The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1912-03-15

pressed with the superiority i'm energy,
intelligence. resourcefulness, and gem
eral all-around executive ability of the
men OF our country as compared with
those of any other country. I believe
this to be especially true of the on
coming generation of business men
those who are just about to take the
helm and guide the commercial destiny
of this country in the immediate flu
tire. 1t is my belief from close OBJ
servation that they have no equals
anywhere; but they must be told in
plain English what they can and what
they cannot do Once given an accur-
ate chart, and they will speedily con-
quer the commerce Of the world. But
at present Germany has this accurate
chart and we have not; and il is hard
TO overstate what this fact means in
the way of handicap to us and of ad-
vantage to Germany.
Justice For All.
My chief concern is with the welfare
of the little man; but of course we
must do Justice to all. Otherwise we
cannot get prosperity for any one We
must endeavor to encourage legitimate
and honest business at the same time
that we war against business crooked
ness and business injustice. The great
mass of business Is, of course. done by
men whose business is either small or
of moderate size. and these men are an
element of incalculable strength to the
Nation. The average American busi-
ness man is honest, and Is just as de-
sirous of Obeying the law as is any one
of his fellow citizens Yet many OF
the middle sized business men now
adays. when they come TO make neces-
sary trade agreement, are puzzled lest
| they may find that they have unwit-
tingly transgressed the law; and they
are unable to find out I'm advance what
the law is. This Is all wrong. There
should be absolute clearness of the law.
and there should be a competent ad-
minlstrative body to do for the world
of industrial production what the In
ter state Commerce Commission has
done for the world of industrial trans
portation. II should be the policy of
the government clearly to define and
punish wrong doing, TO give in advance
full information to every man just
what he can and just what he cannot
legally do.
Control Over Business.
| The small business man and the
4 -
duct their business under the law and
must act justly. This is also true ct
the big business man. But in his case
there is an added duty on the part OF
the Nation and the several states.
There must be over big business con-
troll and supervision by the Nation COR
If necessary, by the state) whicn are
unnecessary as regards small business
The people of this country are not
afraid of the mere size of a business
enterprise provided II Is honestly or
panized and honestly managed; pu'
they are afraid Of and will no longer
tolerate. exploiting the public Tor the
Inromoters benefit. Our laws today do
NOT prevent over r-capitalization or the
nayrant abuse of power In exploiting
the business of the people for the per
sonal gain of few: and vet they
threaten vague disaster not merely 70
dishonest, Dut to honest. business men
There Is urgent need that they should
he made both more definite and more
sncient do not believe IN making
more size of and by Itself criminal