Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-12-10

unfortunate whether due to hair split
ting technicalities in the interpreta
'tion of law by judges, to sentimental
lty and class consciousness on the par
OF lufieS or to hysteria and sensation
alism in the daily press, For mucl
OF this failure of justice no response
bllity whatever lies on rich men as
such. We who make up the mass OF
the people cannot shift the RESPONSE
billy from our own shoulders. Blu;
there is an important part of the fail
ure which has specially to do with
inability to hold to proper account mer
OF wealth who behave badly.
The chief breakdown is in dealing
with the new relations that arise from
the mutualism, the interdependence, OF
our time. Every new social relation
begets new type Of wrongdoing--oi
sin, to use an old fashioned woodland
many years always elapse before so
ciety is able TO turn this sin into crime
which can be effectively punished al
law. During the lifetime of the Older
men now alive the social relations
nave changed far more rapidly than il
Fthe preceding two centuries. The i'm
mense growth of corporations of bust
ness done by associations and the ex.
IRENE strain and pressure OF modern
life have produced conditions which
render the public confused as to who
its really dangerous foes are, and
among the public servants who have
not only shared this confusion, but by
some of their acts have increased il
are certain judges. Marked inefficient
cy has been shown in dealing with cor.
porations and in resettling the proper
attitude to be taken by the public not
only toward corporations, bat toward
labor and toward the social questions
arising out of the factory system and
the enormous growth of our great
cities.
The huge wealth that has been ac-
cumulated by a few individuals Of re-
cent years, in what has amounted TO a
social and industrial revolution, has
been as regards some of these indi-
tViduals made possible only by the i'm
proper use of the modern corporation.
A certain type of modern corporation.
with its officers and agents, it's many
issues of securities and its constant
consolidation with allied undertake
ings, finally becomes an instrument so
complex as to contain a greater num-
Der OF elements that under various
Judicial decisions lend themselves to
fraud and oppression than any device
yet evolved in the human brain Cor
poratlons are necessary Instruments
of modern business. They have been
permitted to become a menace largely
because the governmental representa-
tives of the people have worked slowly
in providing for adequate control over
them.
The chief offender III any given case
may be an executive, a legislature or a
judge. Every executive head who adj
Vises violent instead of gradual action
or who advocates i'll considered and
sweeping measures Of reform, es-
peclaHy ifttheE are tainted Withlvin-
ys disregard for the
hts of the sinority, is particularly
alneworthy, The several legislatures
re respons for the fact that our
Tvs are o: 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 Gus
ters ofacorporatiDns huge trusts and
fabulouslS wealthy multimillionaries
employ the very best lawyers they can
obtain to pick flaws in these statutes
after their passage. but they also EN-
pioE a class Of secret agents who seek
under the advice of experts to render
hostile legislation innocuous by making
1T 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
schemes TO 'Strike" cor
porations and Ill who demand en-
IRENE ard mdesirably radical meas
llles show themselves to be the worst
enemies of the very public whose loud
mouthed champions they profess to be-
A Very striking illustration of the
of carelessneSs in the
OF Il statute was the en-
pioyers' liability law Of 1906. In the
cases arising under that law four out
or SIX courts of first instance held 1t
six out OF nine JUS
tices of the supreme court held that
its subject matter was within the
province OF congressional action. and
four OF the nine Justices held it valid.
1t was, however. adiudged unconstitu-
tional by bare majority of the court
live to -four. 1t 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-
lions of the interstate commerce law.
Control over the great corporations do
ng interstate business can be effective
only If it is vested with full power in
IN administrative department, a branch
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