Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1910-09-01

UIrU NV \ UUU 81 III
public Office. The constitution guar
antees protection to property, and we
must make that promise good. But
| it does not give the right of suffrage
to any corporation.
Corporations in Politics.
The true friend Of property, the true
conservative, is he who insists that
property shall be the servant and not
the master of the commonwealth; who
insists that the creature Of mans maxi
ing shall be the servant and not the
master of the man who made 1t. The
citizens of the United States must eff
fectively control the mighty CONNER
cial forces which they have themselves
called into being.
There can be no effective control of
corporations while their political &C
tivity remains. To put an end to 1t
will be neither short nor an easy
task, but it can be done
We must have complete and effec-
tive publicity of corporate affairs, so
that the people may know beyond
peradventure whether the corpora
management entities them to the con-
fidence of the public. It is necessary
that laws should be passed to prohibit
the use of corporate funds directly or
indirectly for political purposes; it is
still more necessary that such laws
should be thoroughly enforced. Cor
porate expenditures for political pur-
poses, and especially such expendi-
lures by public service corporations,
have supplied one of the principal
sources of corruption in our political
affairs.
Physical Valuation Of Roads.
1t has become entirely clear that we
must have government, supervision of
the capitalization not only of public
service corporations including partic-
ularly railways, but of all corporations
doing an Interstate business. do
not wish to see the nation forced into
ownership of the railways if it can
possibly be avoided. and the only al
tentative is through-going and ef-
fective regulation, which shall be
based on full knowledge of all the
facts, including a physical valuation of
the property. This physical valuation
is not needed, or at least is very rarely
needed for fixing rates; but it is need
ed as the basis of honest capitalize
ton.
We have come to recognize that
franchises should never be granted
except for d limited time, and never
without proper provision for coml,en-
sation to the public. It is my per-
sonal belief that the same kind AMI
degree of control and supervision
which should be exercised over public
service corporations should be ex-
tended also to combinations which
control necessaries of life, such as
meat, oil and coal, or which deal in
them on an important scale.
| believe that the officers, and es-
pecially the directors, of corporations
should be held personally responsible
when any corporation breaks the law.
Control Of Corporations.
Combinations in industry are the
result of an imperative economic law
which cannot be repealed by political
legislation. The effort at prohibiting
all combination has substantially
failed. The way out lies not in at
tions, but, in completely controlling
them in the interest of the public well
fare. For that purpose the federal
bureau of corporations is an agency |
of the first Importance. Its power and |
therefore it's efficiency, as well as that
of the Interstate commerce COM
mission, should be largely increased.
bureau of corporations and from the
inter state commerce commission a |
very high grade of public service. We
should be as sure OF the proper con- |
duct of Interstate railways and the
proper management of inter- state
business as we are now sure of the
conduct and management of the ma
tional banks. The Hepburn act, and the
amendment to that act in the shape
in which it finally passed congress at
the last session, represent long step
in advance; and we must go yet fur
Their.
For Tariff Commission.
There is widespread belief among
our people that. under the methods
of making tariffs which have hitherto
obtained. the special interests are too
influential. Probably this is true of
both the big interests and the little
premium on seltishness, and naturally
the selfish big interests have gotten
more than the selfish small interests.
The duty of congress is to provide d
method by which the interest of the
whole people shall be all that receives
To this end there must
be an expert tariff commission, wholly
removed from the possibility of po-
litical pressure or Of improper bust |
ness influence. Such a commission
can find out the real difference be-
tween cost of production, which is
mainly the difference of labor cost
here and abroad. AS fast as it's rec
concentrations are made. l believe In
revising one schedule at a time. A
general revision Of the tariff almost in
evitably leads to log rolling. and the
subordination Of the general public in
terest to local and special interests.
No man should receive dollar I'M
less that dollar has been fairly earned.
Every dollar received should represent
Il dollars worth &c service rendered.
The really big fortune. the swollen
fortune, by the mere fact of it's size.
acquires qualities which differenriate !
it in kind as well as In degree from
what is possessed by men Of rela-
lively small means. Therefore l be- |
lieve in graduated income tax on big
fortunes, and in another tax which is
far more easily collected and far more