Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1899-09-20
BRYAN ON TRUSTS.
1t Is Necessary That Monopolies Be Regu-
lated BY Law.

1t Is Necessary Inat monopohes DO IseSo
lated BY Law.
The national conference in Chicago
last week on trusts came to close last
Saturday night. The developments oi
Importance were several speeches by
different prominent statesmen, includ'
ing very powerful one by Hon. VIM
j. Bryan. There was an effort to get
up joint debate between Mr.. Bryan
and Mr.. Bourke Cochran; but Mr..
Bryan would have nothing of the kind.
He is not afraid of Cochran, of course
but looks on the New Yorker as only
gas bag, without convictions of any
kind who can talk as we'll one side as
he can on the other.
Mr.. Bryan spoke at considerable
length; but it is only practicable to
give bare synopsis of his remarks.
He started out by saying that monopo-
" is indefensible from any standpoint,
and although one despot might be bet
ter than another, there can be no good
monopoly in private hands until the
Almighty sends angels to preside over
us. He protested against settling such
questions by the dollar argument; but
claimed that even if trust should sell
its products cheaper than an indlvldu-
al could sell, there are other consider
ations that would fail to justify its ex-
istence. .....
"Nothing," he said, "is more i'm
portant than that we shall in the be-
ginning rightly understand the rela-
tion between money and men. Man is
the creature of God, and money is the
servant of man, and I protest against
all theories that enthrone gold and de.
base mankind.
"If you will go about over the coun-
try you will see where people have
subscribed money to establish enter
prises, and where these enterprises,
having come under the control of the
trusts, have been closed up and stand
now as silent monuments to the Sodom
of the trust system.
"In any case of local strikes and
fires the work goes on elsewhere, thus
preventing serious loss.
"When a branch of industry is
found in the hands of one of the great
monopolies so that every skilled man
must 20 to one man for employment,
the one man fixes the wages as he
pleases and the laboring men will then
share the suffering of the man who
sells the raw material.
"I want to warn you that when the
monopoly has absolute control brains.
will be at a discount. We have not
vet had a taste of a complete trust.
But when the trust has rid itself of all
competitors, what is going to be the
result, by which, my friends, all you
have to know is human nature. God
made man selfish.
"On the farm we used to protect
property from the hogs by putting
rings in their noses. Why? So that
while they were getting fat they would
not destroy more than they were
worth. One of the great purposes of
government is to put rings in the noses
of hogs. If l were going to try to
find the root of the monopoly evil |
would 90 back to the Bible for an ex-
PLANTATION, and I would find it in the
declaration that the love of money is
the root of all evil.
"Falling prices, caused by a rising
dollar and the high tariff, have con.
tributed the desire TO secure the fruits
of the monopoly"
Mr.. Bryan argued that trusts could
not be destroyed by placing their pro.
ducts on the free list for the reason
that they could manufacture many
things as cheaply here as abroad.
There is nothing to do but to apply the
axe at the root of the tree and make
trusts impossible by law. For instance
railroads aid trusts by favorable dis
elimination aud this can be prevented
by the proper method. He thought
that congress should have the power
to put the proper restriction on cor
poration organized in one state and
desiring to do business in another, and
suggested a line of policy that be
thought might be pursued with success.
81 believe that this concurrent rem
edy will reach the difficulty, that the
people of every state shall first decide
whether they want to create corpor-
alton that they shall, secondly, decide
whether they want any outside corpor-
alton to do business in the state, and
if so upon what conditions, and third,
that congress shall exercise the right
to place upon every corporation doing
business outside of the state in which
it is organized such limitations and
restrictions as may be necessary for
the protection of the public good"
II am ready to adopt any method for
the annihilation of trusts. One that /
suggest is this: That congress should
pass law providing that no corpora
ton organized in any state should do
business outside of the state in which
it is organized until it receives from
some power created by congress H.
cense authorizing it to do business out
side of its own state. Now if the cor
poration must come to this body Gre
ated by congress to secure permission
to do business outside the state, then
that license can be granted upon con-
ditions which will in the first place pre-
vent the watering of stocks; in the
second place prevent monopoly in any
branch of business; and third, pro-
vide for publicity as to all of the trans
aat;anc nnd hncinacc af tho narnara.