Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 84.djvu/194

190 ills that may ensue grossly exaggerated. The consequence is that much-needed reforms are sometimes delayed and the temper of the public tried until the foundation of the business order is undermined. It is not far from the truth to assert that certain opponents of the "Roosevelt policies" unwittingly contributed more to bring about the panic of 1907 than did the utterances of Mr. Roosevelt himself. The movement for railway control has made headway in the face of the most pigheaded opposition. A good deal of the time of the conservative reformer is taken up with denying allegations which he has no thought of entertaining. Mr. Lincoln, in the course of one of his debates with Douglas, said:

The foresight with which men of affairs are commonly credited often fails them when it comes to dealing with public opinion. This appeared in the tactless manner in which the coal operators treated the public during the anthracite strike. According to The Commercial and Financial Chronicle, the New Haven management in the acquisition of trolley lines in no wise strengthened the system, but laid itself open to the charge of trying to establish a transportation monopoly. The fact that the business magnate frequently turns out to be a poor strategist in his relations with the public is no occasion for surprise. Intent on furthering the particular interests with which he is entrusted, he is apt to lose sight of the public interest and to do things which end in bringing down upon him a storm of popular disapproval. Positions of command tend to beget an undue sense of power and a supercilious attitude in one's relations with his fellows. The masterful spirit is often overbearing. The head of a large railway, industrial combination or public service corporation in a large city should be enough of a statesman to understand what the public wants as well as what is good for the general welfare, and in a democracy the man who feels that he belongs to a superior class is unable to understand his fellow men and is incapacitated for this service.

Sixthly, political agitation that is sane and efficient makes for business stability, or at least any ill effects are temporary and are far outweighed by the good effects that abide. It is easy enough to understand why bankers and others who deal with such a sensitive thing as credit view anything that unsettles business with alarm, but there is less excuse for failure to see that the cause of unsettled business is not the agitation which issues out of grievances but the grievances themselves. Reform that is genuine and real is the foundation of enduring prosperity. So