The Tucson citizen., 1902-11-28
INFORMATION AS TO TRUSTS.

One of The Citizens Republican
ednlirers-that is, he says he admires
the fearlessness with which it dis
cusses public questions, but who is
himself evidently befogged by Re-
publican sophistries and misrepre-
tions-one who realizes the evils of
Republican misgovernment, but ac-
cepts Republican pretense that it can
not be improved-writes to The Citi-
zen in search of light. He says:
If you or any of your party can
study out a bill that will kill all lille
gal trusts and not kill all others that
are outside of trusts and monopolies
you will confer an everlasting obliga-
ton on every Republican that has a
thimbleful Of brains. You have said
that If your party was put in power it
would smash all trusts. Now please
put your plan in back and white, and
make it so plain that Republican,
though fool, can understand it.
The Citizen comes to the relief of
this unhappy neighbor who has fallen
among knaves, and has been persuad-
ed that knaves are needful to his hap
piness. For, to begin with, let it be
understood that there are no trusts,
from the point of public discussion,
that are not illegal. A trust as uni
formly understood-as defined by the
Sherman antitrust LAWS combina-
ton in restraint of trade. 1t may be
in the form of a corporation, but it is
not necessarily so. Whatever its
form, it is unlawful. And now this
poor, benighted mortal asks whether
you can suppress law-breaking trust
without destroying law-abiding busi-
ness-whether you can punish forgers
without hurting writing teachers
whether you can suppress crime with
out destroying virtue.
How car you do it? First, enforce
the law. Republicans tell us in one
breath that nothing can be done, and
in the next they point to the injunc-
tion asked by President Roosevelt
against the beef trust, and promptly
granted by the court-but whose open
violation by the meat magnates goes
unpunished. Why? The antitrust
law makes participation. in a trust a
criminal offense. No effort is made
to punish the offenders. Why? The
antitrust law provides for the confis-
cation of the goods of trust in tran
sit. None are confscated. Why?
Second. Stop the discrimination in
freight rates That is the one great
support of trusts now, and has beecl
for years. 1t would help all legit-
innate business to stop it, for that is
the very mode by which the lawless
trusts get advantage of law-abiding
competitors, undersell them and drive
them out Of business. 1t would be a
blessing, not an injury, to every law
abiding merchant and manufacturer
II the Interstate commerce law were
amended and enforced. But although
Republican Congresses have been peti-
toned by merchants and manufacture
ers' associations, railroad commits
sions, farmers associations and 9TH
ers, to do this, they have uniformly
refused.
Third. Remove the tariff on trust-
controlled products, This would
harm nobody. Take an Illustration.
All the anthracite coal in the country
is controlled by a trust There is
tariff of 81 cents ton to keep out for
e1gn coal. The trust collects that 81
cents from the consumer ON every ton
it sells. 1t pays the miners 51k
cents ton for mining the coal, and
pockets the other 151a cents. Who
would be hurt by the removal of that
duty? What manufacturer would be
injured by cheaper coal? What mans
living expenses would be increased?
And yet there are punk-headed idiots
VINO say You can not remove this duty
without running the country. And as
long as there are enough of them, In
conjunction with the solid negro vote