The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1912-02-23

tnat tells 1Or It's DpttcrmCpt, q man
whom his neighbors look W 70 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 It's
bone and flesh Of its flesh. His life fbcra
are intertwined with the life fbcrs OF
his fellow citizens. Yet nowadays many
men OF this kind when they come to
make necessary trade aGrc ,1n,s with
one another find themselves in danger
of becoming unwilling transgressors
OF the law and are Mt loss to know
what the law forbids and what It per.
mits. This is all wrong. There should
be fixed governmental policy, policy
which shall clearly define and punish
wrongdoing and shall give in advance
full Information to any man as to jus,
what he can and just what he cannot
legally and properly do. 1t is absurd
and wicked to treat the deliberate law
breaker as on an exact par with the
man eager to obey the law, whose only
desire is to find out from some CONF
tent governmental authority what hc
law is and then live up to It. II IS al
surd TO endeavor to regulate busiNcs.
in the interest Of the public by meaus
of long drawn lawsuits without any
accompaniment Of administrative con
troll and regulation and without any
attempt to discriminate between the
honest man who has succeeded in bust
ness because Of rendering n service to
the public and the dishonest man who
has succeeded in business by cheating
the public.
So much for the small business man
and the middle sized business man
Now for big business. 1t is imperative
to exercise over big business a control
and supervision which are unnecessary
as regards small business. All bust
ness must be conducted under the law,
and all business men, big or little, must
act justly. But a wicked big interest
is net essarily more dangerous to the
community than a wicked little inter
est. big business" in the past has
been responsible for much of the spe-
cial privilege which must be unspar-
ingly cut out of our national life.
do not believe in making mere size Of
and by itself criminal. The mere fact
of size, however, does unquestionably
carry the potentiality of such grave
wrongdoing that there should be By
law provision made for the strict super
vision and regulation Of these great in
dustrial concerns doing an interstate
business. much as we now regulate the
transportation agencies which are en-
gagged in interstate business. The anti
trust law does good in so far rs it can
be invoked against combinations which
really are monopolies or which restrict
production or which arti6cially RI 50
prices. But In so far as its workings
are uncertain or as 1t threatens corpor
ations which have not been guilty of
anti-social conduct 1t 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 lead
ing place Following Senator La Fol
lette, number Of practical workers
and thinkers l. Wisconsin have turnea
that state into an experimental laborG
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 industrialism as well
as into politics. One prime reason why
the state has been so successful in this
policy lies i1 the fact that 1t has done
justice to corporations precisely as II
has exacted justice from them.
Thi 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
matter of justice, but in our own
interest, we should scrupulously re-
spect the rights of honest and decent
business and should encourage it
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 square deal
and that the people give square deal
TO any man engaged in big business
who honestly endeavors to do what t.
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 demoraliZing and corrupt
practices, should not only be broken
up, but 1t should be made the business
Of some competent governmental body
by constant supervision to see that il
does not come together again, save un-
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-
ters and where 1t proves In practice
impossible totally to eliminate this ele-
Il 81