Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-12-08
OvERGROWN FORTUNES.
Made Possible by Improper Use of
 Modern Corporations.

mouoIA ooHPoIhtioAs'
 The huge wealth that has been ac- cumulated by few Individuals of re- cent years, in what has amounted to social and industrial revolution, has been as regards some of these indi- viduals made possible only by the i'm proper use of the modern corporation. A certain type of modern corporation, with its officers and agents, its many issues of securities and it's constant consolidation with allied undertak ings, finally becomes an instrument so complex as to contain greater num- Der of clements that under various judicial decisions lend themselves to fraud and oppression than any device yet evolved in the human brain. Cor. porations are necessary instruments of modern business. They have been permitted to become a menace largely because the governmental representa- lives of the people have worked slowly fin providing for adequate control over them.
 The chief offender in any given case may be an executive, e legislature or a judge. Every executive head who ad- vises violen instead of gradual action or who advocates i'll considered and sweeping measures of reform, es- pscially if they are tainted with vin- dictiveness and disregard for the rights of the minority. is particularly blameworthy. The several legislatures are responsible for the fact that our laws are often prepared with slovenly haste and lack of consideration. Moreover, they are often prepared and still more frequently amended dur ing passage at the suggestion of the very parties against whom they are afterward enforced. Our great clus- ters of corporations, huge trusts and fabulously wealthy multimillionaries employ the very best lawyers they can obtain to pick flaws in these statutes after their passage, but they also en- ploy 0 class of secret agents who seek under the advice of experts to render hostile legislation innocuous by making it unconstitutional, often through the insertion of what appear on their face to be drastic and sweeping provisions against the interests of the parties in spring them, while the demagogues, the corrupt creatures who introduce blackmailing schemes to strike cor ! porahons and all who demand ex- treme and undesirably radical meas ures show themselves to be the worst enemies of the very public whose loud mouthsd champions they profess to be. A very striking illustration of the consequences of carelessness in the preparation of statute was the eIn- ployers' liability law of 1906. In the cases arising under that law four out of six courts of first instance held it unconstitutional, six out of nine jus tices of the supreme court held that it's subject matter was within the province of congressional action, and four of the nine justices held 1t valid It was, however, adjudged unconstitu tonal by bare majority of the court five to four. It was surely very slovenly piece of work to frame the legislation in such shape as to leave the question open at all.
 Real damage has been done by the manifold and conflicting interpreta- tions of the interstate commerce law. Control over the great corporations do- ing interstate business can be effective only If 1t is vested with full power in an administrative department, branch of the federal executive, carrying out a federal law It can, never be eff fective if divided responsibility is left in both the states and the nation. It can never be effective If left In the hands of the courts to be decided by lawsuits.
 The courts hold a place of peculiar and deserved sanctity under our form of government Respect for the law is essential to the permanence of our in- stitutions, and respect for the law is largely conditioned upon respect for the courts. It is an offense against the republic to say anything which can weaken this respect save for the gray est reason and in the most carefully guarded manner. Our judges should be held in peculiar honor, and the duty of respectful and truthful comment and criticism, which should be binding when we speak of anybody, should be especially binding when We speak of | them. On an average they stand above any other servants of the com munity, and the greatest judges have reached the high level held by those few greatest patriots whom the whole country delights to honor. But we must face the fact that there are wise and unwise judges, just as there are l wise and unwise executives and legis- lators. When a president or governor behaves improperly or unwisely the remedy is easy, for his term Is short. | The same is true with the legislator, he is one of many who belong to some l given legislative body, md 1t is there fore less easy to fx his personal re- sponsibility and hold him accountable therefor. With a judge who. being human, is also likely to err. but whose tenure is for life. there is no similar way of holding him to responsibility. Under ordinary conditions the only forms of pressure to which he is in any way amerh hle are public opinion and the action '. his fellow judges. It