The White Pine news. [volume] (Ely, Nev.) 1906-1910, 1908-12-09
MESSAGE
CONC|[|ATORY IN TONE
Continued From Page One.)

hIlDDE the many SOUND anu competing
reasons. that lead Ia the formation of
the National Government. was the ab-
solute need thai the Union. and not
the several states should deal with
Interstate and foreign commerce; and
the power To deal with interstate COM
merce was granted absolutely and
plenarily tn the Central Government
and WAS exercised completely rs re-
CARDS the only instrument 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. Interstate commerce is now
chiefly conducted bYfrailroads; and the
great corporation has supplanted the
mass of small partnerships or indiyid-
uals The proposal To make the Ma
tional Government supreme over, and
therefore To give it complete control
over. the railroads and other instru
ments of interstate commerce is merely
proposal In carry out TO the letter
one of the prime purposes. if not the
prime purpose. for which the Consti-
tuition was founded. 1t does not re-
present Capitalization. II represents
merely the acknowledgment of The
patent fact that Capitalization has
already come into business. IL this
irresponsible outside business power
Is to be controlled in the interests OF
the general public II can only be con-
trolled in one way; by giving adequate
power of control 10 one sovereignty
capable of exercising such power-the
National Governments Forty or fifty
separate governments can not exercise
that power over corporations doing
business in most or all of them. first,
because they absolutely lack the au--
thority 10 deal with interstate business
in any form and second. because of
the inevitable conflict of authority sure
to arise in the effort 10 enforce diff
ferent kinds of state regulation often
Inconsistent with one another and
sometimes oppressive with themselves.
Such divided authority can not regulate
commerce with wisdom and effect The
Central Government is the only power
which. without oppression, can never
theless thoroughly and adequately
control and supervise the large cor
porations. To abandon the effort for
National control means to abandon the
effort for all adequate control and yet /
to render likely continual bursts of
action by State legislatures. which can
not achieve the purpose sought for. I
but which can do n great deal of |
damage to the corporation without con- |
ferring any real benefit on the public. |
There are many matters affecting /
labor and the status of the wage /
worker TO which | would like to draw |
your attention. but an exhaustive dis
cnssion of the problem in all its aspects |
is not now necessary. This admin |
istration is nearing its end; and more
over, under our form Of government |
the solution of the problem depends |
upon the action Of the States as much !
as on the action of the Nation. Never
theless. there are certain consider [
because | hope that our people will I
more and more keep them in mind. \ +
blind and ignorant resistance To every t
effort for the reform Of abuses and for /
the REIMBURSEMENT of society to modern |
Industrial conditions represents not +
true conservatism but an Indictment To /
the widest radiealism' for wise radical
ism and wise conservatism go hand 1
in hand bent on progress. the t
other bent ON seeing that no change +
Is made unless in the right direction. |
hall han
il would be mere accurate To say in +
steady efforts in many directions, To I
bring about a condition of affairs under +
which the men who work with hand /
or with brain. the laborers, the sup
erintendents, the men who produce for +
the market and the men who find a ,
market for the articles produced shall /
own a far greater share than at pre-
sent of the wealth they produce. and
be enabled to invest il in the tools and .
Instruments by which all work is
carried on. As far as possible | hope |
10 see a frank recognition Of the adj |
vantages conferred by machinery. /
organization, and division of labor.
accompanied by effort to bring
about a larger share in the ownership
by wage-workers of railway, mill, and
factory. In farming this simply means
that we wish to see the farmer own
his own land; we do not wish to see
the farms so large that they become
the property of absentee landlords who
farm them by tenants. nor yet small
that the farmer becomes like a Europ-
san peasant. Again the depositors in
our savings banks now number over
one-tenth of our entire population.
These are all capitalists. who through
the savings banks loan their money to
the workers-to carry on their various
industries The more we increase their
number, the more we introduce the
principals of cooperation into our in
dustry. Every increase in the number
of small stockholders in corporations
is n good thing for the same reasons
and where the employees are the stock
holders the result Is particularly good
Very much of this movement must be
outside of anything that can be accom-
plished by legislation: but legislation
can do a good deal. Postal savings
banks Will make II easy for the poorest
to keep their savings in absolute safe
ty The regulation of the national
highways must be such that they shall
serve all people with equal justice.
to make 1t far safer than at
present for the man of small means
to invest his money in stocks. There
must be prohibition of child labor,
diminution of woman labor shortening
of hours of mechanical labor; stock
watering should be prohibited. and
stock gambling as far as possible dis
couraged. There should be progress
I've Inheritance tax on large fortunes.
Industrial education should be en-
eouraged. As far as possible we should
tighten the burden OF taxation on the
small man. We should put a premium
pnon thrift, hard work and business
energy, but these qualities cease to be
the main factory In accumulating a
fortune long before that fortune reach
es II point where IL would be seriously
affected by any Inheritance tax such
as ! propose. II Is eminently right
that the Nation should fix the terms
upon which the great fortunes are in
herited They rarely do good and they
often do harm To those. who inherit
them in their entirety.
PROTECTION FOR wsGEw0RKERs
The above is the merest sketch,
hardly even a sketch in outline. of the
reforms for which should work
But there is one matter with which
the Congress should deal at this session
There should no longer be any palter-
ing with the question of taking care
Of the wageworkers who. under our
present Industrial system become kill
ed, crippled. or worn out as part of the
regular incidents Of n given business
The majority Of wageworkers must
have their rights secured for them by
State action: but the National Govern
ment should iegislate in thoroughgoing
and for-reaching fashion not only for
all employee OF the National Govern
ment. but for all persons engaged i'm
Interstate commerce. The object sought
for pon1d - achieved a a r1aa q IN hl