The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1910-08-31

j lord weakly TO blind ourselves to the
actual conflict which faces us today.
The issue is Joined and we must fight
| or fail.
Great Object in Struggle.
/ In every wise struggle for human
i betterment one of the main objects,
and often the only object, has been to
/ achieve in larger measure equality of
! opportunity. In the struggle Cor this
4 great end, nations rise from barbar-
ism to civilization, and through 1t
people press forward from one stage
OF enlightenment to the next. One OF
the chief factors in the progress is the
destruction Of special privilege. The
essence of any struggle for healthy
! liberty has always been and must al
ways be to take from some one man
or class of men the right to enjoy
power, or wealth, or position, or Inn
munity, which has not been earned
by service to his or their fellows.
At many stages in the advance of
| humanity this conflict between the
men who possess more than they have
earned and the men who have earned
more than they possess is the central
condition of progress. In our day It
appears as the struggle Of free men
to gain and hold the right of self
! government as against the special in
terests, who twist the methods Of free
| government into machinery for de-
feating the popular will. At every
stage and under all circumstances the
essence of the struggle is to equaIize
opportunity, destroy privilege, and
give to the life and citizenship Of
every individual the highest possible
value both to himself and to the com
monwealth.
Equality for All.
Practical equality of opportunity
| for all citizens, when we achieve 1t,
| will have two great results. First, ev-
/ cry man will have a fair chance to
make OF himself all that in him lies,
to reach the highest point to which his
capacities, unassisted by special privi-
lege of his own and unhampered by
the special privileges of others can
carry him, and to get for himself and
his family substantially what he has
earned. Second, equality of opportu-
nifty means that the commonwealth
will get from every citizen the
highest service of which he is capa-
BILE. No man who carries the burden
Of special privileges of another can
give to the commonwealth that serv-
ice to which it is fairly entitled.
/ stand for the square deal But
when 1 say that 1 am for the square
deal mean not merely that 1 stand
for fair play under the present rules
Of the game, but that l stand for llav-
ing those rules changed so as to work
70
portunity, and of reward for equally
good service.
Safe Guardian Franchises.
We have come to recognize that
franchises should never be granted
except for a limited time, and never
without proper provision for compen-
sation to the public. 1t is my per-
sonal belief that the same kind and
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.
l 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
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
tempting to prevent such combina-
tons but in completely controlling
t. he fV,fa 49,
fare. For that purpose the federal
bureau Of corporations is an agency
Of the first Importance. Its power and
therefore its efficiency, as well as that
of the interstate commerce COM
mission should be largely increased.
We have right to expect from the
bureau Of corporations and from the
interstate 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 interstate
business as we are now sure Of the
conduct and management of the ma
tional banks and we should have as
effective supervision in one case as in
the other. The Hepburn act, and the
amendment to that act in the shape
in which it finally passed congress at
the last session, represent a long step
in advance; and we must go yet fur
Their.
Revising the Tariff.
There is a 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
interests. These methods have put
premium on selfishness and naturally
the selfish big Interests have gotten
more than the selfish small interests.
The duty of congress is TO provide a
method by which the interest Of the
whole people shall be all that receives
consideration. To this end there must
be an expert tariff commission, wholly
removed from the possibility Of po-
litical pressure or of improper bust
/ sw,fl II.