The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1908-12-08

cessariIy invites a violent reaction
against the cause the wrongdoer no.
minally upholds. In point of danger
to the Nation there is nothing to
choose between on the one hand the
corruptionist, the bTibe-giver, the
bribe-taker, the man who employs his
great talent to swindle his fellow-citi-
zens on a large scale, and, on the otn>
err hand, the preacher of class hatred,
the man who, whether from ignor-
ance or from willingness to sacrifice
his country to his ambition, persuaGes
well-meaning but wrong-headed men
to try to destroy the instruments up
on which our prosperity mainly rests.
Let each group of men beware of and
guard against the shortcomings %
which that group is itself most liable
Too often we see the business COM
munity in a spirit of unhealthy class
consciousness deplore the effort to
hold to account under the law the
wealthy men who in their manage
ment of great corporations. whether
railroads, street railways, or other in
dustrial enterprises, have behaved in
a way that revolts the conscience of the
plain, decent people. Such an attitude
can not be condemned too severely
for men of property should recognize
that they jeopardize the rights of pro-
perty when they fail heartily to join
in the effort to day away with the
abuses of wealth. On the other hand,
those who advocate proper control on
behalf of the public, through the
State. of these great corporations, and
of the wealth engaged on a giant scale
in business operations, must ever keep
| my mind that unless they do scrupu-
| lous justice to the corporation, unless
they permit ample profit, and cordial,
! ly encourage capable men of business
so long as they act Wtoh honesty, they
are striking at the root OF our ma
tional wellbeing; for in the long run
under the mere pressure of materia
distress, the people as a whole wouI'
probably go back to the reign of at
unrestricted individualism rather thai
submit to a control by the State 81
drastic and so foolish, conceived in /;
spirit of such unreasonable and marrow
hostility to wealth, as to prevent bust
ness operations from being profitable
and therefore to bring ruin upon tn,
entire business community, and ulti
mately upon the entire body of citi
zens.
= The opposition to Government con
troll of these great corporations make
its most effective effort in the shap
of an appeal to the old doctrine o
States rights OF course there ar
many sincere men who now believ
in Unrestricted individualism in bust
ness, just as there were formerl
many sincere men who believed Il
slavery-that is, in the unrestricte
right of an individual to own anothe
individual These men do not b.
themselves have great weight, how
ever. The effective fight against ade
quate Government control and super
: vision of individual, and especial
of corporate, wealth engaged in inter
/ bldl6 DuSllltNS Is iIltllH uOnt uiiuN
; cover; and especially under cover @
an appeal to States rights. 1t is nc
at all infreQuent to read in the sam
speech a denunciation of predator
wealth fostered by special Jrivileg
and defiant of both the public welfar
and law of the land, and a denuncia
ton of Capitalization in the Centr5
Government of the power to deal wit
this centralized and organized wealth
OF course the policy set forth in sue
! twin denunciations amounts to absC
l lutely nothing, for the first half is nu
: lifted by the second half. The chic
l reason, among the many sound an
! compelling reasons, that led to tn
I formation of the National Govern
ment was the absolute need that tn
B Union, and not the several State
t should deal with interstate and 70
eign commerce; and the power to de-
with interstate commerce was granite
absolutely and plenarily to the Cel
t trail Government and was exercise
n completely as regards the only instr
lnGhNb VI AlAANA oAeAA1 NOAAAAAlNlNC hAAO "
e in those days-the waterways, Il
e highroads, as well as the partnership
l. of individuals who then conducted a
IL OF what business there was Int
e state commerce is now chiefly conduC
J. ed by railroads; and the great corpo
1t alton has supplanted the mass of sms
= partnerships or individuals, The pr
st posal to make the National Cover
It ment supreme over, and therefore
l. give It complete control over, the IA
o roads and other instruments OF int
e state commerce is merely a propos
g to carry out to the letter one of 4
D, prime purposes II not the prime pu
Pc pose, for which the Constitution W
p founded. II does not represent ce