The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-12-06

@ ry klnu Of combination In the natur f of a trust or monopoly in restraint o 9 interstate or international commerce. : The prosecution by the United State of offenses under the act Of 1890 hai been frequently resorted to In the fed
 eral courts and notable efforts In th
 restraint of interstate commerce, sucf < as the trans Missouri freight associa-
 ton and the Joint Traffic association
 have been successfully opposed ant
 suppressed
 President Cleveland. in his annua , message of December [, 1S96-more thar
 six years subsequent to the enactment
 of this law-after stating the evils ol these trust combinations, says:
 Though congress has attempted C
 deal with this matter by legislation
 the laws passed for that purpose thus
 far have proved ineffective, not because
 of any lack of disposition or attempt to
 enforce them but simply because the
 laws themselves as interpreted by the
 courts do not reach the difficulty. If
 the lnsufficiencies Of existing laws car
 be remedied by further legislation, il
 should be done. The fact must be re- . tOShilLu, iipNC htl, llleil eiil ltNtEdl itS lS-
 lation on this subject may fall short of
 it's purpose because of inherent obsta- cles, and also because of the complex
 character of our governmental system
 which, while making the federal au-
 thorlty supreme within its sphere, has
 carefully limited that sphere by metes
 and bounds which cannot be trans
 eressed. The decision of our highest
 court on. this precise question renders
 1t quite doubtful whether the evils of l trusts and monopolies. can be adequate ly treated through federal action unless
 they Seek directly and purposely to in-
 clude in their objects transportation or intercourse between states or between
 the United States and foreign coun-
 tries.
 Tt does not follow, however, that this IS limit of the remedy that may be ap-
 plled. Even though It may be found that federal authority is not broad
 enough to fully reach the case there
 can be no doubt of the power of the several states to act effectively in the
 premises and there should be no reason TO doubt their willingness to tudclouslv exercise such power"
 The state legislation to which I,resi. 1dent Cleveland looked for relief from the evils of trusts has failed to ac. complish fully that object. This is probably due to great extent to tbn Iact that different states take differ ent views as to the proper way to dis crlminate between evil ond iniurious combinations and those associations Which are beneficial and necessary to the business prosperity of the country Ihe great diversity of treatment in dif ferent states arising from this cause and the intimate relations of all parts or the country to each other without regarding state lines in the conduct of business have made the enforcement of state laws difficult. l
 It IS apparent that uniformity of leg lslation upon this subect in the sev- eral states is much to be desired. It ia | to be hoped that such uniformity rounded in wise and just discrimina, tlon between what is injurious and | what is useful and necessary in busi- | ness operations may be obtained and that means may be found for the con gress within the limitations of It's con. stltutional power to so supplement an code of state legislation as to make complete system of laws the United States adequate to compel a general observance of the salutary rules to which have referred.
 The whole question is so important and far-reaching that I am sure no part of 1t will be lightly considered, but eve ry phase of it will have the studied de- liberation of the congress, resulting in wise and judicious action
 A review of our relations with for egn states Is presented with such re- concentrations as are deemed appro- priate. N
 The long pending boundary dispute between the Argentine Republic and Chile was settled in March last by the award of an arbltral commission, on which the United States minister at Buenos Ayres served as empire
 Progress has been made toward the of convention Gf extradi- ion with the Argentine Republic. Hav- ( ng been advised and consented to by he United States senate and ratified { y Argentina, it only awaits the ad- , ustment of some slight changes in the f ext before exchange. f In my last annual message advert f d to the claim of the Austro- Hunga- f ia government for indemnity for the r lilllng of certain Austrian and Hungar- ! an subjects by the authorities of the 4 tate of Pennsylvania, at Lattimer, V while suppressing an unlawful tumult I f miners, September 10, 1897. In view r f the verdict of acquttal rendered by I he court before which tho sheriff and c is deputies were tried for murder and the established doctrine that ( he government may not be held &C., f ountable for injuries suffered by in- Il ividuals at the hands of the public au- 2 horities while acting in the line of du- t y in suppressing disturbance of the I ublic peace, this government, after It ue consideration of the claim advanc- l. d by the Austro- Hungarian govern r lent, was constrained to decline liabil- 2 y to indemnify the sufferers. W It is gratifying to be able to announce f. nat the Belgian government has miti- c ated the restrictions on the importa- on of cattle from the United States, ,. , which I referred in my last annual " lessage.
 Having been invited by Belgium to = anticipate in a congress held at Brus- V 4ls to revise the provisions of the r