The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-09-16

IL
thlrd is the favors which are extended 10
! IeI td!n industries or great corporations
si4"' Is franchises which are none the less
- C'eIIlinent agencies because their stock
tS OWued by private individuals. This
/ @i@sl @ ne considered serious difficulty. be-
/ ,"NSe !. II Is almost impossible TO describe
H. II IS surrounded by secrets The rem
! edy, he said was not in municinal owner
SnIp' put TO define a practical penalty. a
serious one, and then provide for public
| ny. II the proper statute is provided for
| PVohclty there will be no occasion to en-
| force the penalty
An ofleer of corporation granting a
spIOidi 4aVof to any person who has
| ISuI 10 use that possession on equal terms
| with everybody else, ought to he held
suiity OF serious felony. (Applause)
! Inc speaker, at this DO nj devoted some
'iine ie 70 afgulng that there was some JUS
tIncatlon for corr orations He believed
also IN applying The rule of publicity to
tnese. That would be a sure way to pre-
Remedy Is Publicity.
touehlng the subject OF government by
! injunction, Mr.. Cochran said:
| IT has always been to me a source of
| profound regret that while the courts
snow so much ingenuity in devislng in
functions 10 prevent corporations from be-
! ing disturbed by their employees. thew
nave not shown one-haf that ingenuity
IN devising methods 10 prevent their be-
ing robbed by their directors.
10 all thls my friends the remedy l le-
peat Is publicity. A statute which would
nodlfy but slightly, If at ALL the existing
laws OF every state, would make this spe-
| cies of fraud impossible"
Iouching another branch of his subject
Mr.. Cochran devoted some time to arguing
in favor of organizations which dominate
the market without any aid from the gov
ernment.
1 must say that any industrial organ
lzation that cheapens to me the cost Cf
something l need, 1 regard as a benefit,
and cannot possibly bring myself to
quarrel with it. l cannot quarrel with 1t
even if you call it a monopoly"
He did not believe the great Industrial
trusts have thrown anybody out of en-
ployment who deserve employment.
The Test of Prosperity.
Mr.. Cochran said that one of the most
| hopeful signs of future prosperity is the
movement Of wages upward In his judg
ment there is but one test of prosperity,
which is absolutely infallble that is the
rate of wages paid to labor. Continuing, he
sad;
Labor unions do not affect the rate of
wages much at all. think, perhaps / am
the first person who has advanced that
proposition. And yer they are OF enormous
benefit to the whole body of the commun-
ity, quite as much TO the employers as to
the laborers and it is to their protection
and in their development that we must
find and hope for that industry of peace
which means great industrial prosperity
10 which this republic is destined, 1 be-
l!eve, to affect The industrial cost and con-
ditions of the whole world"
He thought that close study and care
nj min n
that the great strikes Of this country have
arisen from the refusal Of the employees
TO discuss the question a issue between
them and their employers, with the agents
that the employers select.
From Natural Conditions.
William Dudley Foulke of Indiana spoke
ir the early part of the evening, and he
was followed by Hon. Edward Rosewater,
who said in part:
The trust is but the outgrowth Of nat
ural conditions. The trend of modern
civilization is toward Capitalization and
concentration. This tendency is strik-
ingly exhibited in the congestion of pop
ulation in large cities, the building OF
mammoth hotels, tenement blocks, sky
scraper Office buildings, the department
store and colossal manufacturing plants.
The monopolistic combination of corpor-
ate capital known as trusts have their
petition. Honestly capitalized and man
aged with due regard for the weli-being
of their employees and operated economi-
caly for the benefit of consumers of their
product these concerns are harmless With
in the past decade the trusts have how
ever, for the most part, degenerated into
combinations for stock jobbing. Nearly
every trust recently organized had Its in
centive in the irresistible temptation held
out by the professional promoter to capi-
talize competing plants at from five to
ten times their actual value. This fic-
titious capitalization constitutes the mos
dangerous element of the modern trust.
"While trusts might he reached by
single amendment to the constitution I
doubt very much whether anything could
be gained by such patchwork since the
constitution contains many other provis-
ions that would constitute a bar in effect
ing enforcement of the interstate COM
merce law. The mode of procedure for Sc
curing a single amend ment is II anything
more cumbersome and ratification thereof
more difficult to push them would he a
complete revision of the organic law Of
the land.
"If you viii examine the consti.u, you
win see it lies within the power of the
states to call a national constitutional
convention whenever two-thrds have con-
Cured in such call, whereas the ordinary
dmen1menl requires Inc NbuCdi NiiNS W
two-th rds of each of the houses OF Cen
rress which is very difficult to procure in
view of the tremendous influence exercised
over the Senate by the confederaied cor
porations.
Majority Opposed TO Trusts.
Workingmen, Socialists advocates of
the single tax theory and students OF po-
litcal economy were heard to-day at the
Civic Federation conference, on trusts and
combinations. A majority Of the speakers
vigorously opposed Industrial. financial
and transportation combinations. The
problem in its relation to the worhngmen
was discussed in all its phases.
The committee on resolutions held It's
frst meeting, and organized by electing
ex-Gov. Luce of Michigan, chairman and
Ralph NJ. Easey secretary. Ii was de-
c;ded to name a su5-committee OF five 10
receive and consider resolutions that might
be presented and report to general COM
mittee.
The morning session drew large audi
ence. but the programme was overshad-
ant In