The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1910-08-31

the master of the commonwealth; who
insists that the creature of mans max
ing shall be the servant and not the
master OF the man who made il. The
citizens of the United States must ef.
fectively control the mighty CONNER
cial forces which they have them
elves called into being.
There can be no effective control o.
corporations while their political ac-
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
peradventure, whether the corpora
tions obey the law and whether their
management entities them to the con-
fidence of the public. 1t 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.
Ii 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 thorough-going and ef-
fective regulation, which shall be
based on a full knowledge of all the
facts. including a physical valuation
of the property This physical valua-
tion is not needed, or at least is very
rarely needed. for fixing rates, but it
is needed as the basis of honest capi-
taliZation
We have come to recognize that
franchises should never be granted
except for 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.
| 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which cannot be repealed by political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
tailed. The way out lies not in at
tempting to prevent such combina- |
tions, but in completely controlling |
them in the interest of the public wei |
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 commits
sion, should be largely increased. We
have right to expect from the bu-
reau of corporations and from the in
terstate commerce commission a very !
high grade of public service We n
should be as sure of the proper con.
duct of interstate railways and the I
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
he other The Hepburn Act, and the
amendment TO that act in the shape
n which it finally passed congress at
he last session, represent long step
n advance; and we must go yet fur
her
There is a widespread belief among
ur people that, under the methods
f making tariffs which have hitherto
btained, the special interests are too
Influential. Probably this is true of
9th the big interests and the little
interests. These methods have put !
remium on selfishness, and naturally :
he selfish big interests have gotten
lore than the selfish small interests
he duty of congress is to provide
lethod by which the intrest of the
hole people shall be all that receives
To this end there must
e an expert tariff commission, Who'll.
removed from the possibility of po-
gNf - Z