The Paonia newspaper., 1911-05-19
Woodrow Wilson
On Corporation

speech by Gov. Woodrow Wilson OF
New Jersey mt Berkeley, Calf. We
clip from the Denver Express.
Gov. Wilson said In part: 'The
frat thing that II is necessary to do
in order to approach the corpora
ton without awe and without
doubt that It can be controlled. is
TO realize that 1t is doing business
upon a basis and in way which
cannot be described as private at all.
Ii Ia doing business for that part Of
the people that has subscribed to its
stocks.
I'VE must realize, therefore, that
II 10 no Intrusion on the part Of the
public to look into the affair OF cor
posations when they please. and to
treat them as In some very impor-
tant sense public. not private In
stsumentalities. BY permitting them
TO use the aggregate capital OF com.
munities instead OF individual pri-
vate, capital. the law Is vesting In,
them great power. an artificial ad-
vantage. When they become hurt
ful they can and should be restrained
or abolished. The individual can
not compete with them. He must.
therefore. be protected against them.
PUBLICITY NEEDED
This IL what we call the corpor-
alton problem: and there are GER
tain principles which we would lay
down with "A good deal OF confidence
with regard to the methods of con-
trolling these instrumentalities. In
the first place. IL Is plain that the
hest tome Tor them IL publicity.
Since what they do IL Of common
concern. IL should be OF common
knowledge. Since what they are IL
the basis OF public credit for them. 1t
should be fully disclosed mt every
turn OF the business.
Moreover. II should be recogoixed
as a fundamental principle of our
law in dealing with them. that
though we call them artificial per
sons. the only persons we are really
going to deal with In imposing the
penalties of the law upon them are
the persons who constitute their d.
rectors and officers.
PuNIsH oFFrERs
1--WE ought by this time to have
seen the futility-I might even say
the sillInes--of trying to punish H.
legal actions 10y penaliring corpora
a.. IL. h..
stockholder; forfeiturcs OF charter
and of franchises which they are
exercising paralyzes industry and
coniuses business. Men do not cease
10 be individuals by becoming the
officers OF corpoi ations. The re
sponsibIlity for violating the law. or
Tor neglectlng public interests, ought
10 fall upon them as individuals.
Let us clearly recognize and every
where proclaim thatsuccessful bust
ness and Just politics are not an
tagonistic. The business OF society
IL cooperation. not warfare aud
antngonism. II everybody Will come
with clean hands and pure purpose
into the cOilinOu Sdiut VI litf ehtit
Ned be no clash or hurtful rivalry"
In his Sanfrancisco speech IL to be
found the following paragraphs.
which we believe are worthy OF our
careful reading.
Party lines have been so disturb
ed he said. that we are making n
eampnign of Identification. Politi-
cally. we don't know where we are.
Why are the people now thinking OF
direct legislation? Because In most
states representative governmo,t
has represented N sinister set OF In
fluences and not the community as IA
whole. You In California are tired
because your legislature represented
the Southern Pacific machine.
"The right to make laws lies with
the people. not with the special In
terests which happen to bein power.
Money is ut the bottom OF all mis-
representative government. Not
money, put into the hands-not
br,bes that's all old fashioned and
crude. But the results are accom-
pl,shed> by convincing men that, II