Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1899-10-07
DEMOCRATS SAVED THE TRUSTS
lSt. Louis Globe-Democrat.l

But for Democratic action in Congress
stringent national law against trusts
would be in force today. Republicans
passed the law in 1890. Democrats de-
stroyed it in 1894 and defeated its re-en-
actment in 1897. The proof is easily
within reach of everyone 1t is distinctly
set forth in the laws passed by Congress
and is too plain to be disputed. In the
Mckinley tariff law 1890 was the follow
ing section: Every contract combina-
ton in the form Of trust or otherwise, or
conspiracy, in restraint of trade of COM
merce among the several states. or with
foreign nations, is hereby declared to be
Illegal" Any person engaged in such
combination was to be deemed guilty of
misdemeanor, and, on conviction, fined
not to exceed $1,000, or imprisonment for
more than one year, or both in the dis
cretion of the court. The law containing
this most sweeping provision against
trusts was passed in 1890 by a vote Of I64
to 1872 Every vote for it was Republican
and every vote against it except two, was
Democratic. 1t passed the Senate by
straight party vote of 10 to %. The only
bill ever passed by Congress in the direc-
ton of tearing up the trusts, by the roots
in every state in the Union and in every
shape and form, received almost unani-
nous Republican support and almost
unanimous Democratic opposition.
In the next Congress the Democrats
controlled both houses and proceeded to
extend to the trusts the greatest act of
friendship they have ever received from
any source. No one was more prominent
in this deed than William J. Bryan, who
was a member of the Ways and Means
Committee and one of the trainers and
champion of the Wilson tariff law of 1894.
The Wilson law killed the complete and
effective provision against trusts in the
Mckinley law substituting the following
ScCllOll, WHICH ID VI llo 1idNhSal uoS Niieft
ever: Every combination, conspiracy,
trust, agreement or contract is hereby de-
cIared illegal and void, when the same is
made by or between two or more persons
or corporations either of whom is engaged
in importing any article from any foreign
country into the United States. The
Mckinley law placed a heavy penalty
upon trusts of every kind and everywhere
in the United States; the Wilson law
swept this full safeguard away and limi-
ted the penalty to importers alone. MIR.
BRYAN worked and talked for the Wilson
bill necessarily. He and his fellow Dem
ocrats IN Congress tore down the wall
that shut out trusts, and they came troop
ing in all over the country as the result Of
the Democratic overthrow of the law Of
1890.
More than this, the Democrats in the
last Congress prevented the restoration Of
the provision against trusts in the present
or Dinglcy tariff law. The Republicans
had no majority in the Senate and Dem
ocratic Senators would not permit the an,
ti-trust clause of the Mckinley law to b.
inserted in the Dingley law. The new
Congress is Republican in both branches
For the first time since 500 Republican,
have the power to put back into tarif
law the section which they passed befor,
and which declared all trust combinations
no matter what their form or location, t,
be illegal and subject to a fine of $500,
and Imprisonment for one year. A com
parison Of the Mckinley law Of 1890 an,
the Wilson law Of 1904 will convince an,
investigator that the Democratic party
with Bryan as one Of its most prominen
, and Jealous leaders, stepped in and save
the trusts at the most critical time in the
history. The official evidence is With
the reach Of all. and it IS incontestable.
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