Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1908-12-09
TIE RESIDENTS MESSAGE
Ngr. Roosevelt Makes Rec concentrations
Concerning Needed Legislation

summary. The power to investigate
the financial operations and accounts
Of the railways has been one of the
most valuable features in recent legis-
laticn. Power to make combinations
and traffic agreements should be ex.
plicitly conferred upon the railroads
the permission of the Commission be-
ing first gained and the combination
or agreement being published IN all
its details. In the interest of the pub
lie che representatives of the public
Should have complete power to see
that the railroads do their duty by
the public, and as matter of course
this power should also be exercised Sc
as to see that no injustice is done to
the railroads. The shareholders, the
employees and the shippers all ta7e
interests that must be guarded. 1t is
to the interest of all Of them that no
swindling stock speculation should be
allowed, and that there should be no
improper issuance. of securities. Tho
guiding intelligences necessary for
the Successful building and successful
management of railroads should re-
ceive ample remuneration; but no
man should be allowed to make money
in connection with railroads out OF
fraudulent over-capitalizations and
kindred stock-gambling performan-
ces; there must De no defrauding of
investors, oppression of the farmers
and business men who ship freight, or
callous disregard Of the rights and
needs of the employees. In addition
to this the interests Of the share
holders, of the employees, and of the
shippers should all be guarded as
against one another. To give any one
of them undue and improper consid-
Grafton is to. do injustice to the others.
Rates must be made as low as is COM
patible with giving proper returns to
all the employees of the railroad,
frcm the highest to the lowest, and
proper returns to the shareholders
but they must not, for instance, be re-
duced in such fashion as to necessi-
tate a cut in the wages of the employ
ees or the abolition of the proper and
legitimate profits Of honest sharehold-
ers.
Telegraph and telephone companies
engaged in interstate business should
be put under the jurisdiction of the
Interstate Commerce Commission.
Labor.
There are many matters affecting
labor and the status of the wage
worker to which should like to draw
your attention, but an exhaustive dis
cussion Of the problem in all its as
poets is not now necessary. This ad-
is nearing its end; and,
moreover, under our form of govern
ment the solution of the problem de-
pends upon the action of the States
as much as upon the action Of the
Nation. Nevertheless, there are GER
tain considerations which / wish to
set before you, because I hope that
our people will more and more keep
them in mind. A blind and ignorant
resistance to every effort for the re-
form of abuses and for the readjust-
ment of society to modern industrial
represents not true conser-
vatism but an, incitement to the wild
est radicalism; for wise radicalicm
and wise conservatism go hand in
hand, one bent on progress, the other
bent on seeing that no change is made
unless in the right direction. 1 be-
lieve in steady effort, or perhaps it
would be more accurate to say in
steady efforts in many different direc-
tions, to bring about condition of
affairs under which the men who work
with hand or brain, the laborers, the
superintendents, the men who pro-
duce for the market and the men
who find a market for the articles
shall own a far greater
share than at present of the wealth
they produce, and be enabled to in
vest it in the tools and instruments by
which all work is carried on. AS far
as possible 1 hope to see frank rec
ognition of the advantages conferred
by machinery, organization, and di-
vision of labor, accompanied by an
effort to bring about a larger share
in the ownership by wage-workers of
railway, mill, and factory. In farm
ing, this simply means that we wish
to see the farmer own his own land;
we do not, wish to see the farms so
large that they become the property
Of absentee landlords who farm them
by tenants, nor yet so small that the
farmer becomes like European peas
ant. Again, the depositors in our
saving banks now number, over one
tenth of our entire population. These
are all capitalists, who through the
savings banks loan their money to
the workers--that is, in many cases
to themselves-to carry on their var
ious industries. The more we increase
their number, the more we introduce
the principles of cooperation into our
industry. Every increase in the num-
Der of small stockholders in corpora
tions is a good thing, for the same
reasons; and where the employees are
the stockholders the result is particu-
larly good. Very much Of this move
ment must be outside of anything that
can be accomplished by legislation !;
but legislation can do good deal.
Postal savings banks will make it
easy for the poorest to keep their
savings in absolute safety. The reg