| Show ETHICS IN THE AIR speaking of recent graft revelations the century says that every wellin well in formed person in the community not only knew about the political contributions and suspicious lobbying of cor but some knew also of other questionable performances on tho part of the officers of the same concerns these things wera known were widely bruised bruited bruit ed were told of in the press and yet it took a picturesque and gigantic personal interior struggle to move public opinion sufficiently to set in motion the machinery ot governmental in vesti gatlon now that this baa been done with definite and startling revelations public opinion has been more and more deeply audred A reason tor the indignation dig nation excited is the discovery that along with a deliberate system of contributions to political parties and to hobbyists lobbyists for doubtful uses have been methods of business which at any time it would have been unpleasant to subject to merciless public inquiry the result is sure to be not only a reformation of business methods on the par of insurance companies but a quickening of the business con science of the whole country one straw showing the new current of thought among men of business turned up in tho newspapers the other day when the chairman of one of our largest corporations who himself was said to he a director of some forty others declared we have no right to neglect our duties as directors and I 1 for one intend to give more attention to the affairs of this company in the auturo than I 1 have in tha past one most desirable result within sight is the passage of laws assuring publicity in the use of money in elections and another is tha prevention of the deflection of corporate profits especially those which are in the nature ot trust funds into political channels these new regulations not long ago seemed to be coming very slowly but soon we hhall perhaps see legislators with public opinion af their heels in the form of aroused constituencies uen cies scrambling over one another to vote for these long cherished schemes these distant dreams of pestilent reformers abat with reform political movements in various cities and states the patent medicine exposures and the investigations into the affairs of large corporations there is a good deal of ethics in the air just now |
