The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-23

of desnair most. They are trying to IulI the people to apathy, and it Is . pathy that results from comn1ercial greed and supremacy that has run riot over the land in the last few years that we are to fear the most. Now sir, do not desire to go into any eiaoorate discussion of this thing. l can snow you that if the platform ol pon'lcal ns rties Ia worth anything as the ex- nression of public opinion. can show you, by reading you short extracts from the platform of every party that LOOK mart in the last Presidential election. that the trust idea was condemned, ana everyone of them promised that they would do what they could to stop u. ywhy ona gentleman I heard say he do,,bted very much whether there was such a thing as trusts, ana Una. s what Mark Hanna said Tor long tune; until he finally said they were euou thing. The Democratlc pa: ,s, sN,,aor .n ert,, an5 the Middle ef-the- Road Pop ',itsts evervone had a clause Tn its plat Torn, against trusts, and only the oeheI
 Ncrnocra tic platform Tn onio contained an antitrust platform. A.- tontian has been called to that pat sorr, The action of the Democratio part,, has attre cted good deal or at tention They not only declared against traa masses. but also against trusts. Now I am going to oHer, MT u. dent, not the ordinance wnich l o,oues before the Committee. ana wnlch tne Committee adopted, put an to offer a shorter ordinanee, .,, ~ s,o,,Id like to read as part or my re. ,S,ori,s have drawn an ordinance, at iasst an amendment on the line or Una. ordinence which is more than hali
 The substitute was read as follows
 It sbau he the duty of the Geherai .,s.nhlv bv appropriate legislation, to nrohihit combinations by two or more nersons corporations or ASSOCIATIONS to enter into or carry out any contract or arreement by which they shaii pino or have bound themselves to TX 'ie nrices of any article, commoolly UT transportation between tnem' or oe tween themselves and others, so ~ directly or indirectly preciuoe llee and ,nrastricted competition among themselves or the purchaser or con suner of any commodity in this state or transportation of any sucn articie or commodity, by which they shan agree to pool or combine directly UT indirectly any interest they may nave connected with the sale or trahspoI.a- tion of any such article or commodity that its price might in any manner De effected. Every such combination IS a trus. within the meaning or the Constitution and is hereby declared 10 be in derogation of the rights of the people, unlawful, against pubic policy' and void and of no effect.
 Now, MT. President, l do not care about going into the hair-splitting in- cllhStitnteS or con struction, but I wish to say that the object and purpose of that amendment is simply to provide against any com bination that will affect the prices of any articles or commodity of eon1- merca o: production or manufacture, etc. That is the sole purpose. and now I offer this as a substitute for Section 6S reported by the Chairman or the Committee.
 Mf. Eyster-I have a substitute for that.
 The Secretary read the substitute as follows:
 Amend line two of Section 63 by adding after the word "capital' and before the word "so' the Woros or labo:."
 MT. Macdonald (Montgomery)-Mr. President, 1 was a member of the Com mittee on Legislative department, and the occurrences in that Committee as stated by Mir. Brooks are absolutely correct. The ordinance which the Chairman of the Committee now kind ly consents he shall offer as a substi- ute was adopted by a vote of 9 to 6 in that committee. and the distinguish ed Chairman voted for it. He stated after his vote that 1t was rather broad and that he might have substitute for 1t, but never suggested, as 1 un- derstood 1t, to the committee CT to Mir. Brooks that he should intro duce this substitute himself in the Committee and adopt it himself
 So my friend from Mobile has been put in a very unfortunate position. He was entitled, before this Convention, to have his substitute, his ordinance, come
 is as the ordinance approved of and favorably reported by the committee, but he is now put in a position where 1t seems he will either have to amend the section by an independent amend ment or introduce an ordinance which was the work of majority of the com mittee, to this Convention, handicap ped, apparently by an adverse vote, and l am not surprised that MT. Brooks should have been somewhat taken aback when this Convention heard the majority report read, and l think his condition was somewhat similar to the old darkey who, the story says, caught large channel eat, and, satisfied with the result of his fishing, went to sleep, and while slum- bering, two or three small negro boys came along and substituted for that channel cat a little mud cat, and when he woke and went after the fish to carry it home and found that 1t was so small, he says, 70 Lord, how this fish have shrunk," and it did shrink. Well, examine the ordinance introduced by the gentleman from Mobile and then the one reported by the committee let them examine the innocuous, mean ingless statement of the committee. l won't read the ordinance of MT. Brooks as suppose the gentlemen on the floor have read it. Now, Mir. President and gentlemen of the Convention, that is brutum fulmen of the first variety
 What does it mean? Simply advice by the Convention to the Legislature to try and see if they cannot keep pace with the ingenuity of trusts, and we all know that 1t requires considerably more learning and experience and abil- ity than one legislator or hundred legislators have, to do it. It is wise and democratic. and in pursuance of what was always understood to be democratic principles, for every Demo- cratic party, whenever it assemblies. 1t endeavors to restrict, as far as possi- ble, these unlawful combinations, and my friend from Mobile has done so, and perhaps has gone tco far for the pres ent day, but he has gone no furthe: han a Democrat should go who is pre- rared to follow to it's i"gitim9te reSultn