Daily capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1896-1899, 1897-08-14
HANNA ON THE TRUSTS.

Gopi ihB hCiuy mdSN's leCpuDllCdu'I
Secretary John Sherman recently
Stated in public interview that the
question of suppressing the trusts was
the all-important one of the day. A
leading New England Republican
organ lately proclaimed similar sent.
iments and censured the senate tariff
reyisers for neglecting to deal with the
question. Ask the average voter in
the party what the one thing is about
the pending tariff measure which he
does not like, and in majority of
eases the answer will be the favor
which it shows TO the industrial mon
opolieS.
But the man best authorized Of any
20 speak for the party talks very diff
fereptly about the matter. Mr.. Sher-
man has been a great party leader,
but he now merely represents sacrI-
ice to the towering ambitions If al =
o.hcr man, aud that other man thus
proclaims and defends the party's
position relative to trusts
A great deal of this antitrust talk
Is demagoglsm, pure and simple. 1t
comes from men who do not know
What they are talking about, men
who full Of theory. but who would hOt
Know "a business operation if they
met one walking down the street.
These men who howl about trusts and
make themselves believe they are
friends of the people and that they
are winning popularity by such
course simply bow to what they think
Is a popular predjuice and make war
on the business interests. l am will
ing to go before the people of Ohio
as a senator who is courageous enough
to stand out against this prevalent
craze for calling business trust ard
attacking it through the statute
books. If they say l killed off anti
trust amendments proposed to the
tariff bill they say truly. used what
Influence l had TO put stop to in
Sincere efforts to make political cap
ital for certain people by bringing
amendments which they knew very
well had no earthly show Of passage,
but which we're designed to "put the
Republicans in hole" and give the
Democrats something to talk about
10 the coming campaign. There was
not the slightest chance of perfecting
any legislation of value concerning
trusts, and the men who brought In
these propositions knew it. We killed
off five of these buncombe amend
menls and l am proud that l helped
to do it.
So speaks Mark Hanna to repre-
tentative of the Chicago Times-Her-
AID, one of the administrations
strongest supporters.
His conception of "the business in
terests" and "the business opera
tioE" is evidently an operation by
which few men combine the plants
Engaged in any particular industry
water the capital, bind the distribut-
ing trade through the rebate and the
f,lack liSt and than aYact from the
public 10 and.20 per cent dividends on
the inflated capitalization. And this
is just about what most people would
have supposed Hanna's idea of le-
ultimate "business operation" would
be. This, he frankly admits, is one of
the "business interests" which the
pending tariff is designed to protect.
Mr.. Sherman may talk incessantly
about"the all-important question OF
the trusts" but it can be regarded
only as the inconsequential mutter-
Ing of one who has been thrust aside
10 make way for the new party lead
ership, represented in rotund person
ality who now speaks with an author
ity Mr.. Sherman meyer in his greatest
day was able TO command.
-asl.4-.-aaa----s
FoR THE KLoNDIKE.-Z. Craven |
g..