El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-08-31

right to enjoy power, or wealth, or pO
sition, or immunity, which has not been
earned by service to this or their fell
lows.
Struggle Against Power.
AT many stages in the advance OF
humanity, this conflict between the men
who possess more than they have earn
ed and the men who have earned more
than they possess, is the central con-
pears as the struggle of free men 10
gain and hold the right of self-govern-
ment into machinery for defeating the
popular will. At every stage and un-
der all circumstances the essence of
the struggle is to equalize opportunity,
destroy privilege and give TO the life
and citizenship of every individual the
highest possible value both to himself
and to the commonwealth.
Practical equality of opportunity for
all citizens when We achieve it, Will
have two great results. First, every
man will have a fair chance to make OF
himself all that in him lies. to reach
the highest point TO which his capaci-
ties. unassisted by special privilege Of
his own and unhampered by the special
privileges of others, can carry him, and
to get for himself and family substan-
tally what he has earned Second,
! equality of opportunity means that the
commonwealth will get from every cit
izen the highest service of which he is
capable. No man who carries the bur
den of the special privileges of anoth-
er can give TO the commonwealth that
service to which it is fairly entitled
Change Rules of the Game.
Il stand for the square deal But
when 1 saw that L am for the square
deal. 1 mean not merely that 1 stand
! for fair play under the present rules
of the game, but that 1 stand for having
| those rules changed so as to work for
| a more substantial equality of oppor-
tunity. and Of reward for equally good
service.
This means that our government, ma
tional and state. must be freed from
the sinister influence or control Of spe-
ciaI interests. Exactly as the special
/ interests of cotton and slavery threat
ened our political integrity before the
civil war, so now the great special
| business interests too oftan con-
troll and corrupt the men Gad meth
DDS of government of their own profit.
We must drive the special interests
ont of politics. That is one of our
| tasks today. Every special interest Is
entitled to justice-fuIl, fair, and COM
pIete-but not one is entitled to vote
| In congress. n voice on the bench, or to
representation in any public office The
constitution guarantees protection TO
property, and we must make that prom
Use good. But 1T does rot give the RICH
of suffrage TO any corporation.
The True Conservative.
'The true friend of property, the
| true conservative, is he VINO insists that
property shall be the servant and not
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 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 it
will be neither a short nor an easy task,
but it can be done.
eve must have complete and effect
i've publicity of corporate affairs so that
the people may know beyond peradven-
ture whether the corporations obey
the law and whether their management
entities them to the confidence of the
public. 1t is necessary that laws should
be passed to prohibit the use of cor
pOrate funds directly or indirectly for
political purposes; it is still more nee
essary that such laws should be thor
oughIy enforced. Corporate expendi-
lures for political purposes, and espe-
ciaIly such expenditures by public ser
vice corporations, have supplied one of
the principal sources of corruption in
our political affairs.
Government Supervision.
1T has become entirely clear that We
must have government supervision of
the capitalization not only Of public
service corporations, including partic
Ilarly railways, but of all corporations
doing an interstate business. i do not
wish to see the nation forced into own
ership of the railways If it can possibly
be avoided, and the only alternative is
thOrOughgOing and effective regulation
which shall be based on n full knoyvl-
edge of all the facts, including n phys
ical valuation of the nronertY. This