The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-10-28

You know very well that there are
trusts, that they have eaten up your
| just earnings like the locusts of Egypt,
that they are not beneficial to those not
in them, and you know that being illegal
and injurious, the people can and ought
| to suppress them.
ANTITRUST LEGISLATION.
You will ask how this is to be done
/ An honest, faithful execution of the laws
| already upon the statute book would de-
stroy them. and this faithful execution
| can be had whenever the public will
| arouse themselves to select only such
public servants as will faithfully exc
| cute those laws. But it has been suggest
| ed that additional enactments will be
useful. / would not be understood as
opposing any suggestions made by others
| at this meeting who are more familiar
| with the subject than l. and who have
| studied it more profoundly, but l VEN
| ture to suggest some action that may
| we'll be enacted by any legislature which
| is really and genuinely hostile to these
| cancers upon the body polite. First con-
| slider the nature of the operation of these
| illegal combinations. They combine vast
masses of capital then whenever they
i llUu an honest Q6aleT OF competing
manufacturer making reasonable profit
on the same goods they put an agent, or
open store nominally in the name of
another alongside of him and undersell
him till they have broken him up or forced
him to sell out to the trust, when imme-
diately the price of the manufactured
article is put up to the consumer and
the price of the raw material is put
d0m tn bo no ho
ing no longer any competition, the pro-
ducer is forced to take an unjustly low
price and the consumer to pay an unrea-
sonably high one, and the opportunity
of countless thousands of men who would
have been dealers and manufacturers,
supporting their families, is destroyed.
Those dealers and manufacturers would
by their competition, have guaranteed
just prices to the creator of the raw ma
terial, and reasonable prices to the con-
sumer. But the trusts destroy all classes
alike and put the profit into their own
Golfers.
The additional legislation which has
occurred TO me is: 1. The trusts being
illegal, they should be treated as all
other outlaws and forbidden the use of
the courts to collect the debts due to
them. When they sell their goods on
credit, the defense that the cred
itor is a trust may be plead
ed, and if proven should bar any
recovery. Enormous as are their illegal
accumulations, even the trusts must do
some business on credit Such an act
as this has been passed in Missouri Ar
kansas and Texas, and possibly in other
States. The statute in modified and
mlder form was introduced in the last
General Assembly by Mr. Stevens and
passed the lower House, but the agents of
the trusts were able to persuade the Sen
ate that it was dangerous measure--as |
it was, but to the trusts alone That |
the trusts should have so earnestly op-
posed it is conclusive answer to those |
who say the law would have done no
good. The trusts may be trusted to know |
their own interests. When the Stevens" |
bill is introduced in the coming Legisla- |
ture, If public opinion is expressed un-
mistakably in it's favor it will not suffer |
a second defeat.
2. There is needed a rigid enforcement |
of the Craig law which forbds any cor |
poration chartered in another State to |
do business in this State until it has been |
chartered in this State and has, be- |
come a North Carolina corporation. The |
Craig law has been held constitutional |
by the Supreme Court of this State, and |
similar acts have been sustained by the |
United States Supreme Court. By it's en-
forcement every corporation doing bust |
ness in this State will be subject to State |
control and regulation, and if any of them |
are proven to be trusts or otherwise |
doing an illegal business, they can be |
wound up and forced to cease their opera |
tions in this State.
A TAX ON EARNINGS
5. Another just measure is one recently |
put in force in Germany by which a |
graded tax is laid upon the earnings of |
corporations, the per cent of taxation |
being in proportion to gross earnings. |
This discourages very large aggregations |
OF capital and tends to give small man |
ufacturers and small dealers an oppor-
tunity in the struggle for existence. 1t |
is just application of the maxim, "the |
greatest good TO the greatest number" |
which must be the basis of all good gov
ernment. 1t is better far that we have a |
very large number of prosperous, well-to-
do citizens, with moderate incomes, than
few multi milionaires, high rolling in
London and New York, while the masses
of cur people are struggling for a bare
living. a similar application of the Ger
man principle is the graded inheritance
tax and graded income tax in England,
by which the great fortunes are heavily
taxed, raising about one third of the an
nual revenues of the British empire
while the small estates are only nominaly |
taxed and those under a certain sum are
entirely exempt
j. And there is still fourth measure |
OF relief. The trusts operate by under
selling the small dealer, and after he is
forced out, they reduce the price to the
producer of the raw material and raise
the price to the consumer This can be
met by statute empowering the Supe
rlor courts in such cases to issue writs
CT injunction against the corporation
tnus reducing prices from again raising
them, and making an attempt to raise
them a forfeiture of the charter. provided
Jury shall find that the reduction was
madc Tor the purpose of destroying COM
petition As under the Craig act cor
pcratlon cannot do business here without |
State charter, this would close out all |
such operations. individuals may reduce
prices at will. but when corporations
created solely by the State use their pow