The record-union., 1899-04-27
VOICE Of THE PRESS.
EXTRACTS FROM EDITORIAL
EXPRESSIONS.
State and Coast Opinions on Sub
jects of Living News
Interest.


lay down his arms if the United States
will pay him for the services he rem
dered the Americans in fighting the
Spaniards. tt might be worth while to
buy the insurgent leader off, but, as
shown sin his deal with Spain a few
years ago, he can not be depended on
to stay bought
SELF. ELECTED MENTORS.
Stockton Record: While self elected
mentors of the American people are ad-
vocating or even favoring an Anglo
American alliance, they should not for
get Samoa. An entangling foreign al
lance in the interest of few-s- very
ifew-American traders has brought the
country to the verge Of war. Had this
country left John Bull and Hanswurst
Wilhelm to fight over Samoan trade it
would not now be plagued by grave
international complications.
AN ANTITRUST LAW.
Fresno Republican: Arkansas has
''bit off more than she can chew with
an antitrust law which has already
driven the fire insurance companies out
of the State, and can plainly be used to
destroy all labor; unions as we'll. There
| is trouble to follow from any merely
demagogic interference with trusts. 1t
is only the other fellows trust that Is
reprehensible, and it is always difficult
to frame law that shall define who is
the other fellow. A combination o.
farmers to raise the price of their pro-
ducts, or of laborers to raise the price
of labor, enlists public sympathy, be-
cause a large part of the public is COM
posed of farmers and laborers, but a
com bination of large manufacturers to
raise the price of their product meets
with public eXecration, because only, a
small part of the public is composed of
large manufacturers. Any attempt to
prohibit the one in general terms Is
sure to prohibit the other. All of which
only goes to show that the remedy for
trusts is not in such restrictive legisla-
| ton as is inspired bN demagogic hatred
but only in an intelligent study of the
problem by men who know how to find
out the truth.
AN OBEDIENT PRESS.
Stockton Independent: The More
house signature law takes effect and Is
applica bic to every publication in this
State. 1t provides that every article
that is defamatory to the living or
tends to blacken the memory of the
dead shall be signed by the name of
the writer 1t does not specify Mbelous
articles. because it is clearly the intent
of the law to- fix the authorship and re-
sponsibility of articles Of a personal ma
ture. 1t does not change the penalties
for libel, but makes it mandatory Oh
publishers to print the name of the
author along with the article. 1t is
quite clear, therefore, that publishers
who ignore the law are violating it's uu-
mistakable provisions.
The penalty for publishing an article
of a defamatory nature without a sig
nature is fixed at 81. goo, of which 5000
will go to the informer, the one who
makes the complaint. In these days.
when the daily newspaper reproduces
the vital news of the day from the
transactions Of the local Polio Court to
the acts of the chief executive Of the
nation. it is absolutely impossible to
avoid articles of a personal and defar.-
atory nature. AS it is rather too diff
ficult a matter to discriminate or Judge
hastily as the news is prepared, the
independent" has adopted the general
rule of publishing signatures along with
all local articles Editorial articles are
less they contain statements that would
come under the law The '.Independ-
emit" was the first daily paper in the
State, so far as we have learned, TO
comply with the provisions of the law,
which it did the day before the law
went into effect.
THE DEMOCRACY.
Santa Ana Blade: The Democratic
party seems to have more than its
share of troubles throughout the State
and entire country. In California, FOR
instance, the party is in fine % shape
to make n winning fight. With stephen
NJ White, who is probably the ablest
Democrat il California, denounclng
expansion as all that is bad, and
lot of other party leaders, together with
the San Francisco Examiner" loudly
proclaiming that it is all that is good,
the lack of harmony is plainly, even
painfully, apparent.
TRUSTS UNDER STATE LAWS.
Los Angeles Times: Congress has au-
thority to regulate commerce between
the States 1t has not chosen to show
that it has the power-therefore we
have the comparative failure, the inter
state commerce law. But Congress has
no power to prescribe the condition I'M
der which a corporation created under
the laws of one State may do business,
as a. corporation; in another State Thus
Congress may regulate the condition
under which a California corporation
may send its goods, or products to Ore
gon, but it cannots regulate the condl-
lions under which that corporation may
go to Oregon and transact business IN
that State Each State creating cor
poration has absolute control of that
corporation; and each State admitting
a corporation created by the laws or
another State into its own jurisdiction
has absolute power over the conditions
under which that corporation may do
business within it's territory. These
facts have an important bearing on the
trust question. The situation in meas
ure ties the hands of Congress, because
each State must solve for itself the
question of the right to have trust
created within it's borders, or the right
of an outside trust to do business with
in it's territory.
SAVE THE GAME BIRDS.
San Diego Union: 1t is high time
vigorous agitation Were begun for the
protection of the game birds of Cali
fornia There are State laws and coun-
ty ordinances, but each year the fact
becomes more manifest that they are
Intellectual The birds are becoming
scarcer, and if market hunters are al
lowed to continue their work of ex-
termination the time is not far distant
when a good days shooting will not
be obtainable within fifty miles of the