The Princeton union., 1900-07-26

Il 81 ts1llAal q rama history the
sl7o'esmocr attic party call imp ltsm.
he RSevolu tionary the Civil wal,
Il IL 5and sl gths Spanish war are the three great
/ seposciiss sis IN our history The frs. gave
! BIT to- the republic, the second estab-I83
flished Its and the third extended
1ts bles sings to distant clilnes and distant
peoples. The @ReVoluti war had its s
4 5eorge ashington, the Civil war is I
lincoln, and the Spanish war Its Ms
/ I<inley.8 The task Of our president has
been Herculean,# but he has acquitted him
/ self OF the same as giant among the
/ foremost statesmen Of the world He has &
4 aequitted himself Of the same # IN the
i spirit of our great republic and as became
Il IFS foremost citizen. There were men
4 that We're blind and could not see I'M
l tthe days of George Washington and
Abraham LINCOLN, as there are to-day, 4
Eput the record made will stand, for the
4 present as for the past, an imperishabIe
i monument to the American people and
j their great statesmen. 555.8
/ SS83s'' Next to their love for free silver and
! their dread Of imperialism, g the Demo
Gratis claim is their hostility to trusts.
! mono polies and unlawful combinations.
1 They not only assume to be the greal
az antitrust "a party, but they charge us with
Undue friendship for the trusts Unfor-
tunately for the Democratic party, the
facts fail to support their contention.
/ There are but three acts in our federaI
statutes that relate in any way to trusts,
/ monopolies and unlawful combinations.
i The first Of these is the se-calIed inter-
/ state commerce law Of 1S87-passed by a
i democratic house and Republican SEN
4 ate In the nature #of the case, its anti
TRUST provisions are limited to common
carriers engaged in Interstate commerce.
/ Then there is the provision in the Demo.
4 cratic tariff act Of 1894 prohibiting ccm-
binations between importers and others
! in4srespect to imports, or prices of the
! same: and this was the limit of Demo-
i cratic legislation, though they had con-
troll of all departments Of the govern
/ ment. But the principal and only general
ard :f Z, &
i Comprehensive Antitrust Law.
1 is the act of 1890, commonly called the
4 Sherman law, passed by Republican
4 congress AS interpreted by the supreme
court Of the United States, through a
Democratic chief justice and other judges
4 Of the court, this law is good and valid
and covers pretty nearly the entire field
4 of federal Jurisdiction. In its interpreta-
5tion Of this act the supreme court holds
that, under the Constitution Of the United
States, federal authority is limited to
commerce and traffic, between the sew
1seral states, with foreign nations and with
Indian tribes, and with the territories Of
4 the United States; and that commerce or
4 traffic wholly within a state and begin
ming and ending there, and mere manu-
facture and production divested of inter-
4 state traffic are not within the scope of
i federal Legislative power Gu. S. VS..
Knight, 156 U. 81 Ours is a dual govern
$ment-state and federal-and the federal
government is one of limited powers, pre-
Il scribed in the Constitution. The chief
/ Legislative power for controlling and reg
j sula,ting trusts rests with the several
i states. And there is only one of two ways
i open to secure complete legislative relief
Il so far as such relief is possible-and that
/ is by. getting every state in the Union to
l#pass a strong and perfect antitrust law,
4 supplemental to federal legislation which,
owing to tile varied and diversified. in
i dustries and interests of the several
states, is difficult to accomplish; or else
! by confeTring upon the federal govern
/ ment, by constitutional amendment, great
er& power and authority in the premises.
i This last plan was attempted by the Re-
5publicans in the house Of representatives
lin the last congress- A bill for consti-
! tutiona amendment giving the federal
i government greater power to regulate and
4 control trusts nionopolies and unlawful
i combinations, was introduced by a Re-
i publican member and put to a vote, but
lSfailed to get the required two-thirds vote,
i although the Republicans voted for it in
I a body, because nearly the entire Demo-
4 cratic vote was solidly against it. On this
i occasion their old slime idol of state rights
i stood between the Democratic party and
! their assumed hostility to trusts. The
! house Of representa- also passed at
4 the, last session Of congress-, under the
auspices of the Republican party. bill
to- enlarge, improve and strengthen the
/. remedial features of the Sherman law. II
i came to the senate too late to be acted
4 upon at that session, but have no doubt
/ it will be staken|up and duly considered
and acted on at the next session of con-
4. gress. Here, then, is the federal 1egis-
4 lative $ss5 ss{
58% Rec ord OF the Two Parties.
s.The Republicans passed the Sherman
law, passed a bill through the house to
strengthen this law and made thorough
4 effort to pass constitutional amend
ment to confer greater and much needed
i power upon the federal government for
4 the control and regulation of trusts. The
4 Democrats, on the other hand, passed the
4 tariff act Of 1884 enbra acing the antitrust
4 |Sprovision as to importers and imports,
j and opposed en- masse the passage of the
4 constitutional amendment which I have
referred to- And both parties Joined in
passing the Interstate commerce law.
From this statement it is plain that. in
i the matter Of antitrust legislation, the
balance is largely in favor Of the Re-
publican party, and that outside of their
4 PLATFORM the Democrats make the poor
Y est kind Of a showing, and that, whatever
i may be their attitude on trusts in gem
i ERA. there is one trust they have a warm
side for, and that is the silver trust.
4 EK2..But I must pause 4 have made these
1 brief and perfunctory remarks to brush
away some of the Democratic cobwebs
4 that lie In the pathway Of our honored
1 guests-the National Republican league
! The league and its work are not strang-
i ers to the Republicans Of Minnesota.
y They will look to the efforts and COS