The San Francisco call., 1899-09-23
THE ST. LOUIS RESOLUTIONS.

IRON the antitrust conference at St. Louis the
| public gets about what it expected-a set of
resolutions denouncing trusts in good set terms
and demanding the enactment and enforcement by
the several States and the nation OF legislation that
shall adequately and fully define as crimes any at
tempted monopoization restraint of trade in any
line of industrial activity with provisions for adequate
punishment, both of the individual or the corporation
that shall be found guilty thereof punishment to the
corporation to the extent OF dissolution"
Among the of remedial legislation proposed are
provision for publicity in corporate business along
lines similar to those recommended by Bourke Cock
at Chicago the subection in every State OF foreign
corporations to the same laws as are imposed upon
those incorporated within the State the prevention Of
one corporation from having another corporation
one of its constituent parts oro owning controlling
the stock OF another corporation engaged in the same
or a competing business the prevention OF corpora
ton from doing business in any State when it is a
member OF pool trust in another State, and the
requirement that all capital stock OF private corpora
tons must be fully paid up
None OF these suggestions and several OF
them have been long under discussion In particular
public sentiment has long been in favor Of devising
some means Of remedying the evil which has resulted
from permitting corporation to obtain charter in
State for the purpose of evadng the laws OF the
State which It purposes to do most OF its business
The Southern Pacific Company OF Kentucky has
made the people Of California fairly familiar with the
gross abuses which be made of that privilege Of
our law, and OF the importance Of providing some
means of preventing them.
On that issue the conference adopted two declara-
tons One calls for the enactment by each State of
laws that will prevent the entrance OF any foreign
created corporation into its limits for any other pur-
pose than interstate commerce. except terms that
will put the foreign-created corporation basis
OF equality with the domestic-created corporation of
the State entered and subject to the laws rules
and regulations Of the State that it enters which are
applicable the domestic corporations of that State
The second calls for the enactment of legislation pro-
viding that corporation created in State do
business exclusively in other States than when ere
ated shall be prohibited from admission into any State.
The second class Of legislation demanded would be
body blow at the Southern Pacific for that company
is one Of the corporations created by the State of
Kentucky with the provision that shall not do bust
ness in Kentucky.
AS the who attended the conference are law
yers it is fair to that the legislation they
recommend would be constitutional if properly drawn
up. 1t would therefore be worth while for the States
to put of the less radical among them to the test.
An act preventing corporations from being organ
lied fictitious capital for example, might go far
toward checking the tendency toward fraud and undue
speculation which is so notable in the East.
Such laws Of course would prevent trusts but they
might correct some of the abuses which have grown
out OF the corporation system of doing business.