The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1908-12-11

lSdctlou against the cause the wrong
ger to the nation there is nothing to
cnoose etwee on the one hand the cor
TTnPtionist the bride xiver, the bribe
talent to swtndle his fellow citizens on a
large scale. and, on the other hand, the
whether from ignorance or from willing
ness to sacrifice his country to his am
pltlon, p~ersuades well meaning but wrong
neaded men to try to destroy the instru-
rests.
Let Each Beware.
Let each group of men beware of and
mat group Is itself most liable. Too often
we see the business community in q spirit
q unhealthy class consciousness deplore
law the wealthy men who In their man
gemen Of great corporations, whether
f al; street railways. or other indus
lhat revolts the conscience of the plain,
hecent people. Such an attitude can not
be condemned too severely. for men of
ar1lze the rights OF property when they
aali heartily to join in the effort to do
aWay With the abuses OF wealth. On the
control on behalf of the public, through
the state. of these great corporations.
scale in business operations. must ever
keep In mind that unless they do scrupu-
i1us Justice to the corporation. unless
sASy pCiAuil AIupl0 pTOuI, anu COTuidlIS
encourage capable men of business 80
long as they act with honesty. they are
striking at the root Of our national well
mere pressure OF material distress. the
people as a whole would probably go back
TO the reign Of an unrestricted individ,
oy the state 80 drastic and SO foolish,
able and narrow hostility to wealth, as
ing profitable. n therefore to bring
ruin upon the entire business community:
and Ultimately upon the entire body of
The opposition to government control
OF these great corporations makes Its
a %Sse fns e he s1 sd d aoe til sha q State. "a s1
rights. OF course, there are many sincere
men Who now believe In unrestricted indi-
formerly many sincere men who believed
in slavery-that is, in the unrestricted
right Of an individual to own another
selves have great weight. however. The
mest son nEa! s ana su =aasasiats g soY indi-
wealth engaged IL Interstate business is
chiefly done under cover; and especially
undef cover of an appeal to states rights.
same speech a de%nunciation of predatory
wealth fostsred by special privilege and
det,an ut of Of both 10th, the ae publ. = welfare T;en and nd
Capitalization in the central government
of the power to deal with his centralized
and organized wealth. OF course. the
tons amount to absolutely nothing, for
the first half is nulliied by the second
half.
Basis Of Union.
sound and compelling reasons. that led
to the formation of the national govern
ment. was the absolute need that the
deal with Interstate and foreign com
merce: and the owe to deal with inter
state was granted absolutely
and was exercised completely as regards
the only Instruments OF interstate COM
merceS known In those days-the water
nerships of individuals who then con-
Quoted all Of what business there was.
Interstate is now chiefly con-
poration has Implanted the mass of
partnerships or individuals. The
proposal Props to make the national govern
and other Instruments Of Interstate com
%sf the i ist msFs SHe . Il PF tSs pl,m to f parpos Sat
constitution was. founded. it does not
merely the acknowledgment of the patent
TACT that GENERALIZATION has already come
In business.
II this irresponsible outside business
~ the general public 1t can only be con-
trolled IN one way: BY giving adequate
capable of exercising such power-the
government. Forty or SO sep
arate state governments can not exercise
ness In most or all OF them: first. be-
cause they absolutely lack the authority
deal with interstate business in any
form; and second. because of the inev-
conflict of authority sure to arise
IN the effort to enforce different lind of
state regulation, often inconsistent with
themselves. Such divided authority can
not regulate with wisdom and
only power which. Without Oppression,
can nevertheless thoroughly n ade-
quately control and supervise the large
corporations.
To abandon the effort for national con-
troll means to abandon the effort for all
adequate control and yet to render likely
latures. which can not achieve the pur-
sought for. but which can do a
great deal Of damage to the corporation
the public.
Corporations See Mistake.
! believe that the more farsighted cor
porations are themselves coming to rec
oIgnize the ,unwisdom of the violent hos
few years to regulation and Control BY
the national government of combinations
engaged In interstate business. The truth
. iSA0S VIC W1lO Cllct III Lib movement |
OF asserting and exercising a nuin
In the public interest, over these
great corporations have to contend
against two sets Of enemies. who, though
nominally opposed to one another, are
really allies In preventing a proper solu-
ton OF the problem. There are, first, the
big. corporation men. and the extreme
i%ndividnalists among business men. who
business-that is. in the reign. Of plu-
tocracy: and, second. the men who, being !
to the economic movements OF the |
day. believe in q movement Of repression
rather than of regulation of corporations. |
and who d%enounce both. the power OF the
railroads and the exercise OF the federal
power which alone can really control the |
railroads. Those who believe in enicient
not In the least object. to combinations:
do not in the least object to c%oncentra.
ton in business administration. on the
contrary. they favor both; with the all
such publicity about their workings. and
as to insure their being in the Interest. |
not against the interest, Of the gen.
concentration Of wealth and administra-
ton; but we do believe in the distribution
the wealth In profits to the real own-