Barton County democrat., 1914-01-23
NOT FIGHTING BIG BUSINESS.
Continued from preceding page)

viii meet all the equities and cir
cumStances of the case.
Producing industries, for example,
which have passed the point up to
which combination may be consistent
with the public interest and the free
dom Of trade, cannot always be dis
Gacted into their component units as
readily as railroad companies or sim
liar organizations can be. Their dis
nolutim by ordinary legal process may
0dmes involve financial consequence
eS' likely to overwhelm the security
market and bring upon it breakdown
and confusion. There ought to be an
administrative commission capable Of
directing and shaping such corrective
processes, notonly in aid of the
courts, but also by independent sug-
geStiOu II necessary.
Meet Business Half Way.
Inasmuch as our object and the
spirit of Our action in these matters
Is to meet business half way in its
processes of selfcorrectiOn and dis
turb its legitimate course as little
as possible, we ought to see to it, an,
the judgment of practical and saga
eious men Of affairs everywhere will
applaud us if we did see to it. But
penalties and punishments should fall
not upon business itself, but upon
the individuals who use the instru.
mentaGties of business to do things
which public policy and sound buSi-
ness practice condemn. Every act Of
business is done at the command or
upon the initiative of some person or
group Of persons. These should be
held individually responsible and the
punishment should fall upon them not
upon the business organization of
which they make illegal use. This
should be one of the main objects Of
our legislation to divest such persons
OF their corporate cloak and deal
with them as with those who do not
represent their corporations but mere
ly by deliberate intention break the
law.
Business men the country through
would, l am sure, applaud us if we
were to take effectual steps to see
that the officers and directors Of
great business bodies were prevented
from bringing them and the business
Of the country into disrepute and dan
ger.
Other questions remain which will
need very thoughtful and practical
treatment. Enterprises, in these med
ern days Of great individual fortun-
es, are Oftentimes interlocked, not
being under the control of the same
directors, but by the fact that the
greater part Of their corporate stock
Is owned by a single person or a
group of persons who are in some
way intimately related in interest.
We are agreed, l take it, that hold
ing companies should be prohibited.
But what Of the controlling private
ownership Of individuals or actually
corporate groups of individuals?
Shall the private owners of CAPT.
tai stock be suffered to be themseN-
es in effect holding companies? We
do not wish, suppose, to forbid the
purchase of stocks by any person whit
pleaseS to buy them in such quanti-
ties as he can afford, or in any way
arbitrarily to Limit the sale of stock
to bona fide purchasers. Shall we
require the owners of stock when
their voting power in several COM
panies which ought to be indepen--
dent Of one another would constitute
actual control to make am election
In which they will exercise their right
to vote? This question l venture for
your consideration.
Unfair Competition.
There is another matter in which
imperative consideration of justice
and fair play suggest thoughtful rem
edial action. Not only do many OF
the combinations effected or ought
to be effected in the industrial world
work an injustice upon the public IN
general, they also directly and Ser
iousy injure the individuals who are
put out Of business In one unfair way
or another by the many dislodgdng
and exterminating forces Of combina-
tion. / hops that we shall agree in
giving private individuals, who claim
to have been injured by these pro-
cesses, the right to found their suit
for redress upon the facts and judg-
ments proved and entered in suits BY
A. lA