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About The morning Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1899-1930 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 4, 1907)
, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1907. THE MORNING ASTOMAN, ASTORIA, OREGON. 8 PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE (Continued from Ttgt I) It v" (0 'ulv lo the movmivIuii tlmt i, to tilt Iovernment, i which rojirnaeiits the people a r. whoiaaome tiirectiv power of miHirvUI)u over their corpo rate tin, In order to insure a healthy social utiil Industrial life, every big cor pornllou should In held responsible by nd be coconut able to, mine sovereign strong enough to ermtrol It conduct, I 111 lu Ho sense hostile to corporations, Thl It in aga of combination, it ml any effort to prevent all combination will In not only uw'ls, but In the end rlcl 01m, beeause of the contempt for laiw which tlio failure to enforce law Inevi tably produce. Wa ahould, moreover, recognise la cordial itud ample fahim tlia Immense good effected by corporate agencies lu it country ttivh i our, unit tin wcaiin or intellect, energy, ami litis llty devoted to their service, mid there fori' normally to tlio service of the pub Jle, by their officer and director. Tbf corporation line uiu9 to la,v, Just as the trade union his coma to ity. Ksch can do end hai done great good, Kaeb noma no lavorea no long a it joes good, Hut each should be sharply check ed where It act against Uvr mid justice. 'The makers of our National I'onstltu tlon provided itsncclsllv tint the re gulation of interstate commerces ebould come within tbe sphere of the General (iovernment. Tbe arguments In favor of their taking lliU stand were even then overwhelming, Dut they are far stronger today, In view of the enormous development of great business agencies, Usually corporate In form. r.xperleiue nai euown conclusively mat it II use- !" to try to set any adeutiata rraula tlon and supervision of tbeta (treat cor porauona by tai action, huou regulS' linn and supervision can only be effect Ively swelled by a soverlgn mboie Jurisdiction la co-citenlv with the field of work of the corporation that la, by the National (Iovernment. 1 believe that thla regulation and eupervlilon ran be obtained by the enactment of law by the Congreu. ' Our aleady elm ahould ba by legis lation, cautiously and carefully under taken, but resolutely persevered in, to assert the sovereignty of the National Covernment by aiilrmative action. "This la only In form an Innovation. In tubetanc It I merely a restoration! for from tha earliest time auch regula tion of Industrial activltlea baa been recognised is tbe lawmaking bodleei ad all that I propose li to meet the changed comlitloiu lu aurh manner as will prevent the Commonwealth audi eating the power it hae alwave posse sed, nt only In thli country, but alto in wigiami before and aince tnla country became separate nation. "It haa been mlafortun that tbt National lawn on thla subject bava hith erto been of a negative or prohibitive rather than an affirmative kind, and atill more that Uiey have In part sought to prohibit what could not be effectively prohibited, and have in part In their v prohibitions confounded nat ahould tie allowed and what ahould not be allow ed. It ie geuurallv ulie to try to prohibit alt rctra1nt on competition, whether thla reetralnt b reasonable or iinrcaaonablei and where it la not una lM it ie generally, hurtful. Tho luo act or a law llrtilng railway coinpan lea to eiiKNK 'n Intorwtnto eommene upon certain condition, The law ahould b o flamed a to iflve to the Inter tate Coniinnrce ConiiiiUilon power to pane upon the future lu If iwuritle, whlln ample men ill ahould ba provided (0 enable the (.'(iminUloii, whenever In III judgment it I necaiaury,' to make a pnymcai valuation or any rainoau, ah I atated In my Wega to the ConKteia a year aim. railroad anouid ua ivn power to enter Into agreement, aub iet to the BUrneiiient beliiu imide imbllo in minute detail and to the con- nt of tbe Interitata Commerce Com nillori beiti flrat obtained. Until the National iiovorunieno aatumei proper control of inieritnta eommorce, In the excrclee of tha authority It already poa 'eaa, it will ba ImpoMible either to Siva to or to set from the railroad full juallca. Thu railroad and all other ureal corporation win do won to re coKiiIxe that thli (Kintrol inuat comet the only ouealion la ai to what government al body can mot wlauly exerdne it Hie court will determine the lliiiitawlth in which the Federal authority can ex erciae it, and there will atill remain ample work within each Stat for the railway oomrulanlun of that Btatei and the National IntanUta Commerce Com mixtion will work In harmony with tbe averai Male commiiiioni, cacii within Ite own province, to achieve the deiired 01)1, Sherman Antitrust Moreover, In my jodtfmfliit there ahould be additional IcyUlatiou looking to the pror control or tha great btiainea con cern enirajfid lit inieratate buiinem, thli control to ba excrcled for their own benefit and proiperlty 110 lea than for- tha protection of Inveatora and of tno general public A I have repeated ly aaid In Meairea to the Conirreii and elaewhere, experience baa definitely mown not merely uia unwiadom but tho f utility of endeavoring to out aton 10 an nuiineia oomoinationa, Aiooern Induatrlal conditlona ara euch that com blnation li not only naceiiarr but In evltable, U la o in tha world of b.ni neia Juat ai It la ao In the world of lab or, and It la aa Idle to deeire to put an ena 10 eu corporation!, to an big com bination of canltal. aa to deilra to nut . an end to combination! of labor. Cor poratlon and labor union alike have come to atay. Each If properly man aired la aourcatif good and not evil. Whenever In either than la evil, It ahould ba promptly held to account; but it ahould receive heart v encouragement o long it li properlv managed. It I profoundly Immoral to put or keep on tbe atatua booka a law, nomlnaljy in tha Intereit of public morality, that really put a premium upon public Im morality, by undertaking to forbid hon eat men from doing what mut be done under modern buaineae condition, so that the law Itaelf provldea that It' own Infraction mint ba tbe condition precedent upon buiinci tucceit. To aim at the accompliihment of too much 11a- ually mean tbe aocompliihment of too little, and often tha doing of positive iiamage. in my Menace to the Con grin a year ago, In apeaking of the anu-truii law, 1 eakit "Tha actual working of our law haa 'ahown that the- effort to ttrohiliit all combination, good or bad, fa noxt 011 where It I not ineffective. Cora ceuful proeutlon of cue device toj uinatlon of capital, Ilka combination of vade the Jaw immediately dovolop imwr, i a nciiry element in our pre Burner uevice 10 a-Qouipun vne aarue puriKiie. what I needed i not awecp' lug prohibiltou of every arrangement, good or bad, which inly tend to restrict competition, but iiirh adequate aupcr vUlon and regulation aa will prevent ny restriction of competition from be ing to the detriment of the public, ai well aa such aupervlilou and regulation 1 mill prevent other nbune In no way cunnacicu wuu rvtiriciiuu 01 coiupeii tion." I have called your attention in the quealiun to what I have already aaid becauta I am aatUfied that it I the duty of the National Oovernment to embody In action the principle thui expreued. f Ieeritate Commerce, No email part of the trouble that we nave come irom .carrying to an ex treme the national virtue of aelf-re lianua, of independence In Initiative and Nlrtion. It la wle to comtcrve thi vir ta and to provide for it fullest excr rimy comptttiblo with aeelng that liberty doea not become a lilerty to wrong other. . Unfortunately, thla I tha kind of liberty that the' luck of all mrective regulation inevitably breed. The founder of the Constitution pro vided that the National (iovernment ahould have complete and aole control of Interstate commerce. There wait then practically no intentate bushiest mve auch aa wa conducted by water, and thli the National (iovernment at one proceeded to regulate in thoroughgoing nd eiTectlon fashion, Condition lave now eo wholly changed that the Inter state commerce by wfttee la iniignillcant compared with the amount that gooi by land, and almost all big biislnea ooncoma aro now engaged In liiteratnto commerce. Aa a result, it can be but practically and imperfectly controlled or regulated by the action of any one of "the .aeveral State; inch action In evitably tending to be either too drastic or else too lax, and in either case inef fective for purpose of justice, Only the National Government can in thorough going fashion exercise the needed con trol. This doea not mean that there ahould be any extension of Federal auth ority, for auch authority already ex lata under tho Constitution In ampleat nd moit far-reaching from) but It does mean that there ahould be an exten sion of Federal activity. Thi 1 not advocating centralization, It i merely , looking facta in the face, and realiilnV that centralization in builnea ha al ready come and can not be avoided or undone, and that the publlo at large can only protect' Itaelf from . oertain evil effect! of thla builncs centraliza tion by providing better method for the exercise of control through the au thority already centralized in the Na tional Government by, the Constitution Itself. TheiV must be no halt in the ihcalthy conitructlive course of action which this .Nation has elected to pursue and hai steadily pursued, during the uifi 11 veare. as anown 00m in tne giilation of the Congres and tha ad- nlatrution of the law bv the Depart ment of Justice, The most vital need in connection with the railroads. As ent Industrial ytem. It I not po iible completely to prevent It) and if it were possible, auch comnlete preven tion would do damage to tne body poli tic. What we need ia not vainly to try to prevent all combination, but to se cure rlgormi mid adequate control and supervision of the combination as to prevent their Injuring the public, of ex luting in such form a Inevitably to threaten injury. It la unfortunate that our present lawa ahould forbid all combination instead of aharply dis criminating between those combinations which do good and Ohma combinations which do evil. Often railroad would like to combine for the purpose of preventing a big ahipper from maintain ing Improper advantages at the expense the general of of ismall ihfppora and puuiic. eiicn a combination, Instead of Wing forbidden by w, ahould be fav or). it ie publlo evil to have on the statue books, a law incapable of full enforcement, liecauie both judges and juries realize that ita full enforce ment would destroy the business of the country; for the result i to make de cent men violator of the law against their will, and to put a premium on the oenavior 01 tne -wiiiiui wrongdoirt niKh a remit in turn tend to throw the decent man and the willful mi-omr doer into close association, and in the end to drag down, the former to the hitter's level 1 for the man who becomes a lawbreaker lu one way ' unhnmiilv tenda to lose all respect for law and to be ..willing to break it In many wav. .No more scathing condemnation could Iw visited upon a law than Is contained in tho word of the .Interstate Commerce l commission mhen.. in. commcnt inir unon the r.u't that tile numerous joint trallrc associations uo technically violate the law, uiey says une decision of the United vStates Supreme Court in the Trans-Missouri; case?; and the joint Trnlllo Association case has produced no practical effect upon the railway opera tions of the oouutry. Such associations, in fact, exist now as they did , before these decisions, and with the same gen eral effect. In justice to all parties, we ought probably to add that it is diffi cult to see how our Interstate railways could be opernted with duo regard to tne interest or the shipper nnd the rail way without concerted action of the kind afforded throuuh these associa tions.' , , . ' ' This means that the low as con strued by. the Supreme Court la such that tbe business of the country can not be conducted without breaking It." as 1 nave eiHewnei said: "All thi 1 substantially what I have said over and .over again. Surely it ought not be necessary to aay that it In no shape or way represents any hosti lity to corporations as auch. On the contrary, it means a frank recognition of the fact that combinations of capital, Hive uuimuiiuiions 01 inoor, are a natural result of modern conditions nnd of bur National development. As for as, in my ability lies my endeavor is nnd will lie to prevent abuse ot power by either and to favor both so long as they do well. The aim of the National Govern ment is quite as much to favor and nuss men of wealth, as to bring to Justice those Individuals and corpora tion representing dishonest methods, Most .certainly there will be no relaxa tion by the (iovernment authorities lu the effort to get at any great railroad wrevker-any mnwho by clover swindl ing H" v ne roos investor, oppresses wage-worker, and doc Injustice to the km lerai pumic. jiul gt,y ,. this i lu the Interest of honest rallwuv operators, of honest corporations, and of those who, when (hey invest their small savings in stocks mid bonds. U'itl 1,1 lut assured mat these will represent nionev " t'r wpended for legltluiato busi ness purpoc. To confi-r upon the National Government the tWtlJ.' Art fa wiuon 1 aK would be a check miuu wtvn-npHaiiauon and upon cnpltallzalKn, Dut it alone: would iii'-uu an increase lu the value, an in. crease ia the safety of the tovk and bond of low-abiding, honestly managed railroads, and would render It far easier to market their securities, I believe In proper publicity. There his been com plaint of some of the Jnvellgu.tiont re cently carried on, but those who com plain should put the blame where it lie iiMiKiipn tne misoeeas which are done In darkness and not upon the in vesications which brought them to light. J be Administration I responsible for turning on the light, but it la not responsible for what the light showed, I ak for full power to be given the Fed eral Government, because no eingle State can by legislation effectually cope wuu tiivsv powerful corporations en gaged in interstate commerce, and wmie aoiug mem run justice, exact from tliem In return full justice to others. I he condition of railroad activl ty, the conditions of our Immense Inter. stale commerce, are auch aa to make the Onlrwl Government alone competent to exercise full supervision and control "The grave abuses In Individual esses or railroad management in the past re present wrongs not merely to tbe gen erai public, but, above all, wrongs to lair-deallng and honest corporations and men of wealth, because they excite a popular anger and distrust which from the very nature of the case tenda to In elude In the sweep of Its resentment good and bad alike. From the atand pofnt of the nubile I can not too earn estly say that aa soon as the natural and proper resentment aroused by these abuses becomes indiscriminate and unthinking, it also becomes not merely unwise and unfair, but eolenMed in defeat the very ends which those feel ing it have in view. There has been plenty of dishonest work by corpora tion In the past. There will , not be the slightest let-up la tbe effort to hunt down and punish every dishonest man. But the bulk of our business la honestlv done. In the natural indignation the people feel over the dishonesty, it is all essential that tbey should not lose their heads and get drawn into an indiscrim inate raid upon all corporations, all people of wealth, whether they do well or 11). Out of any auch wild movement good will not come, can not come, and never has come. On the contrary, the surest way to invite reaction is to follow the lead of either demagogue or visionary in sweeping assault upon property values and upon publlo confidence, which would woric incalculable damage la tha 0' 'WiWiJ ttlVni: I:-? ; MTTEMES Astoria Hardware Co., 113 12th St. SBWaMaasasaxsisassaaasaaassMsMM MMwasMaMjjwssjjMSf in Our insurance lepartment (Continued on Page 1) WANTED the name and address of the man who asserts that a Standard Equitable Policy would be of no value to him. ; That is the man who needs to be seen by an enlightening EQUITABLE Agent , He rn bio COMMERCIAL ST. ASTORIA, OREGON now be either a national Incorporation protect honest corporations, honest busl This is the time of Year to place Your Order for Blank Books for 1908. Our Facilities are the best and we can promptly execute all 2f orders. m 1 3?.--. '. Jf.- V . . . A A a a a. a A A A afti AAs44444444'ssh444slsAsftitsi sssAAAAAalift sisfcas1iaaal ifc iltai wr--"-""-- ; - . , V""T''WW)en.see) Hi