The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1908-02-07

wrong ana We stand equally stoutIN Tor
IN" rights Of the man of wealth ana TOT
the rights of the wage worker. We seek
to protect the property Of every man VINO
acts honestly. Of every corporation that
represents wealth honestly accumulated
| aud honcstly used. We seek to stop
wTOngdolng, and we desire To punish IN"
wrong doors only 40 far as IL necessary
to achieve this end.
Campaign OF Lawbreakers
Against Governments Policy
There are ample material rewards for
those who serve with fidelity the mann
mon of unrightCousncss. but they are
dearly paid for by the people who per
NIT their representatives,, whether IN pun
| lie life. In the press, or In the colleges
where their 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
willing to spend can be gaugcd by their
recent publication broadcast throughout
| the papers Of this country, from tn" At
| lnntic to the Pacific, of huge advertise
mcnts attacking with envenomcd bitter.
ness the administrations policy or
warning against successful dishonesty,
| and by their circulation 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 mlsled, or be-
| cause seeing the light. they yet are VIII
| Ing to sin against the light, serve these
| their masters OF great wealth to the cost
OF the plain people; The books ana
pamphlets, the controlled newspapers, tho
speeches by public or private men 20
| which | refer are usunlly and especially
| In the interest Of the Standard on Trust
and OF certain notorious railroad com
| binations, but they also defend other In
| dividuals and corporations OF great
| wealth that have been guilty Of wrong
doing It IL only rarely that tho men re-
| sponsihlc for the wrongdoing themselves
| speak or write. Normally they hire 9TH
| "rs to do their bidding. or find others who
will do II without hire. From ~" ra'l-
| road.rate law to the pure foou law, every
| measure for honesty In business that has
been passed during the last six years has
| been opposed by these men on Its pas
sage and In It's administration with every
| resource that bitter md inscriptions
| craft could suggest and the command OF
| almost unlimited money secure. But for
tho last year the attack has been made
/ with most bitterness upon the actual ad-
| mlniFtraton of the law, especially
/ through the department OF Justice, but
| also through the Interstate Commerce
! Commission and the bureau OF corpora
| tons The extraordinary violence OF the
! assaults upon our policy contained IN
! these speeches, editorials. articles al
| vertiscmcnts and pamphlets, and the
| enormous sums Of money spent IN these
| various ways, give fnlrly accurate
measure OF the anger and terror which
/ our public actions have caused the cor
| rupt 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 a
certain cunning, for not trying TO en-
| force II In some other way than that
which experience shows To be practical
! One OF the fnvorito methods OF the lat
] ter class OF assailant IL 10 attack the ad-
/ mlnistration for not procuring the Inn
prisonmcnt instead OF the fine OF offend
] ers under these antitrust laws The man
making this assault Is usually either a
! prominent lawyer or an editor who takes
! his policy from the fnanClcrs and his
/ arguments from their attorneys. II the
| former. he has defended and advised
/ many wealthy malefnctorS, and he knows
well that, thanks to the advice OF lawyers
/ like himself. n certain kind OF modcSn
/ corporation has been turned into an ad-
| mirable instrument by which to render II
/ of the corporation, ut the man who Is
really most guilty. When We are able
To put the real wrongdocr In Srison. this
/ IL what We strive to do: this g what we
! have actually done with som" very
/ wealthy criminals, who. moreover. repre-
/ scented that most bancful 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 Guynor and Greene case, In TIA"
/ case Of the misapplicntiOn OF funds In
/ connection with certain great banks In
I Chicago. in tho land-fraud cases, where.
Z as In other cases likewise. neither the
highest political position nor the posses
. sion of great wealth, has awaited TO save
| .hc offenders from prison. The federal
| government does scOurgc sin, II does bid
/ sinners fear, for II has put behind the
! bars with impartial severity, the powerful
/ fnancirr the powerful politician. the rich
! land thief, the rich ContraCtdr-Hll no
matter how high their station. against
! whom criminal misdcCds can he proved.
| All their wealth md power can not pro-
! tcCt them. But il often happens that tho
effort TO imprIson given defendant IS
certain TO be futile. while It is possible
| to fine him or to inc the corporation NJ
/ which he IL head; so that, In other words,
! the only way OF furnishing the wrong Ia
, by filming the corporation. unless we are
| content TO proceed personally against tn"
! minor agents. The corporation lawyers
/ To whom ! refer and their employers are
| the men mainly responsible for this
state Of things. and their responsibility IL
shared with all who inRcniOusly oppose
| the passing of just and effective laws, or
who fail TO execute them when they have
been put on the statute books,
| Much is said. In these attacks upon
the policy OF the present ndminstra-
tion about the rights Of "inuocent
stockholders That stakeholder is
! not innocent who voluntarily purchases
stock in n corporation whose methods
and management he knows TO he cor
| rupt; and stockholders are bound to
try to sccur" honest management, or
else are cstopped from complaining
about the proceedings the government
finds necessary In order to compel the
corporation to obey the law. There has
been in the past grave wrong done in
ton. stock watering. stock jObing.
stock manipulation. This we have
sought to prevent, first by exposing the
thing done and furnishing the offender
| when any existing law had been vio-
lated: second. by recommending the pas
sage of laws which would make unlaw-
| full similar practices for the future,
The public men. lawyers and editors
who loudly proclaim their sympathy for
| the innocent stockholders" when "A
| great law -defying corporation is pun
ished. are the first to protest with fran
tic vehemence against all efforts by
| law to put stop to the practices which
are the real and ultimate sources OF the
damage alike to the stockholders and
the public. The apologists Of success
| full dishonesty always declaim against
any effort to punish or prevent II. on
the ground that any such effort will
| "unsettlc business" 1t Is they who
by their acts have unsettled business.
and the very men raising this cry spend
hundreds of thousands of dollars In Sc