The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1908-02-07
witch, X left uncontrolled. n n certa
In the end to
Bio Corporations Are Hi.

tktA@ft ~
every competitor and look down upon the
people with a contempt which the public
deserves as long as II permits such men
TO act with impnnity." IL was at. that
anee and Chicago g. Alton scandals thai
Mr.. Roosevelt took the heaviest fall out
OF wealthy corporations which have been
held TO account by the government. the
''The keynote of all these attacks upon
the effort to secure honesty in business
and in politics is well expressed in bra
zen protests against any effort Tor the
moral regeneration OF the business world,
on the ground that II is unnatural, un-
warranted and injurious, and that busl-
ness panic Is the necessary penalty ior
such effort to secure business honesty.
The morality of u a plea is precisely
az great as II made on behalf of the
men caught in a gambling establishment
when that gambling establishment is
raided by the police. II such words mean
anything they mean that those
whose sentiments they represent
stand against the effort to bring
which will prevent a repetition of the in
surance, banking and street railroad
scandals in New York; O repetition OF
the Chicago & Alton deal; a repetition
Of the combination between certain pro,
fessional politicians, certain professional
lahor leaders. and certain big hnancierS,
from the disgrace of which San Francis
co has Just been rescued; a repetltlon
OF the SUCCESSFUL ftIOIk bg AAf pAoilhhA'
Oil people to crush out every competitor,
to overawe the comnon carriers, and to
establish a monopoly which treats tle
public with e contempt which the puphc
deserves so long as IL permits men or
such principles and such sentiments to
uyow and act on them with impunity.
The cutlery against stopping dishonest
practices among wronsdoers VINO nap
pen to be wealthy Is precisely similar
10 the cutlery raised against every effort
for cleanliness and decency in city gov
eminent, because, %forsooth. 1t Will hurt
business
Tells Of Criticising Judges.
"Our opponents lave recently been bit
| terly criticising the two judges referred
to in the accompanying communications
from the Standard Oil Company and the
Santa Fe Railroad for having imposed
heavy fines on these two corporations,
| and vet these same critics of these i've
| Judges exhaus themselves in d%enounc-
ing the most respectful and CAUTIOUS
| discussion of the official action of a judge
which results in immunity to wealthy
| and powerful ~wrongdoers. Most certain
ly it behooves us all to treat with the
utmost respect the high office OF Judge:
and our judges, as q whole, are braVe
and upright men. Respect for the law
must 90 hand in hand with respect for
the Judges and, as a whole, II is true
now as in the past t.lat the judges stanu
in character and service above ali other
| men among their felloW-servants OF the
public. The judge who does his full
| duty well stands higher. and renders a
better service to the people, mar any
other public servant; he Is entitled 10
greater respect; and II he is a true ser
want Of the people, Il he is upright. wise
and fearless, he will unhesitatingly dis
regard ever the wishes OF the people
if they conflict with the eternal pr,n.
ciples of right as against wrong. He
must serve the people; but he must
serve his own conscience first. All honor
to such a Judge; and all honor can not
be be F %is brsfb him Y wh it 4 fa Tfn immeas sand,iy
below the high ideals, for which he
stands. Untruthful criticism Is wicked at
all times, and whoever. may be the op-
iect; but It is a peculiarly fragrant in
iquiiy when a Judge Is the object. No
man should lightly c%riticise a judge; no
man should, even In his own mind, CON
denim a judge unless he Is sure OF the
ing against popular folly, and above al,
for standing against mob violence, al
honorable men should rally instantly to
his support, Nevertheless II NJ clearly
dealing with lawbreaking corporations,
lawbreaking men of wealth, he must eX-
pect to feel the weight of public opin-
ion; and this Is but right. fol, except IN
extreme cases this Is the only way IN
which he can be reached at all, NO SER
want of the people has a right to expect
TO be free from just and honest criticism.
"An Ethical Movement"
''The opponents of the measures we
champion single out now one and now
another measure for especial attack. ana
speak as if the movement in which we
are engaged was purely economic. II mas
a large economic side, but It is funua-
mentally an ethical movement. 1t is not
a movement to be completed In one year,
or two years or three years; II is n
movement which must be persevered in
until the spirit which lies behind 1t SINKS
deep into the heart and the conscience
of the whole people. 1t ls always mn
portant to choose the right means 10
achieve our purpose. but It is even
more important to keep this purpose
clearly before us; and this purpose IS
to secure national honesty IN business
and in politics. We do not subscribe TO
the cynical belief that dishonesty and
unfair dealing are essential TO business
success, and are to be c"ondoned Wnen tne
success is moderate ana applauaeu WIN ~,
the success is great. The methods by
which the Standard Oil people ana those
engaged In the other combinations OF
which ! nave spoken above nave
tilted by the advocacy OF = system OF
morality which would also JUSTIFY every
form of criminality on, the part OF a
labor union, and every form OF violence,
corruption, and fraud, from murder 70
bribery and ballot-box stuting IN pol
tics. We are trying to secure equanty
Of opportunity for all; and the strusgie
for honesty is the same wnether II ~
/ maze on DtIidll VI WV W " - :.
another. In the interest of the small
settlers and landowners, and against the
embittered opposition OF wealthy owners
of huge wandering fioclSs Of sheep, or OF
corporations desiring to rob the people
Of coal and timber, we strive TO put On
ond TO the theft Of public land in the
west. When we do this, and protest
against the action OF All men whes wbo
either take part in or refuse to try 70
stop such theft, we are really engaged
in the same policy as when we endeavot
to put a stop to rebates or 10 preGem'
our effort is simply to enforce, the prin-
clples of common honesty, ana common
sense. 1t would indeed be i'll for the
work"
state Government Must Aid.
Eitl-. the state or national ggo-
ernmen1 must undertake the resula,
ton Of which the president spoke, and
the executive asked the common
wealths to share the responsibility OF
curbing those corporations wn ar in
any event both the national ana state
governments must each DO It's part,
said President Roosevelts message,
and each can DO a certain Mil, 99mttb W.
only really satisfactory results must
be obtained by the representatives OF
the national and state government
WORKING heartily tOBGtHer Withih tiSli
respective spheres. But in my. judy
ment thorough going and satisfactory
control can in the end only be obtained
by the action OF the national govern
ment, for almost all the corporations OF
enormous wealth-that is, the corpo-
rations which it is especially desirable
to control-are engaged in interstate
and derive their power and
their Importance not from that portion
of their business which is interstate,
but from the interstate business. 1t is not
easyalways to decide just where the line
of d~emarcation between the two kinds
of business falls. This line must uiti-
mately be drawn by the federal
courts. Much or the effort to secure
adequate control Of the great corpora