The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-12-09


OF course the policy set forth in sucf
, twin denunciations amounts to abso
lutely nothing, for the first half is null
, Lifted by the second half The chic
reason. among the many sound anc
compelling reasons, that led to the
formation of the National Govern
ment, was the absolute need that the
Union. and not the several States
should deal with interstate and for
eign commerce; and the power to dea
with interstate commerce was granted
absolutely and plenarily to the Cen
trail Government and was exercised
completely as regards the only instru-
lments Of interstate commerce known
in those days-the waterways, the
highroads, as well as the partnerships
of individuals who then conducted all
of what business there was. Inter
state commerce is now chiefly conduct
ed by railroads; and the great corpor-
alton has supplanted the mass of small
partnerships or individuals. The pro-
posal to make the National Govern
lment supreme over, and therefore TO
| give it complete control over, the rail-
roads and other instruments Of inter-
state commerce is merely proposal
to carry out to the letter one of the
prime purposes. if not the prime pur-
pose. for which the Constitution was
founded. 1t does not represent CEN
! traliZation. 1t represents merely the
Id AF Tho T1ofanf fact
that Capitalization has already come
in business. If this irresponsible out
side business power is to be controlled
in the interest of the general public II
can only be controlled in one way;
by giving adequate power of control
to the one sovereignty capable of ex-
ercising such power-the National
Government. Forty or fifty separate
state governments can not exercise
that power over corporations doing
business in most or all of them; first,
because they absolutely lack the au-
thority to deal with interstate bust
ness in any form; and second, because
of the inevitable conflict of authority
sure to arise in the effort to enforce
different kinds of state regulation, Of
ten inconsistent with one another and
sometimes oppressive in themselves.
Such divided authority can not regu-
late commerce with wisdom and eff
feet. The Central Government is the
only power which, without oppres
sion, can nevertheless thoroughly and
adequately control and supervise the
large corporations. To abandon the
effort for National control means to
abandon the effort for all adequate
control and yet to render likely con-
tinual bursts of action by State legis- |
latures, which can not achieve the !
purpose sought for, but which can do |
a great deal of damage to the cor
poration without comforting any real
benefit on the public.
l believe that the more farsighted |
are themselves coming to
recognize the unwisdom of the VIC
lent hostility they have displayed dur
ing the last few years to regulation
and control by the National Govern
ment of combinations engaged in in
terstate business. The truth is that
we who believe in this movement of
and exercising a genuine
control, in the public interest, over
these great corporations have to con-
tend against two sets Of enemies, who,
though nominally opposed to one an.
other. are really allies in preventing
a proper solution of the problem.
There are, first. the big corporation
men, and the extreme individualists
business men, who genuinely
believe in uttely 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 a movement of repres-
porations, and who denounce both the
power of the railroads and the exer-
else Of the Federal power which alone
can really control the railroads. Those
who believe in efficient national con-
troll, on the other hand, do not in the
least object to combinations; do not
In the least object to concentration in
business administration. On the con-
trary. they favor both, with the all
important proviso that there shall be !
such publicity about their workings,
and such thoroughgofng control over
hem, as to insure their being in the
and not against the interest,
Of the general public. We do not OBJ
iect 10 the concentration of wealth and
administration; but we do believe in
he distribution of the wealth in pro-
its to the real owners. and in securing
TO the public the full benefit of the ;
administration. We be- ,
ieve that with concentration in ad-
there can come both the I
advantage of a large ownership and
Df a more equitable distribution of
profits, and at the same time bet
Ter service to the commonwealth. We i
believe that the administration should
be for the benefit of the many; and I
hat greed and rascality, practiced on
A large scale. should be punished as
as if practieed on a small
scale.