The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1899-09-19

| while they were getting fat they would
not destroy more than they were worth
"One Of the great purpose of govern
ment is to put rings in the noses of
hogs. If I were going to try to find the
root Of the monopoly evil | would go
| back to the bible for an explanation,
| and / would find it in the declaration
| that the love Of money is the root Of
l all evil.
Failing prices, caused by a rising
| dollar, and the high tariff, have con-
| tributed the desire to secure the fruits
Of the monopoly.
Some have suggested that to put
everything on the free ljst~that trusts
| make, would destroy the trusts. But
do not believe that you could destroy
all trusts by putting all trust-made ar
ticles on the free list, because If an ar
ticle can be produced in this country
as cheaply as it can be produced
abroad, then the trust could exist with
out the benefit Of any tariff at all,
though it could not extort so much.
We cannot destroy monopoly until we
| lay the axe at the root Of the tree, and
make monopoly impossible by law.
Discrimination by railroads has aid
ed trusts. That can be remedied by
laws which will place producers on
equal fOOtings. But the remedy must
| be complete enough to prevent the Or
| ganizatiOn Of a monopoly. We differ
more in remedy than we do in our
opinion of the trusts. Few people will
| defend the trust as Z. principle AS to
| the remedy, both state and nation
| should have concurrent remedies. In
| the first place, every state has or
| should have the right to create any
| private corporation which is conducive
| to a welfare Of a people of that state.
/ believe that we can safely entrust
~,
| of a question which concerns them. If
they create a corporation and it be-
comes destructive of their best inter-
eStS, they can destroy that corpora
tion and we can safely trust them both
to create and to annihilate,if conditions
make annihiliaticn necessary.
I'm the second place the state has or
should have the right to prohibit any
! foreign corporation from doing busi-
| ness in the state and it ought to have
| or has the right to impose such re-
| StrictiOns and limita tionS as the people
| of the state may think necessary upon
any foreign corporation doing business
| in the state. I believe in an addition
| of state remedy, but there must be a
| federal remedy.
Congress has, or should have, the
power to place such restrictions and
limitations, even to the point Of prohi-
| bitiOn, upon any corporation organized
| in one state, that wants to do business
outside Of the state contrary to public
good.
Il believe that these concurrent rem
| edies will reach the difficulty that the
people of every state shall first decide
| whether they want to create a corpora
| ton; that they shall, secondly, decide
whether they want any outside cor
| poratiOn to do business in the state,
and if so, upon what conditions, and,
! thirdly, that congress shall exercise
the right to place upon every corpora
ton doing business outside of the state
in which it is organized, such limita-
tions and restrictions as may be neces-
sary for the protection of the public
| good"
: Colonel Bryan at this point read the
! famous circular letter advertising the
Incorporation laws of Delaware. He
commented sarcastically on advanta-
ges set forth in the letter
A person in the audience inquired:
| Delaware and New Jersey are both
| democratic. states, are they not?''
To which Mr.. Bryan replied: 'They
| were not in 1885,
He continued: 81 have read this let
| ter in order to show you that where a
| state can gain an advantage from the
! Incorporation Of these great aggrega-
| tionS of wealth, it is not safe to place
; mercies of the people of such a state
| as may desire to secure it's running ex-
I penses from the taxation of corpora
tions organized to prey upon peopls
outside.
1 Il am ready to adopt any method for
the annihilation of trusts. One that !
| suggest is this:
| providing that no corporation organ
! lied in any state should do business
y; outside of the state in which it is or
, ganized until it receives from some
| power created by congress a license
( authorizing business outside of it's own
| state. Now, if the corporation must
| come to this body created by congress
to secure permission to do business
outside the state, then that license
can be granted upon condition which
| will, in the first place, prevent the wa
tering OF stocks, in the second place,
| prevent monopoly in any branch of
| business, and, third, provide for pub
1clty as TO all OF the transactions and
| business of the corporation.
| ''If this is unconstitutional and so de-
| clared by the supreme court, I am in
| favor OF an amendment to the consti-
| tuition that will give to congress power
to destroy every trust in the country
In my judgment, when you take from
monopoly the power to issue watered
| stock you will go more than half the
| way toward destroying monopoly in
| the United States.
| "You can provide for publicity and
| that annually or at such other times
the corporations shall makes returns ot
its business or its earnings and will sc
another long step toward the destruc-
tIon Of the principle of monopoly.
! 'tBut I am not willing to stop there
and, therefore, as third condition, ]
2 f{naf nh license SflSall he 4.
ed until the corporation shows that IL
i has not had a nonnnnav and is not a Z.