Perth Amboy evening news., 1910-08-31

free men to gain and hold the right
OF self-government as against the
special interests, who twist the
methods of free government into ma
hcinery for defrauding the popular
will. At every stage and under 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 capacities, unassisted by
special privilege of his own and I'M
hampered by the special privileges
of others, can carry him, and to get
for himself and his family substan-
TALLY what he has earned. Second,
equality of opportunity means that
the commonwealth will &c from
every citizen the highest service OF
which he is capable. No man who
carries the burden of the special
privileges of another can give to the
commonwealth that service to which
it Is fairly entitled.
! stand for the square deal. But
when L say that / am for the square
deal / mean not merely that ! stand
for fair play under the present rules
of the game. but that l stand for
having those rules changed SO as to
work for a more substantial equality
Of opportunity, and of reward for
equally good service.
This means thateour governments,
national and state, must be freed
from the sinister influence or control
of special interests. Exactly as the
| special interests of cotton and slav-
cry threatened our political integ-
| rity before the Civil war, SO now the
| great special business interests toe
| often control and corrupt the. men
and methods Of governmentrfor the1l
| own profit. We must drive the spe-
cial interests out of politics. That
is one of our tasks today. Every
| special interest Is entitled to Justice
full, fair, and complete-but not
one Is entitled to vote in Con-
| gress, a voice IN the benth, or to
representation in any public office.
The Constitution guarantees protec-
ton to property, and we must make
| that promise good. But 1t does not
give the right of suffrage to any cor
poration.
The true friend of property, the
true conservative, lis he who.,insists
that property shall be the servant
and not the master of common
wealth; who insists that the .orea'
ture of mans making shall be the
| servant and not the master of the
man who made it. 1.-The citizens 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 politica.
! activity remains. To put an end to
1t will be neither a short 0 ar
easy task, but 1t can be done.
We must have complete and effec-
tive publicity of corpor etaaffairs, sc
that the people may know beyond
~peradventure whether the corpora
tions obey the law and whether theil
management entities them to the
, confidence of the public. It is nee
essary that laws should be passed
to prohibit the use of corporate
funds directly or indirectly for pc.
litical purposes; it is still more nee
essary that such laws should bt
thoroughly enforced. Corporate ex,
penditures for political purposes
and especially such expenditures by
| n,1hJio cnppian anrDnpaJiAne how
supplied one of the principal sources
of corruption in II political affairs
1t has become entirely clear thai
we must have government s~upervis.
ion of the capitalization not only Of
public service corporations, includ-
ing particularly railways. but oil
nation forced into ownership Of the
railways If it can possibly be avoid
ed, and the only alternative. is thor
oughgOing and effective regulation
which shall be based ,4on a full
knowledge ola llth e facts, including
a physical valuation of the property,
This physical valuation is notne ed
eds or at least is yeryra rely need
ed, for fixing rates; but it is needed
as the basis of honest capitalization
We have come to recognize that
franchises should never be granted
except fora limited time, and. never
without proper provision for com
~pensation to the public. 1t Is my
personal belief that the same kline
and degree of control and supervis-
ion which should be exercised Owe
public service corporations should
be extended also to combinations
which control n~ecessaries 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 corpora
lions, sho uld be held personally re
sponsible when any corporation
breaks the law. 800 s,7~
Combinations in industry are tn,
result OF an imperative economic
law which cannot be repalued by pc
litical legislation. The effort at pro
hibiting all combination has sub
stantially failed. The way out lie
not in attempting to prevent sucl
combinations, but in completely con
trolling them in the interest of tn,
publicw elfare. For that purpos,
the Federal Bureau of Corporation
Is an agency of the, first importance
Its power and therefore it's efficiency
as well as that of the Inter-Stat
Commerce Commission, should b
largely increased. We have q RICH
to expect from the Bureau of Cor
porations and from the Interstate
Commerce Commission a very higl
grade of public service. We shoul
be rs sure of the proper conduct o
interstate railways and the prope