The Topeka state journal., 1899-09-13
AGREE AS TO MENACE
Mr.. White Says There Is as
Much Danger In Agitation
Against the Trusts as In the
Trusts Themselves.
Ex-senator WaShburn Sees q
Great Danger.

ence to be held in Chicago this week.
have sent to The Times-Herald in ad-
vance brief expressions of their views on
the subject of trusts.
The letters were received in response to
a circular letter sent out in which the
three following questions were asked:
l. Are trusts menace or benefit to
,. should they be placed under federal
contrOl2
g. Do you deem constitutional amend
ment necessary
The answers have run the whole gamut
OF feeling and opinion on the subject.
trusts to conservatives discussion of the
immediate problems of legislation The
savings that trusts occasion in the pro-
cess of production and the injustice in
distribution which often accompanies
them have been pointed out, and sug-
gestions of remedies in most cases ten
tatiVe, are made. The letters are the
wi viii = 'a be heard a in me Chicaygo Before the - aes
sions of the conference come to close .
Kansas men:
WILLIAM ALLEN WHITE,
Editor of The Gazette, EmPoria,. Kan.
There is no doubt that combinations of
capital are susceptible to the same temp
tations which lure individuals into viola
Because man is rich and votes in a
from b9vina t6e Instincts Of nirate and
/ the other hand does It follow as a con-
sequence of his wealth that he shah rest
under suspicion of every crime in the cal
endar.
with trusts is not at all sensational nor
an exciting. way, but on the other hand,
a matter of fact, commonplace huIndrum
way. 1t is to make the director Of the
trust or combination obey the common
laws regulating larceny, and to protect
him in his common, ordinary, every day
rights. When the director Of a trust be-
comes a bandit he should be treated as
a bandit. and while he is law-abiding
citizen, doing nothing more criminal than
the money actually invested, he should
I best dollar.
difference between the common sense way
of handling the trusts and the way which
the political agitators would handle the
trusts is best illustrated by the two Kan
sas farmers who had unruly colts. The
Republican farmer broke his colt in by
method known and approved since the
the Popuiist farmer beat his colt to death
with a neck yoke and then went up. and
down the land lament1ng because OF the
scarcity of horses to haul his crops.
There is as much danger in the agita-
gogue. Who is just as menacing to good
go1ernment as the wrong itself The
trust is bogie man, which may be used
man win not be killed by the sensational
| agitators who tell the story Of raw head
hind the pack at the death.
The trust is business question which
will be settled by business men in a busi-
ness way, operating under the well-known
laws of business, which are independent
of all legislatures, congresses, principali-
ties and powers.
J. K CUBBISON,
TAttorney, Kansas City, Kansas.1
There are many good results which viii
follow the organization of the so-called
trusts, many benefits for the people gen
/ orally and the laboring class in particular
but there IS one great menace 70 ine Peo-
pie. and that is monopoly. No legislation,
encourage the formation OF trusts; they
are here and the benefits have arrived
organization of the trust as sure as dark
ness follows daylight. unless restrained
by law. What restraint is necessary or
how shall it be applied is the question of
the hour, and as understand 1t. the pur-
cuss that proposition. All trusts are cor
porations, and all corporations are the
creatures of some particular state.
No legislation by the states can control
and restrain the trusts, because once
created they yn e9n 4Perabte abtan in all states and I'd
Hesitation in al states, 4seil1 consequently 1,s
national legislation Congress has no
power at this time to control by legisla-
ton the creation and operation of corpor-
ations. An amendment to the federal
constitution is necessary to the proper
solution of this question, and that will
take years. What is a temporary solution
of the question:
I am a Republican and a firm believer
preserves the American market to the
American manufactures and the Ameri-
can workmen, put II the american manu-
facturers combine to control the Ameri-
protection to the monopoly should be re-
moved by placing the product controlled
by the monopoly on the Tree list, thus
permitting competition by foreign manu-
facturers.
An act of congress giving the president
authority to place on the free list any ar
ticle of product manufactured or prOduc-
ed by monopoly could be passed within
procedure has practically been followed
in the reciprocity provisions of the tariff
This remedy is not ample, adequate and
complete but it is temporary expedient
which might be followed pending the
adoption of an amendment to the federal
institution
In connection with the trust question
the New York Tribune prints the follow
Washburn of Minnesota, head of the ex-
tensive Touring milling interests In Min
''Tshe present situation to the good citi-
zen, the good Republican and the man
who loves his country IS really alarming,
and it is more largely owing to the rapid
than to any other agency. First, this
trust craze has changed the whole nature
When I was a young mani am now
6S-I had the world before me. and there
an of our most successful business men
of today and their experiences were like
mine They entered the race without
handicap and their grit and capacity won
Now. this building up of trusts puts
stop to fair and equal opportunities for
the young men or today The young man
iust out of college has no opening as
g. He can not begin business on his
so-n account against organized capital.
He must join the procession. He must
content himself with being a mere clerk,
and the chances are that he will never ger
in his class. This makes the situation a
serious one, and I am sorry. for the
situation. and I'm sure of what I am
saying .y,rbs present industrial tendency
amounts to almost a craze for trusts.
There is hardly anything in the indus