The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1901-10-04
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS..

considerable speculation as to the atti-
tude of President Roosevelt toward
legislation regarding trusts at the
coming session of congress. The ques-
ton would have come up in congress
next winter any way in some form.
President Mckinley recommended the
subject to the careful consid Grafton
of congress and as result the house
passed an amendment to the Sherman
law, but that amendment had not been
acted upon by the senate when con-
gress adjourned. The Sherman law
did its work, but it will not cover pre-
sent conditions. 1t was designed
to reach the trust feature, but that has
passed out-of date and in it's place we
have the giant corporation, which is
duly established under state laws gov
erning corporations. To what extent
the federal authorities can reach the
evils arising from the abuse of COR
porate power under present restric-
tions remains to be seen.
The position of President Roosevelt
regarding the question was most
clearly defined by his utterance thereon
in his speech at the Minnesota state
fair on Sept. I'd, in which he said:
SIT is not only highly desirable but
necessary that there should be legisla-
ton which shall carefully shield the
interests of wage workers and which
shall discriminate in favor of the hon
est and humane employer by removing
the disadvantage under which he
stands when compared with unscrupu
lous competitors who have no con-
science and will. do right only under
fear of punishment Nor can legisla-
ton stop with what are termed labor
questions. The vast individual and
corporate fortunes, the vast combina-
tions of capital which have marked
the development of our industrial sys
TEN, create new conditions and neces-
sitate change from the old attitude
of the state and the nation toward
property"
This points the trend of his ideas
upon that subject, and he is likely to
discuss the question more at detail in
his message and may take very de-
cided ground as to legislation which
should be enacted. 1t said that be
will have the matter looked up thor
oughly from legal standpoint, before
he takes up the subject, and will know
fully just how far congress can go be-
fore he makes any recommendation.
And in connection with whatever rec
ommendatiou he may make as to
legislation, the president could not go
amiss if he would connect with it the
suggestion that the matter of again
taking up a proposition to amend the
constitution be entered upon. Although
it failed in the last congress, it ought
not to be allowed to drop because of the
failure, and the Republican party
should see that the matter is again
fairly presented. Of course such a pro-
posal to amend cannot be submitted
without the aid of Democratic votes
and if the representatives of that
party, repeatedly refuse to give the
people a chance for relief through that
channel, they will know what to ex-
pect from that organization. Full,
permanent and successful relief from
the evils arising from, vast aggrega-
tions of capital cannot be obtained ex-
eept through federal legislation, which
will touch these aggregations every
where and such legislation can only
be enacted after proper authority has
been delegated to congress bring the
great corporations under national
control.