A good way to begin to
regulate corporations would be to stop them from regulating us.
The sober fact is that here is the imminent battle-ground in the endless
contest for the rights of the people. Nothing that can be said or done
will suffice to postpone longer the active phases of this fight; and
that is why I attach so great importance to the attitude of
administrative officers in protecting the public welfare in the
enforcement of the law.
From time to time a few strong leaders have tried to unite the people in
the fight of the many for the equal opportunities to which they are
entitled. But the people have only just begun to take this fight, in
earnest. They have not realized until recently the vital importance and
far-reaching consequences of their own passive position.
Now that the fight is passing into an acute stage it is easily seen that
the special interests have used the period of public indifference to
manoeuvre themselves into a position of exceeding strength. In the first
place, the Constitutional position of property in the United States is
stronger than in any other nation. In the second place, it is well
understood that the influence of the corporations in our law-making
bodies is usually excessive, not seldom to the point of defeating the
will of the people steadily and with ease.
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