The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1912-02-29
that tells for fits betterment, a man
whom his neighbors look up to and re-

] that tells for fits betterment, q man
whom his neighbors look up to and re-
spect. He is in no sense dangerous to
his community just because he is an in
tegral part of his community. bone of is
bone and flesh of is &c H. HIS life flies
are intertU.EcI viii III, lie Gbars Of
his fellow CHI oas Yet mons Us mc-.v
ne Of tbs -'.el tI come .
maze ncee ~ trade egIsoa with
one another and themselves in danger
Of becominr inviting trGusgr ess3rs
OF the law ana are at loss to know
what the law forbids and what it per-
! mits. This is all wrong. There should
I be a fixed governmental policy, a policy
which shall clearly define and punish
wrongdoing and shall give in advance
full Information to any man as to just
what he can and just what he cannot
! legally and properly do. 1t is absurd
! and wicked to treat the deliberate law
breaker IS On an exact par with the
! man eage- TO obey the law, whose only
desire is to find out from some compe
tent governmental authority what the
surd to enC2ayor to regulate business
in the interest Of the public hv means
Of long Cr-Wl lawsuits without any
accoc1a nt--alt Of aI-.1,stre i've con.
trol a4l laer.a Con and without any
attempt to te-T,l-.uate between the
hone ual Tho Lgs succeeded IN buzi-
ness lecause Of rendering q service 70
the public and the dishonest man who
has succeeded in business by cheating
the public.
So much fcr the small business man
and the middle sized business man.
Now for big business. It is imperative
to exercise over big business control
and supervision which are unnecessary
as regards small business. All bust
ness must be conducted under the law.
and ali business men, big or little, must
act justly But wicked big interest
is necessarily more dangerous TO the
community ,han wicked little inter
est. Big business" in the past has
been responsible for much Of the spe-
cial privilege which must be Unspar-
ing!y cut ext O. our national lie.
do L3S believe il making mere SIC Of
and by itself criminal. The mere fact
Of size. however, does unques,ionaDly
carry the potentiality Of such grave
wrongdoing chat there should be By
law provision made for the strict super
vision and regulation Ct these great III
duSuia! concerns doing an interstate
business, much as we ROW regulate the
transportation agencies which are en-
gagged in Interstate business. The anti
trust law does good in SO far as it can
be invoked against combinations which
really are nOnOpOlies or which restrict
production CT which artificially raise
prices. But in so far as it's workings
are uncertain or as it threatens corpor-
atiOns which have not been guilty of
anti-sOcial conduct it does harm. More
over, it cannot by itself accomplish
more than a trifing part of the gov
ernmental regulation Of big business
which is needed. The nation and the
states must cooperate in this matter.
Among the states that have entered
this field Wisconsin has taken a lead
ing place. Following Senator La Fol-
lette, number Of practical workers
and thinkers in Wisconsin have turned
that state into an experimental labora-
tory of wise governmental action in aid
of social and industrial justice. They
have initiated the kind of progressive
government which means not merely
the preservation Of true democracy, but
the extension of the principle Of true
democracy into 1ndustrialism as we'll
as into politics. One prime reason why
the state has been so successful in this
policy lies in the fact that it has done
justice to corporations precisely as it
has exacted justice from them.
This is precisely the attitude we
should take toward big business. 1t
Is the practical application Of the prin-
ciple Of the square deal Not only as
Il matter Of Justice. but In our own
interest, we should scrupulously re-
spect the rights OF honest and decent
business and should encourage 1t
where its activities make, as they often
do make, for the common good. In
other words, our demand Is that big
business give the people a square deal
and that the people give a square deal
to any man engaged In big business
who honestly endeavors to do what is
right and proper.
On the other hand, any corporation.
big or little, which has gained its po-
sition by unfair methods and by inter
ference with the rights Of others.
which has raised prices or limited out
put in improper fashion and has been
guilty Of demoralidng and corrupt
practices, should not only be broken
up, but it should be made the business
Of some competent governmental body
by constant supervision to see that it
does not come together again, save IN
der such strict control as to insure the
community against all danger Of a rep
etition of the bad conduct.
Control Should BE Administrative.
All business into which the element
Of monopoly in any way or degree en-
tiers and where it proves in practice
impossible totally to eliminate this ele-
ment of monopoly should be carefully
supervised, regulated and controlled by
governmental authority, and such con
troll should be exercised by administra-