The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1910-09-02

Including . physical valuation Of the
property This physical valuation 10 not
needed. or At least II very rarely needed,
for fixing rates; but 1t Is needed az the
basis OF honest capitalization.
We have come to recognize that fran
cfises should never be granted except
for Z limited time, and never without
proper provision for compensation to the
public. It IL my personal belief that the
same kind and degree of control and
supervision which should be exercised
over public service corporations should
be extended also to combinations which
control necessaries Of life, such as meat,
oil, and coal, which deal in them on
an important scale.
I believe that tho officers, and espe-
cially the directors Of corporations,
should be held personally responsible
when any corporation breaks the law.
Dealing With Combinations.
Combinations in industry are tho result
of an imperative economic law which can
not be repealed by political legislation.
The effort At prohibiting all combination
has substantially failed The way out
lies not In attempting to prevent such
com nbinations but in completely controll-
ing them In the interest of tho pu bile well
faro. For that purpose the Federal Bu-
reau Of Corporations Is an agency Of the
first Importance. It's power and there
fore Its efI1ciency, well As that Of tho
Inter State Commerce Commission, should
DO largely increased. We have n right to
expect from the Bureau OF Corporations
and from tho Interstate Commerce Com
mission a very high grade Of public serv-
Ice. We should be as sure OF tho proper
conduct of Interstate railways and the
proper management OF inter state bust-
ness now sure OF the conduct
and management OF the National banks,
and We should have effective super
vision in one case As In the other. The
Hepburn act and tho amendment to that
act In the shape In which 1t hnally passed
congress at the last session. represent a
long step in advance and we must 90 yet
further
There is widespread belief among
our people that, under the methods OF
making tariffs which have hitherto OBJ
tained. the special interests are too in
fuential. Probably this Is true OF both
the big interests and tho little interests.
These methods have put premium on
selfishness, and naturally the selfish big
interests have gotten more than the sell
fish small interests. The duty Of congress
is to provide method by which the in
terest OF the whole people shall be all
that receives consideration To this end
there must be an expert tari7 commits
sion. wholly removed from tho possibility
OF political pressure or OF improper busl
ness influence. Such commission can
find out the real difference between cost
Of production, which Is mainly the differ
ence of labor cost here and abroad. AS
fast As its recommendations are made, l
believe in revising one schedule at time.
general revision of the tariff almost In
evitably leads to log rolling. and the sub
ordination OF the general public interest
to local and special interests.
NJ riff a
especially National. restraint upon unfair
money getting has tended to create a
small class OF enormously wealthy and
economically powerful men, whose chief
object is to hold and increase their power
The prime need Is TO change tho condi-
tions which enable these men to accumu-
late power which 1t is not for the general
welfare that they should hold or exercise
We grudge no man fortune which rep
resepts his own power and sagacity, when
exercised with entire regard to tho well
fare OF his fellows. But the fortune must
be honorahly obtained and well used 1t
Is not even enough that 1t should have
been gained without doing damage to the
community. We should permit 1t to be
gained only so long as the gaining rep
res-nts benefit to the community. This.
know, implies policy Of far more
active governmental interference with SO
cial and economic conditions in this coun-
L
have got to face the fact that such an
increase in governmental control is now
necessary.
Income and Inheritance Taxes
No man should receive a dollar unless
that dollar has been fairly earned. Every
dollar received should represent dollars
worth OF service rendered. The really
big fortune, the swollen fortune, by the
mere fact Of It's size acquires qualities
which differentiate 1t in kind well
in degree from what is possessed by men
Of relatively small means. Therefore I
believe in a graduated income tax big
fortunes and In another tax which Is far
more easily collected and far more ef-
fective-2 graduated inheritance tax on
big fortune5 properly safeguarded
against evasion, and increasing rapidly
In amount with the size OF the estate.
The people Of the United States suffer
from periodical financial panics to de-
gree substantially unknown among the
other nations which approach us in fnan-
cial strength There Is reason we
should suffer what they escape. r. Is Of
profound Importance that our financial
system should be promptly investigated,
and 50 thoroughly and effectively re-
vised as to make 1T certain that hereafter
our currency will no longer fail at criti-
cal times to meet our needs
It is hardly necessary for rne to repeat
that I believe In an efficient army and
navy large enough to secure for us
abroad that respect which Is the surest
guarantee Of peace. Justice and fair deal
ing among nations rest on principles
identical with those which control justice
and fair dealing among the individuals OF
which nations composed with the
vital exception th~t each nation must do
its own partin in irrational police work
National friendships Ike those between
men, must be founded on respect as wei
on liking. on forhearanee as well
upon trust. In all this It is peculiarly the
duty OF the United States to set good
example.
Human Welfare Comes First.
Nothing Is more true than that excess
Of every kind is followed by reaction: a
fact which should be poEdered by reform
er and reactionary alike. We are face to
face with new conceptions OF the rela-
tons of property 10 human welfare chief
ly because certain advocates OF the right.
Of property against the rights Of men
have been pushing their claims too far.
The man who wrongly holds that every
human right Is secondary to his profit
must now give way to the advocate of
human welfare, who rightly maintains
that every man holds his property sub
ject to the general right OF the commun-