Presidential addresses and state papers, Volume 4 (of 7)Roosevelt, Theodore
History
Presidential addresses and state papers, Volume 4 (of 7)
Roosevelt, Theodore
Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919; United States -- Politics and government -- 1901-1909
Undoubtedly there is need of regulation by the Government, in the
interest of the public, of these great corporations which in
modern life have shown themselves to be the most efficient business
implements, and which are, therefore, the implements commonly employed
by the owners of large fortunes. The corporation is the creature of the
State. It should always be held accountable to some sovereign, and this
accountability should be real and not sham. Therefore, in my judgment,
all corporations doing an interstate business, and this means the great
majority of the largest corporations, should be held accountable to the
Federal Government, because their accountability should be coextensive
with their field of action. But most certainly we should not strive to
prevent or limit corporate activity. We should strive to secure such
effective supervision over it, such power of regulation over it, as
to enable us to guarantee that its activity will be exercised only in
ways beneficial to the public. The unwisdom of any well-meaning but
misguided effort to check corporate activity has been shown in striking
fashion in recent years by our experience in the Philippines and in
Porto Rico. Our national legislators very properly determined that the
islands should not be exploited by adventurers without regard to the
interests of the people of the islands themselves. But unfortunately in
their zeal to prevent the islands from being improperly exploited they
took measures of such severity as to seriously, and in some respects
vitally, to hamper and retard the development of the islands. There is
nothing that the islands need more than to have their great natural
resources developed, and these resources can be developed only by
the abundant use of capital, which, of course, will not be put into
them unless on terms sufficiently advantageous to offer prospects of
good remuneration. We have made the terms not merely hard, but often
prohibitory, with the result that American capital goes into foreign
countries, like Mexico, and is there used with immense advantage to
the country in its development, while it can not go into our own
possessions or be used to develop the lands under our own flag. The
chief sufferers by this state of things are the people of the islands
themselves.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account