Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1908-12-16

F 0AAetA
holders; but they must not, for in
stance, be reduced in such fashion as
to necessitate cut in wages or the
abolition of the proper and legitimate
| profits OF honest shareholders.
Telegraph and telephone com
panieS engaged in interstate business
should be put under the jurisdiction
of the interstate commerce commits
sion"
&c tralization.
The proposal to make the national
government supreme over, and there
fore to give it complete control over,
the railroads and other instruments OF
interstate commerce is merely a pro-
posal to carry out to the letter one OF
the prime purposes, if not the prime
purpose, Tor which the constitution
was founded, says the president. 1t
does not represent Capitalization. 1,
represents merely the acknowledgment
of the patent fact that GENERALIZATION
has already come in business. If this
irresponsible outside business power is
to be controlled in the interest of the
general public it can only be controlled
in one way; by giving adequate power
of control to the one sovereignty cap
liable of exercising such powe-the ma.
: tfonal government. Forty or fifty sepa-
rate state governments can not exer-
Icise that power over corporations doing
business in most or all Of them.
j The president says he believes that
the more farsighted corporations are
themselves coming to recognize the
unwisdom of the violent hostility they
have displayed to regulation and con
troll. Concentrated power is palpable
visible, responsible, easily reached
quickly held to account
/ Labor.
;, AS ar as possible the president
hopes to see a frank recognition of the
advantages conferred by machinery
organization, and division of labor, &C
companied by an effort 10 bring about
a larger share in the ownership by
wageworkers of railway, mill and fac
tory. In farming, this simply means
that we wish to see the farmer own
his own land; we do not wish
I to see the farms so large that
they become the property of alb
sentee landlords who farm them by
tenants, nor yet so small that the
farmers becomes like a European peas
ant. Every increase in the number Of
small stockholders in corporations is
a 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 BIZ
outside of anything that can be accom-
plished by legislation. Postal say
ings banks will make it easy for the
poorest to keep their savings in
safety. The regulation of the nationa
highways must be such that they shall
serve all people with equal Justice
Corporate finances must be supervised
so as to, make it far safer than al
present for the man of small means t.
invest his money in stocks. There
must be prohibition of child labor
diminution of woman labor, shortening
of hours of all mechanical labor stocl
watering should be prohibited, anc
stock gambling SO far as is possible
. discouraged There should be pro
lgressive inheritance tax on large for
tunes. Industrial education should b.
encouraged. AS far as possible we
should tighten the burden of taxation
on the small man. We should put q
premium upon thrift, hard work, ano
business energy; but these qualities
cease to be the main factors in accu
mulating a fortune long before tina,
fortune reaches point where it would
be seriously affected by any inherit
ance tax. It is right that the nation
i should fix the terms upon which greas
fortunes are Inherited. They rarely
do good and they often do harm to
those who inherit them in their en-
tirety.
There should be no paltering with
1.-THE question of taking care of the wage
workers who get killed crippled, OF
worn out The majority of wage
workers must have their rights Sc
cured for them by state action; but
the national government should legis.
late not only for all employees OF
the national government, but for all
persons engaged in interstate com
lmerce. The object sought for could be
achieved to a measurable degree, as
far as those killed or crippled are con.
cerned, by proper employers liability
laws. AS far as concerns those who
have been worn out, attention is called
to the fact that steps toward providing
old-age pensions have been taken in
many private industries. These may
be indefinitely extended through volun-
Itary association and contrfbutory
schemes, or through the agency of saw
hngs banks, as under the Massachusetts
plan The president says to congress
to pass a model employers liability
law for the District of Columbia; and