Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-01-31

control law-defying wealth: in the frs:
place 10 prevent its doing dire evil to
| the republic. and in the next place to
avoid the vindctive and dreadful radical
ism which. if left uncontrolled il is GER
/ tain In the end to arouse. Sweeping at
| tacks upon all property. upon all men
or means. without regard to whether they
do well or Ill. would sound the Death
knefl Of the republic: and such attacks
become inevitable il decent citizens per-
NIT those rich men whose lives are cor
rIpt and evil to domineer in swollen
| pride. unchecked and unhindered, over
the destinies of this country. We act in
| no vlnd1ctive spirit, and we are no re-
| specters OF persons. If a labor union
does wrong, We oppose it as firmly as we
! oppose a. corporation which does wrong;
and We stand equally stoutly for the
rights Of the man of wealth and for the
! rights of the wageworker. We seek to
| protect the property of every man who
| acts honestly, of every corporation that
represents wealth honestly accumulated
and honestly used. We seek to stop
wrongdoing. and we desire to punish the
| Wrongdoers only SO far as is necessary to
| achieve this end.
/ There are ample material rewards for
| those who serve with fidelity the NAM
| mon OF unrighteousness: but they are
dearly paid for by the people who permit
| their representatives. whether in public
| life. in the press. or in the colleges where
| ther young men are taught. to preach and
to practice that there is one law for the
| rich and another for the poor The
| amount OF money the REPRESENTATIVES of
certain great moneyed interests are will
| ing to spend can be gagged by their re-
cent publication broa dcast throughout the
| papers of this country. from the Atlantic
to the Pacific. of huge advertisements at
| lacking with envenomed bitterness the adj
| mlnistratlons policy of warning against
| successful dishonesty. and by their cir
culation OF pamphlets and books prepared
with the same object; while they likewise
push the circulation OF the writings and
| speeches OF men who. whether because
they are misled. or because. seeing the
light. they Yet are willing to sin against
| the light. serve these their masters of
great wealth to the cost of the plain
people. The books and pamphlets. the
| controlled newspapers. the speeches by
are usually and especially in the interest
Of the Standard Oil trust and of certain
notorious railroad combinations. but they
also defend other individuals and corpora
tons OF great wealth that have been
guilty Of wrongdoing. 1t is only rarely
| that the men responsible for the wrong
doing themselves speak or write. Normal
| ly they hire others to do their bidding. or
! find others who will do it without hire.
From the railroad rate law to the pure
/ food law. every measure for honesty in
business that has been passed during the
| last six years has been opposed by these
men on it's passage and in it's administra-
ton with every resource that bitter and
INSCRIPTIONS craft could suggest and the
| command OF almost unlimited money
secure. But for the last year the attack
has been made with most bitterness upon
the actual administration of the law.
especially through the Department OF
Justice. but also through the interstate
] commerce commission and the bureau OF
corporations.
! The extraordinary violence of the as
saults upon our policy contained in these
| speeches. editorials articles. advertise
ments and pamphlets and the enormous
1 sum Of money spent in these various
| ways give a fairly accurate measure OF
| the anger and terror which our public
| actions have caused the corrupt men of
| vast wealth to feel in the very marrow Of
! their being The attack is sometimes
| made openly against US for enforcing the
!. law. and sometimes with q certain cum
ming for not trying to enforce it in some
other way than that which experience
shows to be practical. One of the IA
| vorite methods Of the latter class of as
| sailant is to attack the administration for
not procuring the Imprisonment instead
| OF the fine Of offenders under these anti
trust laws. The man making this as
| sault is usually either prominent lawyer
! or an editor who takes his policy from
the financiers and his arguments from
| their attorneys. II the former. he has
! defended and advised many wealthy male
| factors and he knows we'll that. thanks
| to the advice Of lawyers like himself. a
| certain kind OF modern corporation has
! been turned into an admira BILE instrument
by which to render 1t we'll nigh nlpos-
| sible to get al the head of the corpora ton.
| at the man who ia really most guilty.
When we are able to put the real wrong
| doer in prison. this is what we strive 10
! do: this is what We have actually done
with some very wealthy criminals who.
moreover. represented that most baneful
| of all alliances. the alliance between the
| corruption of organized politics and the
| corruption of high finance. This is what
| we have done in the Gaynor and Green
| case, in the case of the misapplication
| Of funds in connection with certain great
banks in Chicago. in the land fraud cases,
! the highes: political position nor the pos
session of great wealth has ayailel TO
save the offenders from prison.
| The federal government does scourge
sin; it does bid sinners fear: for it has
put behind the bars with impartial Sc
verify the powerful financier. the pow
erful politician. the rich land sthief
the rich contractor-all. no matter
how high their station. against whom
criminal misdeeds can bc proved. All
their wealth and power cannot pro-
| tect them. But it often happens that the
effort TO imprison a given defendant is
certain to be futile. while it is possible ia
| fine him. or to fine the corporation OF
| Wnlcn ne - ncdO- So t1ldl, III OtNeF WOfQS,
| the only way of Furnishing the wrong is
by fning the corporation. unless We arc
| content to proceed personally against the
minor agents. The corporation lawyers
] to whom refer and their employers are
| the men mainly responsible for this state
of things. and their responsibility is
/ shared with all who ingeniously oppose
the passing of just and effective laws
or who fail to execute them when they
have been put ON the statute books.
! Innocent Stockholders.
| Much is said in these attacks upon the
policy OF the present administration about
the rights of innocent stockholders =
That stakeholder is not innocent who
voluntarily purchases stock in q corpora
ton whose methods and management he
knows to be corrupt: and stockholders
are bound to try to secure honest man
| agement, or else are eStopped from COM
planning about the proceedings the gov
| eminent finds necessary in order to COM
pei the corporation to obey the law There
| has been in the past grave wrong done
| innocent stockholders by Overcapitaliza
| tion stock-watering, stock jobbing, stock
| manipulation. This we have sought ia
prevent. first by exposing the thing done
and Furnishing the offender. when any ex.
listing law had been violated: second by
| recommending the passage of laws which
would make unlawful similar practices for
/ the future.
| The public men. lawyers and editors
| who loudly proclaim their sympathy for
| the innocent stockholders when a
| great lawdefying corporal ton, i; pun
ished are the first to protest with fran
| tic vehemence against all efforts by law
to put stop to the practices which are
hA nf he