Year: 1878

Underneath the complaints of working men against what they regard as the oppression ot capital there is strong feeling Of hcstlllty, not t1nmingled with fear, toward the vast power that has grown up in the hands of Preat corporations, and especially those that contrel the principal lines of internal con- municatien. This feeling is by no means con- fined to what is generally called the laboring class A large part of the community is be- ginning to look upon this wealth under the control of few men as fraught W tn danger, and to apprehend that the time is at hand when vigorous measures to resist or curtall their growing power will have to be adopted. Not only the interests of labor, but those ot trade and the public well-being, seem likely to be arrayed at no distant day against the ollgar- cby of railroad magnates. Nobody denies the advantages of the association of capital for the purpose of inauguratiag and carrying on great enterprises, but under the condition that have thus far prevailed, it has resulted i'll placing ln the hands of few persons or small combina- tions an influence and strength that threaten to become irresistible. Some of the consequences are certainly inconsistent with the just rights and the material welfare of the public. A few large steckholde are enabled to direct these great corporate boc'es mainly In thelr own interest, and to disregard alike the rights and claims of the smaller proprietors and those of the citizens who have granted them fran- chises and pri\ .leges, to be exercised with some reference to the public good. This may in some measure account for embezzlements and irregularities long continued W .h lmpu- nity. It is this same control of {, eat fran chises and vast properties by few men that has made the operation of stock watering possible, whereby the few profit at the expense of the many. Out of it have grown disastrous speculations, mischievous combinations, and the injury of all the interests of con nerce as well as labor.

 For many years railroad managers have been able to exert an enormous influence upon the markets by their control of the internal carry ing trade; they have played fast and loose with rates and charges, have crushed oppo- stion and rivalry, have distributed almost at will tho foreign commerce of the cor ltry by giving direction, according to agreements among themselves, to the transportation Of merchandise, and have used their power, with little regard for anything but an increase of their ewl power and wealth. Moreove', they have had their corrupting emissaries in every Legislature, to mold the laws to their own wishes, have used their money and their con- trol over pr0petty and labor in local politics, and have even aspired to share With the chosen agents of the people the prerogative of admin istering the Government of the cor ltry. The laborers in their employ, the small sharers ia the property which they manage, and even the public from which they draw their patron age and their resources, have come to feel that a power has been established against which it is almost useless to contend. People are beginning to ask where this thing W ll end, and to make up their mind there must be a struggle to regain the mastery, or few huge corporations will practically control the affairs of the country.

 What restrictions are to be devised, nd how are they to be applied and enforced? Great Britain, monarchal and aristoc-atic as she is, has already taught us a lesson in u s ma.terin some of her more recent corporation laws, and taken steps to reduce the association of capital to It's legitimate sphere The two caro nal points in the policy suggested by her legislation are, limitation of tine number of shares to be held by one person, and an equal suffrage among the stockholders. In companies formed under these laws, the smallest shareholder has one vote, and the largest has no more. It is obvious that this latter provision breaEs at one blow the power of large owners to control and direct at theirown will and for their own prof. it, franchise in which others are supposed to have rights But are the rights in it equal Is not the interest of the man who owns few shares in which all his savings are invested, in the careful, economical and efficient manage ment of the conce n really equal to that of him who has put some super1uous thousands in it, and are not his rights commensurate with bis individual interest However thls question may be answered, there is scarcely doubt that this equal suffrage is calculated to prevent some of the worst evils of the system of share voting. It would make powerful rings and cliques impossible and almost certainly en- fierce policy of management which wor'd q have due regard for the int res.s of all

 There is one consideration that ought to have weight with the American mind. This method of equal voting among the sharers in a corporate franchise and corporate property is in strict analogy with the principles of our po- litical system, while that ot voting by shares and distributing suffrage to property Id not to men, is altogether Inconsistent With those principles. The theory, at least, of ol gov ernment is that every citizen-every person fairly and righSfuly entitled to civic fr lctlons in the couRtcy-is, equally with every other, concerned in the administration of the Govern ment, and should have an equfl share in civic rights and powers. Wealth and. inteligel ce have an influence and power of their own, to which it is impossible to prescribe restrictions, but it is supposed that in the administration of general interests all are concerned equally. If this applies to g0vernme 1tal administration, why not to that of a corporate enterprise of an analogous nature! 1h argument necessarily implies that the body of voters are actual sharers, to a greater or less extent, in the own- ership, the responsibilities, and liabilities of the body corporate, and not merely affected in an incidental way, as in the case with the pu6- lie at large. Whatever may be thought of th;s policy, which is now in actual operation in England, it is certain that the feeling which prevails in regard to the power of corpora tons in this country, with the control in the hands of a small but rich and grasping minor ity, is not without justification, and that it will ultimately find some method of satisfy ing it's fair demands.-N. !. Times