Omaha daily bee., 1909-01-31

as the Standard OIL trust eventuated prlor
60 the incorporation of the holders Of the
trust certificates; the phenomenal develop
ment OF the great Carnegie steel business
was through a partnership whose forty
four members preceded and formed the
corporation of 1899; the greatest financial
transactions are conducted not by cor
porations, but by contemporaries bankers
and syndicates; even the New York stock
wall Street" is not a corporation. The
distrust expressed I'm such uttcrances as
that OF Judge Lindsay implies really "a
~distrust of the power possessed by any
combination or association of wealth. ir-
respective OF the form i'm which the com
bination may choose to constitute itself.
Legislation Not = Remedy.
This would indicate that protection
against the dreaded evils is not certainly TO
be found In more legislation against cor
porations. Undoubtedly there will be fur
Their experiments in legislation. both state
business enterprise; but this result, though
regrettable, is not to. be avoided by any
concession TO immoral methods. what is
wanted Is not legislation so much as the
righteousness which alone exalteth a ma
ton" This is not self-righteousness, nor
lacks a sense OF Justice. In a popular gov
eminent this may involve popula tyranny
and spoliation of individual rights. On the
other hand relief Is hardly to be secured
through the relentless enforcement OF
strictly legal rights, tending to popular out
breaks like the antitrust war OF 1~Si4-1Si6.
The righteousness that alone exalteth a
nation cannot disregard the mcum and
tuum, nor will II ignore those interests OF
humanity which challenge the rights OF
property.
Speaking Of the leadership of law in the
advancement of civilization, Mr.. Stetson
said:
II we are to lead it must be because OF
the character of our leadership, and not
because of traditional prestige. Class pres
tige Is a privilege of the past, wrested IN
turn from the army. from the church and
to the press, which like every predecessor
class will lose ii when, as is inevitable
with the possessor of irresponsible power,
II shall become self-sufficient and accord
ingly presumptuous.
Higher Standard of Business.
The privilege and the opportunity OF law-
yers advising corporations and combina-
tons, and their creators and managers. is
TO aid in the process of developing a man
agerial soul, and of %infusing it into cor
porate action, and thus to promote the
righteousness that shall eXalt the nation.
If in the discharge of this conscientious
duty we shall be tactful and persistent we
may help to establish for our corporations
a higher standard of methods ana morals,
so that In operation they shall meet at
least the popular conception of beings with
souls and consciences.
The lawyer thus inspired will not Cringe.
he VIII respect, but he will not fear, the
courts. He will discharge his duty as he
sees it, undeterred by clamor of the public
or the press. With such Composure as ne
can command he will await the ultimate
judgment of his community. He will not
abandon his ~prerCgative at the summon
of some pamphleteeT whose immunity frum
prosecution is due to the past powerful in
terventtons of the great E1rsk'ue and hls
successors. The press temporarily, even
though Internationally, may confuse, but Al
will not finally mislead the general e,ti-
mate of the awyer following The guidance
or an intelligent conscience.