The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-01-09
nRYAN,s ANTI-TnusT PLAN.

| BRYAN's ANTITRUST PLAN.
Mr. W. ]. Bryan. in a signed article in
! the New York journal, advances some
reasons why his plan for checkmating
/ trusts is the best one that has yet been
proposed. His plan, as is weA known, is
that all corporations which propose to do
! business outside of the state In which
they are Incorporated, shall have license
from the federal government, stated in
his own words 1t is this: Believing that
a private monopoly Is not 10 be tolerated,
and believing further that complete rem
edy cannot be supplied by state egisla-
ton, / propose that a federal license be
required of every corporation organized
in any state before it Is allowed to do
business outside OF the state"
MIR. Bryan sees of course that under
federal license a trust might be able to
do business in state against the wishes
of the people of that state, and SO he
says that such federal license should
not take away from the people Of any
state the power to manage their own af-
fairs or to deal with foreign corporations
in any way they please, but while he pro
vides against encroaching upon the rights
of the states he has nothing 10 say against
the tendency which such a license system
would have to centralize power in the fed
cral' government. The Republican party
is in favor of the Capitalization of power
while the Democratic party Is against it,
Nothing in the way of legislation has been
proposed in many years that would give
such encouragement to the doctrine of cen
traHzation as this plan for checkmating
trusts.
Mr.. Bryan says of course that the Ii
censes should be granted on conditions
that would make monopoly impossible ana
that the licenses should be revocable when
the conditions are violated. That sounds
very well. but a trust -once having OBJ
tanned license, would manage to keep
it. It would be an easy matter to charge
a violation of the conditions on which
it obtained license, but it would not be
so easy TO sustain the charge.
One of the most difficult things which
Congress now undertakes periodically TO
do is to adjust the tariff laws, so that
no particular class of the people shall
be favored. But is there any one who will
favor certain interests? Does not the SUI
gar trust, and about every other great
interest manage somehow or other to get
such tariff schedules as they want? Mr.
Bryan's plan for dealing with trusts
would place enormous powers in the hands
of the federal government. 1t would give
it control practically of all of the great
business interests Of the country II would
enable the party in power 10 squeeze for
campaign funds all corpora tons doing an
interstate business. We do not of course
say that any political party would do any
thing of the kind. but it would be in its
power to do 50. And the party that was
regarded as the most friendly to trusts
would have the support of trusts at the
elections. 1t would be in respect to trusts
as it is in respect to the tariff Those
who want a tariff that will promote their
private interests are supporters of the
Republican party. The friends and pro-
motors of trusts would help the party that
was willing to do the most for trusts.
1t has been a couple of months since
Mr.. Bryan's plan for destroying trusts
was made public but there has been but
little if any favorable comment on it. 1t
did not command a great deal of respect
at the Chicago antitrust Conference, and
it is doubtful if 1T will ever command
much 1t smacks too much of centraliza-
ton to find favor with Democrats and
the Republicans are not particularly anx-
ious to find understanding remedy.