The San Francisco call., 1899-09-17

accord with our dignity as a. people, or
| in accordance with the rights Of the peo
pie TO say because a great corporation Is
organized that therefore 1t should be per-
mitted to go into the field of a new cor
porauon. undersell 1t until It bankrupts s
it, raising the money by higher prices
| somewhere else. 1 do not think it is neces-
sary for US to do that. have only suggest
ed plan. 1t may not be the best plan.
If there is any amendment that you can
think of that will improve 1t suggest 1t.
l am anxious to accept anything.
Let me suggest one other thing that l
believe will be a step in the right dtrec-
ton. The great trouble has been that
while our platforms denounce corpora
and place under obligation to them the
men who are elected to enforce the law.
(Applause.)
Let me propose remedy-not a remedy.
but step, l think, in the right direction.
Let the laws, State and national, make IT
penal offense for any corporation to
contribute to the campaign fund or any
political party. CONTINUED cheers and ap,,
plauseD Nebraska has such a law passed
two years ago. Such law was passed.
or was introduced, in the State of New
York, but so far it has not reached the
stage of actual law in the State of New
York. Qaughter)
direction. You remember the testimony
taken before a Senate committee few
years ago.. when the head of the sugar
trust testified that the sugar trust made
it its business to contribute to campaign
funds, and when asked to which it con-
tributed 1t replied that 1t depended upon
circumstances. ITO which one do you
contribute in MASSACHUSETTS,? was asked.
To the Republican fund; TO which
fund in New New York; ITO the DemocratJi,c;
and the man says, "Wen, 1 will have to
look at the books; that is a doubtful
State" Continued laughter and ap-
Now, that is almost literal reproduc-
ton of the testimony of one great cor
poTation on the subject of campaign CON
tribution. do not mean to say that that
remedy would be a complete one. but l
believe that If you prevent a corporation
from contributing. to, campaign funds
toward better legislation, because some
corporations are compelled to contribute.
They are blackmailed into contributions,
and such q law would protect a corpora
ton that did not want to contribute and
also prevent a corporation from contrib
uting that did want to contribute. If
| the people are in earnest they can do 1t,
and you can never do anything in this
country until the people are in earnest,
and when the American people under
stand what the monopoly question means
L believe that there VIII be no power,
political, financial, or otherwise. 10 pre-
| vent the people from taking possession
of every branch of the government from
President to the Supreme Court and max
ing the Government responsible to the
peoples will. Great cheers and ap-
| plause.)
At the conclusion of Colonel Bryan's
| address Bourke Cochran arose and
started to speak from his seat in the
hall, but in response to cheers and calls
to Come to the 'front.'" he took the
| platform. Mr.. Cochran said in part:
| Just one moment while I express my
| complete concurrence in much that Mr..
| Bryan has said. If there be a monopoly
that oppresses, believe that there is no
vision of government, there is no power
on earth against these people redressing
wrong when it becomes wrong.
! The question to which L think the at
tention of this conference should be di-
rected is whether this one exists and
where it is.
Now, who is hurt and where? Where
has this octopus got possession of some
! body? On whom is 1t acting? Where is
| its lair? | am free to confess that when
you call an aggregation of capital-a COM
bination-a hydra-headed monster-an oc-
topus-it don't cast any light upon 1t that
illumines my pathway. | can understand
how the use of these phrases can have
some effect, as nothing frightens people
so much as incomprehensiye names Let
understand and we will all be looking out
of the windows.
physical flight by the terrifying noises Of
sound. What is that we hear? Are we
doing pretty well? Well, we have had
have been telling US that wages are
higher to-day than they ever have been.
Certainly they do not seem to suffer. We
want, but we want the man. Well, what
is the purpose of the dollar if not to
| improve the condition of the man?
| Uaughter.)
If you want competition, must not some
body succeed in it? VIII you suppress the
man because he excels another so far that
he constitutes monopoly? Are you GO
ing TO place limits upon excellency? We
seem to have Grifted into an atmosphere
of bigness concerning what is called the
evil of monopoly. Now there has been no
evil given that has been attributed to
monopoly here, against which, If 1t exist
ed I would not be entitled under the BAN
ner of those to suppress it. If 1T be an
evil thing-if you can show evil upon it
l do not hesitate to adopt Mr.. Bryan's
remedy.
this morning, the fact that we have not
seen the evils of this monopoly yet, why
then, / say, you are simply creating
fanciful picture; your excessive affection
for your fellows has conjured grade Of
evils that exist only in your brain.
If we realize for the moment that this
is an age of improvement, that the condi-
tions Of men are growing better and bet
ter we ought to hesitate while before
we change to take the side, maybe, for
one of fanciful experiments.
Great cheering greeted the conclu-
sion of Mr.. Cockran's speech. General
discussion was then resumed. Ex-Sen-
ator Blair of New Hampshire and
William Writ Howe of New Orleans
read short papers. Soon after, on the
motion of Congressman John w. Gains
of Tennessee, the conference passed a
vote of thanks to the Civic Federation
for the courtesy shown the visiting
delegates.
The conference then adjourned sine
die.