The record-union., 1899-09-17
CIVIC FEDERATION
CONVENTION,
CONTINUED from First Page.)

terests, they can destroy that corpora
tion, and we can safely trust them
both to create and to annihilate, if con-
ditions make annihiliation necessary.
In 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 limitations as the people
of the State may think necessary upon
foreign corporations doing business in
the State
Il believe, in addition to a State
remedy, there must be Federal
remedy, and 1 believe that Congress
has the power to place such restric
tions and limitations, even to the point
of prevention upon any corporation or
ganized in one State that wants to do
business outside of the State.
| Now, 1 believe that these concur
rent remedies will reach the difficulty:
That people of every State shall first
decide whether they want to create a
corporation; that they shall, secondly,
decide whether they want any outside
corporation to do business in the State,
]
thirdly, that Congress shall exercise the
right to place upon every corporation
doing business outside of the State in
which it is organized, similar restric-
tions as may be needed for the public
good
| Colonel Bryan at this point read the
famous circular letter advertising the
corporation laws of Delaware. He COM
mented sarcastically on advantages 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: Il have read this let
| ter in order to show that where a State
can seek an advantage from the cor
poration of these aggregations of
wealth, it is not safe to place the peo-
/ pie of other States at the tender mer-
/ cies of the people of such a State as
may desire to secure its running ex-
/ penses from the taxation of corpora
| tions organized to prey upon people
outside
"One method for the annihilation of
/ trusts has occurred to me, and to me
it seems a complete method. 1t may
not commend it self to you. 1t is this:
That Congress should pass a law
providing that no corporation organized
/ in any State could do business outside
/ of the State in which it is organized un-
/ til it receives from some power created
1 by Congress, a license authorizing it to
! do business outside of its own State.
! (Applause)
Now, if the corporation must come
to this body created by Congress to
secure permission to do business out
/ side the State, then that license can be
granted upon conditions which will, in
the first place, prevent the watering of
stock; in the second place, prevent mo-
nopoly in any branch of business, and
third, provide for publicity as to all of
the transactions and business of the
corporation.
IF it is unconstitutional, and so de-
clared by the Supreme Court, / am in
favor of an amendment to the Con-
stitution that will give to Congress
power to destroy every trust in the
country. The first condition which ]
suggested was that no water should be
allowed in the stock. / do not believe
that any State should permit the or
ganization of any corporation with a
single drop of water in the stock of
that corporation. Why should the cor
poration be permitted to put out stock
that represents no real value?
No man can defend stock that does
not represent money invested, and only
in the case of a monopoly can you Sc
cure dividends on stock that does not
represent money invested.
1--WE had a case in Nebraska, where
we tried to regulate railroad rates, and
one railroad in our State was capital
lied and bonded for more than five
times what it would cost to duplicate
the road, and yet the Judge held that
in fixing rates we had to consider the
watered stock as well as the actual
value of that road.
when the case went to the Supreme
Court decision was rendered which
was in substance, that in determining
what was a reasonable rate we hac
to take into consideration a number
of things besides the present value oi
that road measured by the cost of re
production, and you will find that 4
the watering of stock is permitted
then the cry of the innocent purchase