Amador ledger., 1900-09-21


defamation have 50 caught the public
ear that it is difficult for one who has
done real Investigating to command a
hearing
In It's origin the trust was a perfectly
natural attempt cn the part of those
who had suf RI from disastrous and
excessive competition to get together
and, somehow, 50 arrange their affairs
by agreement as to 1--we aud let live.
To accomplish this a real, bona fide
trust was created the competing firms
agreeing upon trustees who were en-
powered to handle the joint business,
each firm continuing to own its prop.
erty and to manage that property 10.
cally under only general direction of
the trustees.
Some of these trusts contented them
selves with merely making economies
in management by acting comparatively,
while others sought to use their newly
acquired power i'll raising prices to con-
sumers. boycotting traders who bought
elsewhere and otherwise exercising mo-
nopolistic and despotic functions.
The result was that legislatures began
to make war upon illegal associations of
corporate organizations, and the net re-
suits up to date of this antitrust legis-
lation is that all these illegal combina-
tions of corporations have been driven
into great single corporations instead.
The last condition is worse than the
first.
There are few, if any, trusts left, and
the transforming craze has spent itself,
but there are nuiy- gigantic corpora
tions in the places of the trusts which
control vast enterprises and, at present
at least, seem to be superior to legisla.
tive control
How to control these great corpora.
tions, which are not trusts at all, is the
real trust problem.
The injurious effects of these great
corporations are, mainly, that they seek
to acquire monopoly in the article
produced, with the view of advancing
prices unjustly to consumers; that they
engulf all the smaller producers in one
large concern and reduce independent
producers to salaried men or wage earn.
ers; that they employ unfair means i'll
breaking down competition; that they
restrain production and SO retard pro.
gress, and that, by nnscrupulous me-
thods of stock manipulation, they rob
speculative investors.
1t will suffice, in this article, to show
the attitude of the two great political
parties toward the real trust, or monop.
oily problem.
The Bryan party is vehement. Meta.
phorically speaking, it cliews soap and
expeciorates great, billowy breakers Of
proposes very little that is of practical
utility. Being an enemy to the pro.
tective tariff, it proposes to kill all III.
dustries involved III trusts" by putting
their products on the free list, ,hus
burning the house 10 be rid of the rats
furnishing labor with capital, the inno.
cent with the guilty. In short, the
Bryan policy is one of indiscrim mating
destruction. AS there are no longer
any trusts or combinations of corpora.
tions, but instead great single corpora.
tions, 1t will be seen that the BryanUes
are mostly bow-wowing up the WRONG
tree.
The policy of the Republican party is
different. 1t does not want to punish
labor in order to punish capital. II
does not want to break down home
monopoly merely to become subject tc a
foreign monopoly. 1t does not desire
to tie the hands of legitimate industry
by making it difficult for capital to asso
ciate itself productivity, for it knows
that upon such productive association Of
capital the industrial health and pro-
gress of the nation depends, but it does
most heartily desire to restrain the evil
tendencies of capitalistic combinations
without hampering beneficent tenden.
cies.
The Republican party sought to dc
this, first, by giving congress power tc
act AS the situation now stands, the
several states have no power over inter.
state commerce and the national gov
ernment has no power over commerce
within the several states, Therefore
there is no single law-makipg power
competent to deal with both state and
interstate monopoly.
The Republicans i'll congress proposed
to the states a constitutional amend.
ment which would give congress. full
power to control all sorts of mopopo
hstic combinations. The Bryanites in
congress voted the proposition down
and there it rests.
The well-being of the American peo.
pie demands that the trust problem
which is very real problem-be han.
died with determination, wisdom and
power, not with sensation, spectacular
ism and frenzy. The former is the Re
publican way of dealing with great
problems. The latter is the Brya
method. The former will lead to all
ult1mate SOlutlon Oh the ulIHculty. Ine
latter will lead to confusion COIL
founded.
The voter must make choice between
these policies. The prudent voter does
not need to he advised which policy to
choose The inlprudent voter does not
readily submit to being advised. Sc
the case of the Real Trust Problem" is
submitted without argument OH this
simple statement of facts.