The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1908-04-30

9 man without g to his wealth
~ Ills poverty. But evil hough the in
nuence OF these d-emagogues and vision
arles u, ~ ~ no worse In it's consequences
1nan the influence exercised by the man
= srea1 wealth or the man OF power
anu position In the Industrial world, who
oy mis- lack OF sympathy with. and lack
oL understanding OF. still more by any
eknioition OF uncompromising hostility to,
TO unite them against their feilow-Ameri-
ms VINO are better on I'm this worlds
goods. IL ID a bad thing to teach our
working people that men OF means, that
men VINO have the largest proportion OF
the substantial comforts OF life, are nec-
essarily greedy. grasping and c~old-hearted,
and that they unjustly demand and APP
propriate more than their share OF the
substance or the many. Stern condem-
NATION should be visited upon demagogue
and visionary who teach this untruth, and
even sterner upon those capitalists who
brutally disregardifuI OF the rights Of
otners, and who by their actions teach
me dreadful lesson far more effectively
man any mere preacher OF unrest. A.
class grievance" left too long without
remedy breeds class consciousness and
therefore class resentment.
Strengthen Anti Trust Law.
The strengthening OF the antitrust law
~ demanded upon both moral and eco
nomic grounds Our purpose In strength
ening II Is to secure more effective con-
troll by the national government over the
business use of the vast masses OF In
~divtdual, n especially OF corporate,
wealth. which at the present time mo-
nopoltze most OF the interstate business
or the country: and we believe the con-
troll can best be exercised by preventing
the growth OF abuses. rather than merely
already grown. In the highest sense OF
the word this movement for thorough con-.
troll or the business use OF this great
wealth Is conservative. We are trying to
&IRRr n IN a AnWaA y.FA NJ ~eA
can save us from a plutocratic class gov
rnme on the one hand, or a socialistic
class government on the other. either OF
which would be fraught with disaster to
our free institutions, state and national.
We are trytng TO avoid alike the evils
which would flow from government owner
ship of the public utilities by which in
and the evils which flow from the riot
and chaos OF unrestricted i~ndividualism.
There Is grave danger to our free in
stltutions In the c%orrupting influence exer-
trated In the hands of the few. We should
IN sane manner try to remedy his dan
ger. In. spite OF the sullen opposition OF
these few very powerful men; and with
their rights at the very time h a we
require them to deal rightfuily with 9TH
ers. =
When with steam and electricity modern
conditions went through the as
founding revolution which in this country
began over half a century 60, there was
az frst much hesitation as to what par
ticular governmental agency should be
used to grapple with the, new conditions.
AT almost the same time, ABOUT twenty
years since. the EFFORT was mad to con-
trG. eSmbinations by regulating them
sion, n to abolish them by means of
the antitrust act; the two remedies there
fore being In part mutually incompatible.
The interstate commerce law has pro-
duced admirable results, especially since
IL was strengthened by the Hepburn law
two years ago. The antitrust law, though
IL worked some good. because anything
Is better than anarchy and complete alb
sence Of regulation, nevertheless has
proved In many respects not merely In
adequate but mischievous. Twenty years
produced almost every conceivable form
Of abuse, and a worked the gravest
injury to business morality and the pub
lie conscience. For a long time federal
OF Interstate had
been purely negative, the national judici-
airy merely acting In isolated cases to
restrain the state from exercising a power
which 1t was clearly unconstitutional as
well as unwise for them to exercise, but
which nevertheless the national govern
ment itself failed to exercise. Thus the
corporations monopolizing commerce made
the law Tor themselves. state power and
common law being inadequate to accom-
plish any effective regulation, and the
power not yet having been put
forth. The result was mischievous In the
extreme, and only short-sighted and utter
failure to appreciate the grossness Of the
evils 10 which the lack of regulation gave
rise. can excuse the well-meanlng persons
who now desire to abolish the antitrust
law outright, or to amend II by simply
condemning unreasonable" combinations.
+ Executive Power.
Power should unquestionably be lodged
somewhere In the executive branch of the
government to permit combinations which
Will further the public Interest,"; but Ii
must always be remembered that. as re-
CARDS the great and wealthy combinations
through which most of the Interstate bust
ness of today Is done, the burden of proof
should be on them to show that they
have a right to exist. No judicial tribunal
has the knowledge or the experience to
determine In the first place whether a
given combination is advisable or neces-
sary In the interest of the public. Some
whether a commission or a bureau
under the department of commerce and
labor, should be given this power. My
personal belief Is that ultimately we shall
have to adopt a national incorporat ton
though am well aware that this
may be impossible at present. Over the
actions of the executive body In which
the power Is placed the courts should
possess merely a power OF review analog-
to that obtaining in connection with
the work Of the Interstate Commerce COM
mission at present. To confer this power
would not be A leap In the dark; 1t would
- w I" -SS'AJ iii lIlCT lUS InG-
ory of efectiye governmental control Of
which was responsible for
the a lion Of the Interstate cree
commission and for the enlargement of
its powers, and for the creation of the
bureau of corporations. The Interstate
legislat ton has worked admira-
bly,. 1t has benefited the public: 1t has
honestly managed and wisely
conducted railroads: and In spite OF the
fact that the business of the country has
enormously increased, the value of this
federal legislation mas been shown by the
way In which 1t has enabled the federal
government TO correct the most pro-
nounced OF the great and varied abuses
which existed In the business world TWEEN
ty years ago-while the many abuses that
still remain emphasize the need OF fur
Their n more thorough-going legislation.
Similarly. the bureau of corporations has
justified its creation. In other
words, II Is clear that the principles en-
ployed to remedy the great evils In the
business world have worked well, and they
can now be employed to correct the evils
further commercial growth has
brought more prominently to the surface,
The powers and scope of the Interstate
commission, and Of any similar
body, such as the bureau Of corporations,
which has to deal with the matter in
hand. should be greatly enlarged so as
to meet the requirements OF the present
day.
49,. States Can't Control.
~ "a