Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1915-05-14
PRACTICAL IDEAS
A Mastery Address on Present Day
Conditions and Problems Delivered
at the University of Illinois. Tues
day, May 4th, 1915 by George Otis
Smith, Director United States Geo.
logical Survey.

Practical ideals" is more than an
apparent contradiction OF terms-it is
the zeal thing That n word demands.
The practical ideal is the ideal in it's
everyday form that has the power to
uphft because it is firmly braced on
the ground.
Altruistic democracy is not a
meaningless phase. The Declaration
of Independence begins with altruism
in the appeal it makes for the pursuit
of happiness. Democracy in its es-
sence means equality of opportunity;
its function is to build up to the
higher plane, not to cut down to a
dead level. And in our Constitution,
the declared purpose to promote the
general welfare is a guarantee that
this nation takes no ARROW view of
business questions such as those now
before the American people. 1t is in
human welfare that ethics and ono
mics find common ground.
Too much stress can not be placed
upon the human factor in these pro-
b'ems. The student of politics does
we'll to think less of artificial measures
of value, to talk less of monometallic
or bimetallic standards and to realize
that the human standard is the real
measure. Reduced to lowest terms,
property. whether real or personal,
gold or silver, prairie land or sky
7craper, derives its, value from what
mans labor has put into it o. can
take out Of it.
urar1fnrr -oinprfxy HofA A ~ orYo 40 n
citizens have come to realize that un-
regulated private monopoly and good
citizenship are Nantagonistic terms.
And, now that popular clamor IS CIV
ing place to sober second-thought the
other side of the monopoly question is
| receiving the consideration it de-
serves; there is a widespread recog-
milton of the common interdependence
of big business and the general pub
lie. On the one side, the people are
realizing that they are and have been
in reality silent partners in big bust
ness, and now that there has come the
promise of some regulation that will
in large part prevent monopollstic
| Capitalization, the people r interest
ed in getting their share of the re-
turns which can come only with opera
ton at a profit. On the other hand,
the managers of the large corporation
| who are really the trustees of the
investing public. are beginning to see
that a certain financial security goes
with public confidence. The public can
not be left out of the reckoning, and
that well-remembered attitude toward
the public so tersely expressed &c
wears ago BY a pioneer in railroad
affairs does not paw dividends to-day
To whom. then, belongs the reward
| of efficiency? l find a simple answer
to that question in the opinion of the
higher courts, in the decision of pub
lie utility commissions, and in recent
or pending legislation. Industrial en-
terprise as conducted by corporations
are inherently cooperative. Owner
workman, and consumer are in reality
partners, and as such deserve to
share in the profits. The public car
demand low prices only after adequate
profit has been provided for capita.
and fair wages for labor. This basa
principal of profit-sharing among al
three partners seems to me the corner
stone among practical ideals of the
present day.
The trouble with too many of the
business men of the day, and es'
pecially with those who come tt
Washington to oppose new leglsla'
ion, is their nearsightedness. They
AN not see countrywide public opin'
on and do not appreciate the obviou!
fact that the financial centers arr
,ot also the centers of nationa
bought. The result of this, asF1 ex
PRESSED it in conversation last win
er with a New York gentlemen Wit
vas largely interested in water-powe.
development, is that the business in
g ests oppose something at one Con
gress which two years later the.
would accept; but the next Congress
is already considering a more advanc
ed legislative proposition. We are al
more or less progressive. l told him
but the opposition has been just on
'ap behind.
The bright light of publicity is com
mo to shine more and more upon tn
inner workings of all private bust
ness which has anything of the pub
lic-service character. Only about
years ago. at a conference on water
nower policy, I heard the representa-
tive of the banking houses intereste
in the h~ydroelectric business tell tn
Secretary of the Interior with con
siderable warmth of spirit that on
thing the men who make possible tn
DEVELOPMENT of our country by thei
contribution of capital would not stan
for was anv legal requirement of in
spection of their accounts by tn
government. A corporation has it
rights, they continued, just the sam
as a private mar in business. Las
wear in the same room, when the utili
cation of a large power site owne
by the government was being discuss
ed. l heard those asking for the pei
nit, dismiss the question of Fedora
inspection of their books with the re
mark. "That need not be discussed
our books will of course be Away
omen to any authorized Representative
of the Government" The ultimatum
pronounced bv the ambassadors fror
Wall Street, State Street, and Yves
Adam Street are shortlived in tn
rrespnt atmosphere of popular inter
e0t in these business questions.
We need TO see ourselves and GU
dav in the right perspective. Men o
"i"iou are what the world needs. bu
~i"ion "'"nn viii. not suffice. 1t wa
not a Darius Green, but Professo
t~an"lev and the Wright Brothers VIII
taught men to fly.
It is simnlv automatic that the worl
hos reached the stage where Scienc
las entered everyday life to a de
~rea that even our fathers neve
dreamed. Physical forces and ma
tural are harnessed to tn