
cept in the dreary captivity of geological
gardens, then let him seek out Capt. Fritz
FRANKIE of the steel ocean freighter kar-
thago, which slipped into this port yes
terday. carrying mixed cargo. a live
polar bear in a pig pen and the finest
sea story of many long year
Capt. FRANKIE has sailed the seas. man
and boy, for twenty-six years. He has
a merry blue eye. a good name with his
owners, and. when talking to reporters,
the most veracious manner in the world.
He swore seven sea oaths on the story
yesterday and called his whole after
guard to verify him. He had no use for
bears, he declared: he didn't expect to
meet bears when he sailed from Ger
story wasnt gospel he hoped to lose his
ship on his passage back
But let Capt. FRANKIE tell the story
himself just as he told it yesterday, and
then if you don't believe it go over to
Hoboken and see the bear for yourself.
Twas a Dark and Stormy Night.
On the 18th of November Capt. FRANKIE
narrating) We sailed from Hamburg with
the Karthago for New York. The Kartha-
go is the type of boat like to go to sea
in: we'll found. dry and lively: but tell you
she was as wet a bath tub from the
time we put her nose outside the Lizard
until we made ST. Johns, Newfoundland.
December 8. Twenty-one days for the
short North Atlantic passage; how is that
for boat that regularly makes her ten
knots?''
We'll. as 1 tell you. it was dirt from
the beginning and no mistake. On the
9th the sea was running so high we
had to heave to. under half steam. We
lay so for three days. 1t was on the
second day that the sea conger-but wait,
will end with that.
First you must hear about the bear.
The carpenter. too. was washed overheard
on the same day. but that. also, l will
keep until the last.
ION December g. while We were running
before the worst gale l ever encountered
in all my life at sea. the first officer came
to me. his face as white as a ghosts.
The ship Is afire.' he cried. Come
out and see for yourself.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-12-16
Lafayette Post. G. A. r., Election.

The following officers were elected la st
night by Lafayette Post. G. A. R.. to serve
for 1909: James r. Stone. comma nder:
Mahlon II. Rest. senior vice commander:
T. Edward Clark, junior vice COM
mander; Charles F. Benjamin. chap
lain; DR.. Lawrence Wilson. quarter
master; Briscoe Goodhart. adjutant;
Dr. Josiah T. Ford. surgeon: H. w
Burns. officer of the day; Charles l..
Sewers. officer of the guard: +. J. Sweet
member department memorial commit
tee; II. w. Burns. representative to
temporary soldiers home; James G..
Bridehaur. department relief commit
tee: f. J. Sweet. patriotic instructor.
Representatives to the department
encampment: Dr. Lawrence Wilson. F.
j. Sweet. BriScoe GoOdhart and Charles
r. Benjamin. Alternates to depart
ment encampment: II. w. Burns. NAH
lon II. Best. Warner Hurley and James
e. Bridehaur. Representatives at large:
w. w. Chambers and James F. Stone.