The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-10-03

sheer indifference. And this is quite as
true of nations You remember that it was
Dut a Few years ago, long after the civil
war, and when most of its surviving vet
Grams had followed those who fell on the
battlefield to their long rest. that Joseph b.
McCullagh said there was 'one more Pres
ldent in the bloody shirt and his predic-
ton proved true. That tendency to be con-
trolled by prejudice or passion will exist
as long as the human race exists No
doubt we are all subject to it to a greater
or less extent, and yet when We look at
the subject from an abstract standpoint
We must admit that il would be better If
we were not.
I'm what l shall say in this campaign /
desire to appeal to reason / want to plead
in behalf of good government. / do not
mean that have anything new or strange
10 of1er. On the contrary, / believe that
my own views on the issues of this cam
paign are practically those of the large
majority or the voters of this district, be-
cause L believe the Democratic party is
absolutely right on the issues, and / be-
lieve that the great majority of the peo-
PIE really want what is right: Probably
rate, with the beef trust extorting the
highest prices from the people for meat.
and the anthracite coal trust deliberately
promoting coal famine, ii is a subject
that Is receiving large amount of pop
ular consideration, and one which, by gem
eral consent, must be dealt witt"
ON THE TRUSTS.
Mr.. Dunn then spoke of the trusts, in
cooperating in his remarks extracts from
Republican platforms and the Ellsworth
(Me) speech of President Roosevelt, made
Aug. "a He gave his opinion of what
trusts are and declared that laws should
should be enacted making combinations
Of capital unlawful and punishable as
crimes. He said:
Now, you cannot suppress trusts any
t,iexbx
perry, unless you put them on criminal
basis and treat them as criminal undertake
ings. Everybody who considers the prob
lem must see that. If you want to stop
an evil by law, you must not only prohibit
the evil, but must provide for the punish
ment of those who commit the evil. And
the republican party has fully admitted
this fact, for when it passed the Sherman
antitrust law il made any restraint of
interstate commerce illegal, whether rea-
sonable or unreasonable, and made monopo-
llzlng interstate commerce illegal, and after
prohibiting trust agreements and combina-
tons Ii says: Every person who shall
MAKE any such contract or engage in any
such combination or conspiracy shall be
deemed guilty of misdemeanor, and on
conviction thereof, shall be punished by a
fne not exceeding 5000. or by imprison-
ment not exceeding one year, or by both
said punishments in the discretion of the
court
The same punishment is provided for
ANYBODY VINO attempts to monopolize inter-
state commerce In any article or who COM
bines or conspires in restraint of trade in
any territory. Furthermore, the remedies
proposed by Mr.. Littlefield, the special rep
resentative of President Roosevelt, which
have been proclaimed over the country as
the new Republican remedies for trusts. are
included in that law. 1t provides that any
goods in shipment, belonging to a trust
in violation OF this law, may be seized and
confiscared. the same smuggled goods
And II provides that any person injured by
the lawless action of a trust NAV sue in
the federal courts and recover threefold
damages. together with the costs of the suit
ana attorney ices. That is all in the law
now. But that law has not been enforced
Moreover. although ii has been in effect
Tor twelve years, Ii has not been fully
tested In the courts. and any good lawyer
VIII tell you that its possibilities for sup
pressing trusts have not been fully decided.
IL is an outrage on the people that they
fhsf nos been; and It is small apology for
OF an election. and almost forced by popu-
lar indignation. President Roosevelt has
finally declared that he would have proceed
ings instituted against the beef Combine.
How much the packing interests fear his
action may he judged from the fact that
they have proceeded openly and publicly
10 organize larger trust. But his proposal
is for a civil action Why are there no
criminal prosecutions?"
THE TARIFF QUESTION.
Following the discussion of the trust
question, the speaker declared the tariff
now in operation to be the basis of the
formation Of trusts. and Of this he said:
Now, IL is because our tariff laws cut
off competition that the tariff is the mother
OF trusts. When our forefathers started
on the tariff policy their plan was to en-
courage the infant industries of this coun-
try by shutting OF foreign competition and
their argument was that when the home
industries became well established the COM
petition between them would reduce prices
TO the level OF foreign prices. In due time
the domestic composition became strong
and then the tariff beneficiaries said TO
each other, Why should We be cutting
each others throats? Let us unite and
keep prices up to the level of the tariff
WALL And that is how most OF our trusts
were born.
I'm all reform legislation IL Is a funda-
mental principle that IL you wish to stop
any kind Of crime you must remove, so far
as possible the incentive TO commit H. IL
you want to make people quit stealing
you must not hold out inducements for
them TO steal And yet We are doing just
the opposite with the trusts. We shut out
foreign competition by the tariff and give
our manufacturers the opportunity TO ex-
tort higher prices from the people. and
then MA aav TO our nufacfurera. syot,