The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1912-08-07

! it's rivals, and the general public
| Amy corporation voluntarily coming
under tho commission should not be
| prosecuted under the antitrust law
| az long as 1t oheys in good faith the
| orders Of the commission. The COM
mission would be able to interpret In
| advance to any honest man asking
the Interpretation what he may do
| and what he may not do in carrying
| on a legitimate business"
| When corporations not submitting
| themselves to the regulation OF the
commission or clearly evading Or VIC
iating its orders are prosecuted under
| the antitrust law and convicted. ne
commission should have the duty ,.
/ seeing that the decree OF the court
| is put into effect completely" Only
| in this way can there be avoided "sucn
| gross scandals as those attendant uron
! the present administrations prosecli-
| ton OF the Standard OIL and the to-
| bacco trusts" a prosecution whieh las
merely resulted in increased prices TO
the public, injury TO the small competi-
! tor and actual financial benefit IT, the
! trusts themselves, The Progressive
proposal is definite. it is practicable.
| We promise nothing that we cannot
| carry out, We promise nothing which
will jeopardize honest business.
Our proposal is to help honest bust
ness activity. however extensive. and
to see that 1t Is rewarded with fair
return. so that there may be no op-
preston either of business men or
the common people. We propose to
make 1t worth while for our business
men to develop the most efficient bust
ness agencies for use in international
trade: for ii is to the interest of our
! whole people that We should do well in
International business. But we propose
10 make those business agencies do
complete justice TO our own people
Where these concerns deal with the
necessaries of life. the commission
should not shrink. IL the necessity is
proved, from going to the extent Of
exercising regulatory control over the
conditions that create or determine
monopoly prices
Il is imperative to the welfare OF
our people that we enlarge and extend
our foreign commerce. We are pre-
eminently fitted TO do this because az
a people We have developed high skill
! in the art OF manufacturing: our bust
ness men are strong executives strong
organizers. In every way possible our
Federal government should cooperate
in this important matter. Any one
who has had opportunity to study and
observe f1rst-hand Germanys course in
this respect must realize that their
policy of cooperation between gov
eminent and business has in compare
lively few years made them a leading
competitor for the commerce Of the
world. II should be remembered that
they are doing this on a national scale
and with large units Of business. while
the Democrats would have US believe
eHnnIJ dn fr xs-ys II qsw{yx
of business. which would be controlled.
not hv the national government. but
by forty-nine conflicting state sover-
eighties. Such a policy Is utterly out
of keeping with the progress Of the
/ times and gives our great commercial
rivals in Europe-hungry for interna-
tionai markets~~golden opportunities of
which they are. rapidly taking advant
age.
Justice to Wage Worker.
Referring 10 the opening sentence
OF his address, namely, that We are
nov In the midst OF a great economic
revolution Mr.. Roosevelt presents an
advanced and comprehensive plan TO
insure the rights and better eondi-
tons for labor, He gives 1t the para
mount place in his speech The first
charge upon the industrial statesman
ship OF the day, he said. "{s To pre-
vent human waste. The dead weight
Of orphauage and depleted craftsman
ship. of crippled workers and workers
suffering from trade Diseases Of casual
labor. OF insecure cid age and of
household depletion due to Industrial
! conditions are. like our depleted soiis.
| our gashed mountain-side and flooded
| river bottoms. so many strains upon
the national structure, draining the re-
serve strength Of all Industries. and
showing beyond all peradveuture the
public element and public concern In
/ Industrial health - He proposed several
special methods for preserving Our
human resources. and therefore our
| labor power" Mage scales ana other
labor data should Ice made public.
all deaths, injuries. and diseases due
10 industrial operation should be re
ported to the authorities; wage com
missions should be established In the
/ nation and State to determine the min
imum wage scale in different indus
tries the Federal government should
4 investigate all industries with view
| 10 establishing standards OF sanitation
and safety. there should be mine and
factory inspection according to stand
/ ards fixed by Interstate agreement
/ or by the Federal government ma
! tioual and state legislation should es
! tabllsh standards. or compensation for
I Industrial accidents and deaths and
+ for diseases clearly due TO Industrial
! conditions: for the adoption by law
| of fair standard of compensation for
! casualties resulting fatally which
shall clearly fix the minimum compen-
sation in all cases: the monetary equiv
alent Of a living wage varies accord
S DAYS S