The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-05-19

Differences of opinion arises by req
 son of investigators having different
 viewpoints; by reason of self interests
 and environment; also one student may
 obtain data unknown to others equally
 desirous of reaching correct conclusions
 Owing to combinations that have been
 developed by modern business methods.
 oppression and wrong have, in some
 instances followed. and combinations
 have assumed to be the cause of the
 wrongs complained of. The remedies
 proposed to cure the evils complained
 of should not be so drastic that our
 civic ailments will grow more fever
 ish, nor should we introduce untried
 remedies or those already tried and
 found undesirable; but known remedies
 that will be productive of good, of
 right and justice
 Justice and right should be meted
 out to all alike-those whose aid has enabled us to develop our country-by
 aiding our public developments that
 have redounded to the good of all.
 should not be injured financially; and i, we should aid and not impair the 1 further development of our country l through the means used to distribute
 the products of the people for the peo- l pie.
 Our Constitution
 1 The word constitution means to fix. establish. It Is our foundation or basic law, upon which all other laws enacted | by Congress must conform. Our great charter established Congress as our law making power for us as united citizens of a common country; and the laws enacted by Congress, when in conformity to the basic law, are bind | Ing on the whole body polite. Art. l, Sec. 8 of our constitution con- fers on Congress the power to provide for the general welfare of all the peo- ple-also the power to regulate com merce among the states, as well as the necessary provisions In order to make them effective. If the general welfare l of our people is not now threatened, then are all our lamentations vain. | The general welfare of all the people I not part or section-is conceded | ly the highest aim possible in gov ernments. This phrase has made our constitution adaptable to all the varied wants necessities and emergencies that has arisen since the adoption of our basic law. The extension policy | the purchasing of contiguous territory
 as adopted by Jefferson--the Louis- | jana purchase-is not written In our constitution, except in the general well
 
 all our people would not only have been lessened but threatened if this l power had not been placed in the gen | eral welfare clause.
 The general welfare of our country as a whole is greater than any para graph, section or article of our con- stitution If this Is true, and it is, then Iall other provisions are secondary in importance to the general welfare clause of our constitution.
 At this moment all that are wage earners, no matter whether they are day laborers, miners, mechanics, clerks or professional men, are anxiously looking forward to a reduction in prices of commodities; or an increase in wage that will fttingly correspond to the present price of necessities.
 Certain products, when scarce, when crops are poor in one section, brings higher prices by reason of transporta- tion charges-these commodities have to be transported in many instances hum dreds of miles. This adds greatly to the price, as 1t involves additional prof it's and expenses to the dealer through whom the commodities are gotten. It should also be remembered that if it were not for our transportation fa- cilities, partial famine would exist in many places in our country. This Is no idle statement To illustrate the
 
 cities for greater distance than the width of either of the original colonies: butter and meats are transported half way across our continent, and this is equal ly true of grain and feed for stock that furnishes the motive power by which our food products are produced.
 Take the 8 states that won our in- dependence as country from Great Britain, they do not produce enough of wheat to give the people of the states referred to the hot rolls or bis cults needed for their Sunday morn ing breakfasts. It requires 4,5O0,OOO dozen eggs for one breakfast, and only two eggs each for the people north of the Potomac river and west of Ohio. The farmers of the original colonies do not produce enough corn, oats and hay to feed the horses and cattle they have for one-half year. Long haulS l add to the price of all our products. At the same time that the people are complaining of an increase in the cost | of living-hence less dividends on their capital and labor, certain corporations employing labor and poorly paying | those they hire. are known to be pay ing from two to four times the prof Tits (dividends) that government bonds pay These facts cause the murmurs of discontent that are heard all over our broad land
 Corporations, Trusts and MonopOlies The words, corporations trusts and Imonopolies, have different shades of meanings; but in general use they are use interchangably as to matters un- der discussion. They are all incor- porated. hence in that sense are cor porations What are corporations? The answer Is "an aggregation of individ- uals who are by virtue of contract made with each other, and with the state, welded into one body, with com mon purposes; and in which, each share of stock is the unit and measure of power in the corporation. The general and specific purposes for which the company was organized are set forth in the contract, called a charter" Formerly state governments, through and by legislative enactments, granted l charters to corporations Today all most all charters are given corpora
 tions under the general laws-so that , all corporations chartered by any state have the same rights and privileges of l. any other similar corporation chartered under the laws of the state issuing the charter: but each state has differen. corporation laws. so that those that have the most favorable laws to the corp oration secure the larger share of
 the incorporating business. which has become very profitable.
 | Again. legislatures in some states have given corporations powers in re- llation to bylaws formerly unknown. 1 By Jaws are now formulated after the
 charter is granted that has the same
 power and force as the charter granted by the state has. therefore in detail of operation stockholders formulate at least part of their basic laws and