And State Papers 173 



of the great corporations can not be cured by any 

 legislation which has yet been proposed, and doubt 

 less others, which have really been incident to the 

 sudden development in the formation of corporations 

 of all kinds, will in the end cure themselves. But 

 there will remain a certain number which can be 

 cured if we decide that by the power of the Govern 

 ment they are to be cured. The surest way to pre 

 vent the possibility of curing any of them is to 

 approach the subject in a spirit of violent rancor, 

 complicated with total ignorance of business inter 

 ests and fundamental incapacity or unwillingness to 

 understand the limitations upon all lawmaking 

 bodies. No problem, and least of all so difficult a 

 problem as this, can be solved if the qualities brought 

 to its solution are panic, fear, envy, hatred, and ig 

 norance. There can exist in a free republic no man 

 more wicked, no man more dangerous to the people, 

 than he who would arouse these feelings in the hope 

 that they would redound to his own political advan 

 tage. Corporations that are handled honestly and 

 fairly, so far from being an evil, are a natural busi 

 ness evolution and make for the general prosperity of 

 our land. We do not wish to destroy corporations, 

 but we do wish to make them subserve the public 

 good. All individuals, rich or poor, private or cor 

 porate, must be subject to the law of the land; and 

 the government will hold them to a. rigid obedience 

 thereof. The biggest corporation, like the humblest 

 private citizen, must be held to strict compliance 

 with the will of the people as expressed in the funda- 



