averse is an influential portion of the business world to change, that this point is frequently overlooked or but partially recognized.
Amicable relations between the railways and the shippers could not exist so long as unreasonable discriminations were practised by the former. In granting franchises, the public can not be expected to acquiesce unless its interests are properly safeguarded. The passage of the Allen bill by the Illinois legislature constituted a challenge to good citizenship, and there could be no peace until the objectionable bill was repealed. The painful working out of the franchise question in Chicago and Cleveland has placed the street railway securities of these cities on a sound and reputable basis. The report of the commission appointed by President Roosevelt has made for peace in the anthracite coal fields. Not until the tariff is rescued from the hands of special interests and is settled to the satisfaction of the country will the business community know upon what to count. So far as legislation is concerned, much political agitation is either fruitless or results in unwise action. Due credit should, however, be given to an important by-product, namely, the stimulating effect upon the correction of abuses by voluntary action.
II
Modern industry repeatedly adjusts itself to new conditions with surprising ease, and those in charge of any business are frequently the first to protest against a proposal to return to the old order of things. The packers advertise that their meats are "U. S. Government Inspected." Insurance companies doing business subject to the laws of such states as Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York and Wisconsin, proclaim the fact. The national banks find the supervision to which they are subjected a valuable asset. The investor's attention is called to the fact that an issue of securities has been approved by a public utility commission. Publicity of corporate accounts has proven a good thing for railway and other corporations. Factory managers now and then face about and approve regulations which they have opposed.[1] It often happens, also, that the arch insurgent of to-day is looked upon as the cautious-going conservative of to-morrow. The south no longer regards Lincoln as an enemy, but as a friend, and among the possibilities of the future is the spectacle of the business interests rallying around a La Follette as their defender against some form of radical-going socialism.
The need of distinguishing between the symptoms and the causes of political unrest is well illustrated by the silver agitation. No political movement since 1870 excited such bitter controversy or did so much to unsettle business. It undoubtedly occasioned the panic of 1893, and prolonged the hard times which followed. The legislation of 1878 and 1890 made our monetary system topheavy and rendered the continuance of the
- ↑ Hutchins and Harrison, "A History of Factory Legislation," second edition, p. 155.
