The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-04-15
Problem Should Not be Made the Foot
 hnl nf Enlficians.

| uhAl Ol
 New York, April 14-The announce
 rnent that Governor Hagen S. Pingree
 or Michigan was to speak tonight un- der the auspices of the Peoples insti-
 tute in Cooper Union Hall attracted an immense gathering. His subject was
 Trusts" and he said in part: There 1 is no more important problem before l the people to-day that the trust and I what to do with it. Is it a menace to
 cur commercial institutions Does it
 imperil our national life and character? Should it be made a legal outlaw or
 merely be regulated by law? Can the problem be solved with equal justice to
 capital and labor? Like all questions
 it has two sides, and both must be
 fairly stated. It cannot be solved by | denunciations on the part of those who 1 believe in drastic measures. On the
 other hand, the manipulators or mana | gers of trusts cannot quiet the public clamor by looking on with what are | you going to do about it attitude.
 'The Christian religion given to the world has given mankind spiritual free
 dom The emancipation proclamation
 gave man physical freedom. Industrial
 freedom is now demanded by nine tenths of the worlds population. The trust creates conditions more serious
 than any our people ever faced, slav- cry and secession alone excluded. It may be the plans of some people to push the trust into the background and treat the problem of imperialism and expansion as the only issue of the day. But, ignoring the industrial evil means either shielding the trusts or planning to profit politically on an artificial en- thusiasm over war and new posses sions.
 "The trust of the present day is tech- nically not a combine of many corpo- rations. It is one huge corporation. The corporations whose property it has swallowed have dissolved and gone out of existence. In this way the trust of to-d day seeks to avoid the antitrust law
 q believe that the trust problem should not be made the football of poli- ticians and political parties. I think all parties should make common war against it. DO not think that I am pre-
 
 judiced if I suggest that the trust evil might be cured if all of the other states should extend an invitation to New Jersey to secede from the union. This, however would be embarrassing just now. Our vice president and attor- ney general are both citizens of New Jersey I am confident that the people of the United States are suffering from the operations of the trusts and would | raise no objection if New Jersey should 1 with such an invitation" Con- | tinuing, Governor Pingree outlined his l belief in government and municipal | ownership of public utilities, state su pervison and limitation of corporations | which will do much to rid the country | of the trust evil It can at least pre- vent the watering of stock and the crea- ton of excessive bonded indebtedness.
 'This subject of the proper regulation or prevention of the trust is very se- rious one. It must be dealt with in a spirit of respect for property rights Above all, let us remember that life, lib- erty and the pursuit of happiness are in- finitely more important to the welfare of our country than the interests of in- wealth of all it's people"