I
hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations
which dare already to challenge our government in a trial of strength, and bid
defiance to the laws of our country.
Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), 3-rd President (1801–1809) Letter to George Logan, 1816
The
selfish spirit of commerce... knows no country, and feels no passion
or principle but that of gain.
Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), 3-rd President (1801–1809) Letter to Larkin Smith, 1809
Merchants
have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute
so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gain.
Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), 3-rd President (1801–1809) Letter to Horatio G. Spafford, 1814
There
is an evil which ought to be guarded against in the indefinite
accumulation of property from the capacity of holding it in perpetuity by
corporations. The power of all corporations ought to be limited in this
respect. The growing wealth acquired by them never fails to be a source of
abuses.
James Madison (1751–1836), 4-th President (1809–1817)
In
this point of the case the question is distinctly presented whether the
people of the United States are to govern through representatives chosen by
their unbiased suffrages or whether the money and power of a great corporations
are to be secretly exerted to influence their judgment and control their
decisions.
The
territorial aristocracy of former ages was either bound by law, or thought
itself bound by usage, to come to the relief of its serving-men, and to relieve
their distress. But the manufacturing aristocracy of our age first
impoverishes and debases the men who serve it, and then abandons them to be
supported by the charity of the public.
I
am more than ever convinced of the dangers to which the free and unbiased
exercise of political opinion — the only sure foundation and safeguard of
republican government — would be exposed by any further increase of the already
overgrown influence of corporate authorities.
The
shepherd drives the wolf from the sheep's throat, for which the sheep thanks
the shepherd as his liberator, while the wolf denounces him for the same act as
the destroyer of liberty.
We
may congratulate ourselves that this cruel war is nearing its end. It
has cost a vast amount of treasure and blood... It has indeed been a
trying hour for the Republic; but I see in the near future a crisis approaching
that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country.
As
a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption
in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to
prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth
is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.
I
feel at this moment more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever before,
even in the midst of war. God grant that my suspicions may prove
groundless.
As
we view the achievements of aggregated capital, we discover the existence of
trusts, combinations, and monopolies, while the citizen is struggling far in the
rear or is trampled to death beneath an iron heel. Corporations, which
should be the carefully restrained creatures of the law and the servants of the
people, are fast becoming the people's masters.
I
again recommend a law prohibiting all corporations from contributing to the
campaign expenses of any party. Let individuals contribute as they desire;
but let us prohibit in effective fashion all corporations from making
contributions for any political purpose, directly or indirectly.
The
fortunes amassed through corporate organization are now so large, and vest
such power in those that wield them, as to make it a matter of necessity to give
to the sovereign — that is, to the Government, which represents the people as a
whole — some effective power of supervision over their corporate use. In
order to insure a healthy social and industrial life, every big corporation
should be held responsible by, and be accountable to, some sovereign strong
enough to control its conduct.
Behind
the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no
allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. To destroy
this invisible government, to befoul the unholy alliance between corrupt
business and corrupt politics is the first task of the statesmanship of the day.
It
is imperative to exercise over big business a control and supervision which
is unnecessary as regards small business. All business must be conducted
under the law, and all business men, big or little, must act justly. But a
wicked big interest is necessarily more dangerous to the community than a wicked
little interest. 'Big business' in the past has been responsible for much
of the special privilege which must be unsparingly cut out of our national life.
The
important thing is this: that, under such government recognition as we may
give to that which is beneficent and wholesome in large business organizations,
we shall be most vigilant never to allow them to crystallize into a condition
which shall make private initiative difficult. It is of the utmost
importance that in the future we shall keep the broad path of opportunity just
as open and easy for our children as it was for our fathers during the period
which has been the glory of America's industrial history...
We
stand for the rights of property, but we stand even more for the rights of
man. We will protect the rights of the wealthy man, but we maintain that
he holds his wealth subject to the general right of the community to regulate
its business use as the public welfare requires.
For
out of this modern civilization economic royalists carved new
dynasties. New kingdoms were built upon concentration of control over
material things. Through new uses of corporations, banks and securities,
new machinery of industry and agriculture, of labor and capital — all undreamed
of by the Fathers — the whole structure of modern life was impressed into this
royal service.
The
first thing to understand is the difference between the natural person and
the fictitious person called a corporation. They differ in the purpose for
which they are created, in the strength which they possess, and in the
restraints under which they act.
A
corporation has no rights except those given it by law. It can exercise
no power except that conferred upon it by the people through legislation, and
the people should be as free to withhold as to give, public interest and not
private advantage being the end in view.
The
test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those
who have too much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too
little.
It
was natural and perhaps human that the privileged princes of these new
economic dynasties, thirsting for power, reached out for control over government
itself. They created a new despotism and wrapped it in the robes of legal
sanction. In its service new mercenaries sought to regiment the people,
their labor, and their property. And as a result the average man once more
confronts the problem that faced the Minute Man.
The
royalists of the economic order have conceded that political freedom was the
business of the government, but they have maintained that economic slavery was
nobody's business. They granted that the government could protect the
citizen in his right to vote, but they denied that the government could do
anything to protect the citizen in his right to work and his right to
live.
Today
we stand committed to the proposition that freedom is no half-and-half
affair. If the average citizen is guaranteed equal opportunity in the
polling place, he must have equal opportunity in the market place.
These
economic royalists complain that we seek to overthrow the institutions of
America. What they really complain of is that we seek to take away their
power. Our allegiance to American institutions requires the overthrow of
this kind of power. In vain they seek to hide behind the flag and the
Constitution. In their blindness they forget what the flag and the
Constitution stand for. Now, as always, they stand for democracy, not
tyranny; for freedom, not subjection; and against a dictatorship by mob rule and
the over-privileged alike.
It's
a recession when your neighbor loses his job.
It's
a depression when you lose yours.
Harry Truman (1884–1972), 33-rd President (1945–1953)
Democracy
maintains that government is established for the benefit of the
individual, and is charged with the responsibility of protecting the individual,
and is charged with the responsibility of protecting the rights of the
individual and his freedom in the exercise of his abilities. Democracy is
based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as
well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with reason and justice.
Harry Truman (1884–1972), 33-rd President (1945–1953)
In
the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of
unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial
complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists
and will persist.
We
must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or
democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an
alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge
industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and
goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.