The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1917-12-15

1 tion-wide discord and discomfort.
To eradicate these evils is one of
the objects Of this movement. It seeks
to eliminate the economic waste oc-
| casioned by burdensome laws, in
dustrial friction and strife, hostility
on the part of the unthinking pub
lie, and to unity and harmonic all
Of the discordant elements OF Ameri-
can industries in a nationwide CO.
operative movement preparatory TO
meeting the unprecedented demands
that are now being made upon us by
reason of the worlds greatest crisis,
and that will continue to be made
upon us in the reconstruction Of ma
tions at the close OF the present
worldwide conflict.
To Promote Efficiency.
We cannot afford to enter this war
hampered and harassed by discord
and strife, labor disturbances, class
prejudice and ill-advised legislation.
This movement is intended to pro-
mote the highest degree of industrial
efficiency-to produce unity, har-
mony and cooperation between the
men engaged in all branches of in
dustry, on the farms, in the mines,
in the factories and on the railways
of our country: between employers,
employees and the consuming public
all OF which are patriotic purposes
and imperative needs in this hour Of
national peril.
The past decade has been an era
OF legislative madness. 1t has been
an era OF so-called legal reforms"
during which time we have been
striving to legislate virtue into life,
to cure all our ills by statutory en-
actment, to legislate the devil out of
business and mould private charac-
ter by law. 1t has been an era Of
business -wrecking, railroad smash
ing and trust-busting, in which pas
sion and prejudice have dethroned
sanity and reason. Big business in
It has been an era Of agitation, in
vestigation, regulation, legislation,
confiscation and finally consterna-
ton. The lecturer on the Chautau-
qua platform, the minister in the
pulpit, the editor in his sanctum, the
lawyer at the bar and the Judge on
the bench, Joined hands with the
the anti-business dope
ster," the charlatan, the demagogue
and the propagandists Of a thousand
and one reforms for the regenera-
ton OF the world, and all mingled
their voices in one incoherent clamor,
made a VeTlIaDle Deulam OF our legls-
lative halls and held high carnival in
the councils of the nation. Every
demagogue seeking public Office,
whether legislative, executive or
judicial, Joined the "reformers" and
devoted himself to fomenting the
populace. The legislator listened to
the clamor, the executive became the
tool of the INSCRIPTIONS and unwise
and even the courts tfembled and
quaked i'm the presence Of the in
furiated mob. ...
incompetent Men.
More incompetent men have ridden
into office masquerading in the guise
of reform, than competent men who
were real reformers, but who refus-
ed to indorse fake nostrums as a
bride for votes. Smelling commit
tees and investigating commissions
have been appointed to inquire into
every detail of business and investi-
gate every phase Of private life: all
of which have entailed enormous
public expense and placed heavy
burdens on the business interests of
the country. / appeal to you, my
fellow citizens, to stop and consider
how fast these commissions have
been multiplying, both in the state
and in the nation, principally for
the purpose of giving jobs to de-
serving politicians; and then reflect
on what the logical sequence may be