The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-08-31

cial interests. Exactly as the special
interests of cotton and slavery threat
ened our political integrity before the
CIVIL war, so now the great special bus
mess interests too often control and
corrupt the men and methods of gov
ernment for their own profit. We
must drive the special interests out of
politics. That is one of our tasks to-
day Every special interest is entitled
to justice-full. fair, and complete-but
not one is entitled to a vote in con-
gress. voice on the bench, or to rep
resentation in any public office. The
constitution guarantees protection to
property, and we must make that
promise good. But it does not give the
right Of suffrage to any corporation
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 MAX
ing shall b. the servant and not the
master of the man who made it. The
citizens of the United States must eff
fectively control the mighty CONNER
cial force which they have themselves
called into being.
There can be no effective control Of
corporations while their political ac-
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 effect
i've publicity of corporate affairs so
that the people may know beyond per-
adventure whether the corporations
obey the law and whether their man..
agement entities them to the conf
dence 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 expenditures
by public service corporations, have
supplied one of the principal sources of
corruption in our political affairs.
tt has become. entirely clear that we
the capitalization. not only of public
service corporations including particu-
larly railways, but of all corporations
doing an interstate business. I do not
wish to see the nation forced into own
ership of the railways II 1t can possibly
be avoided, and the only alternative is
thorough-gofng and effective regula-
| ton. which shall be based on a full
knowledge of all the facts. including
physical valuation of the property
This physical valuation is not needed.
or at least is very rarely needed, for
| fixing rates; but it is needed as the
basis of honest capitalization
Limit on Franchises.
We have come to recognize that
| franchises should never be granted ex-
| c6Dt Tor a limited time. ana never Will
| out proper provision for compensation
! to the public. 1t is my personal be-
| lief that the same kind and degree of
| control and supervision which should be
| exercised over public service corpora :
! tions should be extended also to COM
| binations 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
| Combinations in industry are the re-
suit of an imperative economic law
/ which cannot be repealed by political
| 1egislation. The effort at prohibiting
| all combination has substantially fail
/ ed. The way out lies not in attempting
| to prevent such combinations, but in
completely controlling them in the in
/ terest of the public welfare. For that
| purpose the federal bureau of corpora
| tions is an agency of the first import
! ance It's power and therefore it's eff
| cheney as we'll as that of the interstate
! commerce commission, should be largely
] increased. We have a right to expect
from the bureau Of corporations and
4 sion a very high grade of public ser
| vice We should be as sure of the pro-
| per conduct of interstate railways an6
! the proper management of interstate
1
/ conduct and management of the nation
| al banks. The Hepburn act, and the
| amendment to that act in the shape ir
which it finally passed congress at the
4 last session, represent a long step il
advance; and We must go yet further
There is a widespread belief among
our people that under the methods o
making tariffs which have hitherto OBJ
tained the special interests are too in
fuential Probably this is true of boil
"a i1,fo Nc md f1,n ir,f or
ests These methods have put a premi
nm on selfishness, and naturally tn,
selfish big interests have gotten NOR
than the selfish small interests. TIL,
duty of congress is to provide a meth
cd by which the interest of the who'll
people shall be all that receives con
sideration. To this end there must b
an expert tariff commission, wholly re
moved from the possibility of Dolitiea
pressure or Of improper business in
f1uence. Such a commission can NM
out the real difference between cost o
production, which is mainly the diff
4 ference of labor cost here and abroad
AS fast as it's recommendations ar
made. I believe in revising one sche
dule at a time. A general revision o
the tariff almost inevitably leads t
. log-rolling, and the subordination o
the general public interest to local an
special interests
Unfair Money Getting.
The absence of effective state, an
especially national restraint upon un
fair money-getting has tended to ere
ate a small class of enormousl
, wealthy and economically powerful
men, whose chief object is to hold an
: increase their power. The prime nee
} is to change the conditions which en-
) able these men to accumulate powe
which is not for the general weifar
that they should hold or exercise. w
; grudge no man a fortune which rep
resents his own power and sagacity
when exercised with entire regard t
r the welfare of his fellows. But tn
fortune must be honorably obtaine
' and well used. 1t is not even enoug
, that 1t should have been gained with
, out doing damage to the community
8 We should permit it to be gained onl
: SO long as the gaining represents ben
Y eft to the community. This, I know
1 ir,,nIies a nolicv of a far more actiV