New-York tribune., 1918-12-05
Perkins Urges
u. S. Control of
Big Industries
Continued from page l

trial problems as we have handled our
banking problem. Our states have
come much more nearly satisfying the
public with their method of handling
the banking business than they have
with our method of handling either the
railroad or the industrial business.
"Fnll. frank publicity is, after all,
the best and greatest safeguard against
improper methods, methods that are
injurious TO the public. The great in
dustria concerns Of this country that
have in recent years realized his TACT
and followed it are to-day in public
favor, but in place of their. following
such a policy voluntarily they should
bv law be reuired to follow it. Then
changing the management would not
change the policy.
"The time has gone by for individu-
ais to project great new trunk line
railroads and by skilful manipulation
emerge in a few years with colossal
fortunes.
Practice Is to End
at will not be done any more in
this country. Future railroads Will be
extensions of existing systems, or in
crcasing the capacity Of existing lines
by doub tracking, or other better
ments. The people are vastly more
intelligent than they were a generation
ago Collective intelligence and men
tai penetration is much greater. They
demand facts, and when the facts are
laid down where they may be analyzed
there is q collective judgment of the
case and a decision. The decision may
not always be ideal. but it remains a
decision until amended.
81 believe that people who have be-
come partly socialistic in their opln-
ions will consider that the more i'm
portant industrial problems so called,
arc on the way to a sensible solution
if the Federal government will exercise
a proper degree of control. Nor will
there be any objection to bigness SIM
ply because of bigness.
"To object to bigness in this country
is to strike at the very fopndatlon
stone of the structure on which our
country has been erected, for the thlr-
teen original states found that they
could not get on separately. They
formed holding company and all went
into it. Not only that, but they took
in each new state as it was organized
and the holding company became larger
and larger, until to-day it consists OF
forty-eight subsidiary companies
Publicity for Every Act
"The president of this holding COM
pany has vast powers, and the one
great safeguard to the exerc use OF such
powers is publicity for every act he
performs. The moment this publicity
is in any way curtailed the public at
once becomes restive and resentful. So
long as it knows each hour of each day
what is being done it is willing that
vast powers should be exerc sed.
''lndustrially we are facing a future
fraug with dangers. In the fall Of
1914 Mayor Mitchell asked a number of
business men to assist in melioratng
the unemployment conditions in New
York. We did the best we could by
organizing workshops, where we pro-
vided labor for the unemployed. We
paid 10 cents an hour for simnle work
and the men and women IA ting N line
for those joos At 10 cents an Aou made
long lines every mornins. The food
and fuel problem ior me INDECENT BE-
came acute The venture of providing
this makeshlft en- 0lovmeot COT nrivate
contributors about .s2oO,O00 This press
ure continued until war orders began