Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1899-03-21

some remedial legislation be applied
before II is too late. The Chicago
| Times-Herald of this morning, for
instance, asserts its own position, and
that of the other paper referred to
when under the caption, The Pro-
tective Tariff Must not Protect
Trusts it says:
| Under the misleading title of the
| The Trust Oligarchy' the st. Paul
Pioneer Press has a pertinent and
timely appeal to the republican party
to take the initiative in dealing with
| those great trade com binations that
take advantage of our revenue laws to
strangle competition and enhance
prices. Not counting those great
trusts that came into existence prior
to 1898, such as the Standard oil, the
American Sugar refinery, the Ameri-
| can Tobacco company and many 9TH
ers, it estimates that the past II
months have witnessed the formation
of no less than so trusts with an az
gregate capitalization of over 81, OOO,-
| 900, 900. While we do not share in
our contemporary rather hysterlcal
view of the terrible portent of these
aggregations of capital as 'devouring
| monsters mammoth monopolies.'
and as constituting monstrous oil
garchy of monopoly we do be-
lieve that wherever they stitle COM
petition and enhance prices to the
consumer they should be regarded as
inimicaI to public policy and should
| be shown no mercy by courts or legis-
| latures. How far trust or com bina-
ton which relies solely upon
the natural and economic forces
of organization and capital to in
crease and cheaper production, and
which results in supplying a better
article at lower cost than could be
produced under competitive condi-
tons, may be justified is question
for debating societies. 1t is undoubt-
edly the duty of legislatures. and
| courts to protect society from the
aggregations of capital which destroy
competition in order to enhance prices.
For these there can be no excuse, pro-
lection or defence. So when the
Pioneer Press declares that it is the
duty of the republican perty to repeal
every protective duty under the
shelter of which it's beneficiaries have
Organized n trust or combination of
any sort to advance prices it meets
the views of the Times-Herald to a
dot. The purpose of the protective
tariff was to foster industries, not to
protect monopolies. Most certainly
it should be the duty of congress, in
both branches of which the republic
cans have majority, to abolish or
suspend the protective duty on the
products of any industry which has
been organized into n trust and which
has arbitrarily raised the prices of
such products. No mercy or consid-
Grafton should be shown TO any COM
bination of capital that takes advan-
tage of a protective tariff to mulct
American consumers. 1t should be
the first office of the republican ma
Iority in congress to free its skirts
from all responsibility for trusts
which under shelter of the tariff eX-
act high prices from the people.
Wherever the protective tariff en-
hances the price of the product of 4
trust to the American consumer it
should be reduced or removed entire
ly. This is a pretty safe proposition.
Its adoption will remove the stigma
of fostering trusts from the republi-
can party
When the time shall have come to
write the new laws of tariff discrimina-
ton in such manner as will minimize
the acknowledged evils of the system
as ut present in vogue, it will be inter-
esting to note the position of the
present law interpreter of the admin
istration, the man from the birthplace
of modern trusts, the state of New
Jersey.