Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1911-05-17

ltIktI h'Hfh pHUllt lIfll lHlltHlhllNl'N
Besides having the artificial advent.
ages ana powers conferred upon the
ordinary corporation doing what we
call private business, they are In part.
ucrshlp with The government IN the
laying Of rails, the erection Of poles
and wires, and the laying Of conduits
as the means Of transmitting their
service. They have had delegated 10
them the governments right OF emln.
ent domain, the right to make par.
tial use Of public highways, to con-
denim rlghts-of way across pieces OF
private property
"MoveoveTT they are IN n very in
teresting sense natural monopolles.
They generally use the pieces OF land
ana the roads and highways which
are most convenient to their purposes,
and most direct for effectng the com.
munlcations which they wish TO effect
and II IL perfectly obvious that II
other companies are allowed 10 com
pete with them, there Is a very waste.
tul duplication IN outlay and equip.
mcnt So that competition generally
results in ancventual combination OF
the competing companies and the no.
cessty TO charge a price On what they
supply that viii pay the interest on
twice as great an Investment as was
really necessary for the service
More than that, they render a dis
tinctly public service. Railroads and
troliy lines and light and power com.
panics are not mere convenlcnces.
They constitute tho basis OF our mod
ern life, our communities could not
live without them. our communities
could not have been built up without
thom They are a common necessity
and therefore, very much more than
a common convenience The life OF %
whole community can be altered and
either facilitated or hampercd by the
way in which they are administered.
THE fact is, therefore, that public
service corporations are public instru.
mentalitles, and that I'm q Drs degree,
but no LEGS truly, all corporations are
public instrumentalitles They faelll
tate the general participation Of com
munities In economic undertakings.
They are, therefore, manifestly leRiti-
mate subjects Of control, We need
not be afraid Of violating any princi.
pie Of Justice in controlling them. OF
course we may control them wisely or
unwisely as our means and methods
Of control are well or IN considered.
This Is what we call the corpora
tion problem; and there are certain
principles which we could lay down
with n good deal OF confidence with
regard TO the methods Of controlling
these instrumentalitios In the first
place, It Is plain that the best tonic
for them Is publicity The powers OF
communities are loaned 20 them. They
are instrumentalitios for everybody,
Every man is, by possibility at any
rate, partner in them; and every
man, as constituent Of the lawmak.
ers, has a part in lending them the
extraordinary powers which they eX'
ercise. Publicity, therefore, should he
the law Of life for them. Since what
they do IL Of common concern, 1t
should be of common knowledge.
Since what they are is the basis Of
public credit for them, It should he
fully disclosed at every turn OF the
business.
Moreover, II should he recognized
az fundamental principle Of our law
in dealing with them, that though we
call them artificial persons, 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 directors and officers.
There is no mystery about them;
these are the persons they as n mat
ter OF fact consist of We ought by
this time to have seen t1e futility-
! might even say the silliness-of try
ing to punish Illegal action 10y penal
i2lng corporations as such. Fines pun
Ssh the stakeholder; forfcitures of
charter and Of the franchises which
they are exercising paralyzes Industry
and confuses business. Men do not
cease 10 he individuals by becoming
the officers Of corporations; and. as
their officers, they control and use
them, and nrc masters Of them. They
exercise their individual Wills when
they determine what the policy Of n
corporation shall be The responsible
fly for violating the law, or for neglect
ing public interests, ought to fall upon
them as individuals. Every corpora
ton ought to be obliged to disclose to
the proper officers Of the law its or
ganization, with such eXplcitness that
/ II will be possible to determine from
its own sworn analysis TO which par
ticular officer or board or committee
each act Of the corporation is trace
able; and the law should impose its
penalties upon the members Of that
board or OF that committee or upon
that officer They should be punished
individually, as other violators Of the
law are punished. In short, the law
should be framed upon the principle
that the corporate name IL no hiding
place or covert for anybody, but mere
ly transparent medium through
which individuals viii be as clearly dis
closed as IL they were merely part
ners or acting separately for them
selves. We cannot afford to have
these great machines driven by un.
seen engineers, and II II silly TO break
up the machine instead of holding the
engineer cRminally liable when
wrongs against humanity are commit
ted.
Let us clearly recognize and every
where proclaim that successful bust
ness and Just politics are not antag