The Mena weekly star., 1910-09-08


 | to and independent of capital; capital is 1 only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed but for labor. Labor ig the l superior of capital and deserves much the | higher consideration. Capital has it's rights which arc as worthy of protection as any other rights. Nor should this lead Co . wuY upon the owners of prop erty Property is the fruit of labor; prop | erty is desirabiei is a positive good In the world. Let not him who is hopseiess pull down the house of smother. but let him work diligently anc build pne ec. himeelf, thus by exampie showing that bis own shall be safe from violence when buiit- Ii seema to me that ip these words Lincoln took substantially the atti- tude that we ought to take. he showed the proper sense of proportion ln his Fela- tive estimates of capital and labor. of human rights and property rights Above ail In this speech, as in many others. he taught lesson in wise kindliness and charity; an Indispensable lesson to us of today. But this wise kindliness and char M ea we csnno. os aora Sr og weapIy npT0i6 so blind ourselves to the actual conflict which faces us today. The issue is join ed. and we must fight or fail
 Equality of Opportunity.
 Tn every wise struggle for human bet- torment one of the main objects. and often the only object has been to achieve In larger measure equality of opportunity. In the struggle for this great end, na- tions rise from barbarian to civilization, and through 1t peoples press forward from one stage of enlightenment to the next One of the chief factors in progress is the destruction Of special privilege. The essence of any struggle for healthy lib- erty has always been and must always be to take from some one man or class of Gn the right to enjoy power, or wealth. or position. or immunity, which has not been earned by service to his or their fellows.
 At many stages in the advance of hu- manity 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 prog ress. h our day t appears as the strug- gle of free men to gain and hold the right of self-government as against the special Interests, who twist the methods Of free government into machinery for defeating the popular will At every stage and under all circumstances the essence of the struggle is to equalize op- portunity, destroy privilege, and give to the hfe and citizenship of every individ- ual the highest possible value both to himself and to the commonwealth.
 Practical equality of opportunity for all ~~N--&C~'Hf two great resuits First, every man will have fair chsnce to make of himself all that In him lies. to reach the highest point to which his capacities, unaseisted by special privilege of his own and unham- pered by the special privileges of others, can carry him. and to get for himself and his family substantially what he hes earned, Second, equality of opportunity means that the commonwealth win get from every citizen the highest service of which he i5 capabla No man who oar sies the burden of tho special privileges
 another can give to the commonwealth
 lat service to which it is fairly en- .iied
 stand for the square deal But when say that I am for tho square deal l. can not merely that stand for flair ! ay under the present rules of the game, but that stand for having those Yules changed so as to work for a moro sub- stantial equality of opportunity. and of reward for equally good service.
 This means that our governments, Na- tional and State, must be freed from the sinister influence or control of special interests Exactly as the special interests of cotton and slavery threatened our po- neical Integrity before the Civil war, so now the great special business interests too often control and corrupt tha men and methods of government for their own profit We must drive the special inter- ests out of poutics That is one of our tasks today. Every special interest Is entitled to 1ustice-full, fair. and com plete-but not one is entitled to a vote In congress-, voice on the bench. or to rep resantation in any public office The Con- sitution guarantees protection to proper v. and we must make that promise good But ft does not give the right of suffrage to any corporation.
 Property Should Be tho Servant.
 The true friend ot property the true conservative. Is lie who Insists that prop e-ty shall be the servant and not the master of the commonwealth; who insists that the creature of mans making shall be the servant and not the master of the man who made if The citizen of the United States must effectively control the mighty commercial forces which they have themselves called Into being.
 There can be no effective control of corporations while their political activity remains. To put an end to 1t will be neither short nor en easy task, but 1t can be done.
 We must have complete and effective publicity of corporate affairs so that the people may know beyond peradventure whether tho corporations obey the law and whether their management entities them to the confidence Of the public. II Is necessary that laws should be passed Co prohibit tho use of corporate funds directly or indirectly for political pur- poses; 1t ie still more necessary that such laws should be thoroughly enforced. Corporate expenditures for political pur- poses and especially such expenditures by public service corporations, have sup piled one of the principal sources of cor ruption in our political affairs.
 It has become entirely clear that Cve must have Q0VeFnmanf ,$ fk~ capitalization not only of public service corporations. including particularly rail ways. 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 alternative ia thoroughgoins and effective regulation. which shall be based on full knowledge of all the facta including a physical valuation of the property. Thie physical valuation Is not needed. or at least Is very rarely needed for fixing rates: but 1t is needed as the basis of honest capitalization.
 We have come to recognize that fran ch!ses should never be granted except for limited time. and never without proper provision for compensation to the public. It is 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 necessaffes of life, such as meat. oil. and coal. or which deal in them On an important scale. efaiiy the directors. of corporations. should be held personally responsible when ary corporation breaks the law.
 Dealing With Combinations.
 Combinations in industry are the result of ffnnQrntfUa fo Ia xxffn fnh