The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-10-22
CAN'T GET AWAY FROM IT..

| The effort of the administration adj
herents to get away from the trust
and tariff issue has developed no slight
| measure of ingenuity. One set of adj
ministration orators and newspapers
are insistent that the administration
regards the trust evil as a serious men
| ace, and that those in control of the
| national government can be depended
on to take immediate action to remove
| it. Another class insists that this can
only be done through a constitutional
amendment. Still another insists that
| the Republican party has done great
| things already to minimize the evil.
Interspersed with those views we are
| advised from time to time that there
are no trusts; or that II there are they
are an inevitable and altogether COM
mendable outcome of prevailing indus
| trial development.
| 1t is interesting in this babel of opin-
! ion to read the views of Attorney Gen
eral Knox as expressed at Pittsburg.
| That opinion is palpably designed to
| draw away discussion from the failure
of the administration to do anything
| like it's duty against the trusts and
also from the established truth that the
policy Of the Republican party in state
and nation alike has operated to call
| the trusts into existence.
| There is no issue as to the correct
ness or otherwise of the attorney gen.
erals opinion. He assumes that con-
gress has ample power to remedy the
| trust evil. 1t may suit those who are
interested in maintaining the silly idea
that constitutional amendment is
necessary in this direction to stir up
discussion on this proposition. What
ever individual Democrats may have
said, the Democratic party never de-
MED the authority of congress. 1t has
always affirmed such authority. If the
Republican majority in congress or the
department of justice at Washington
| were willing to take any attitude Of
opposition to the trusts and monopo-
| lies, the legislation which Attorney
| General Knox says is necessary, and
| which congress has power to enact,
| would have been in existence and would
| have been enforced.
| The responsibility for the trusts rests
squarely on the Republican party. The
| evil is increasing in proportions each
| succeeding day. While making pre-
| tense of enforcing the existing law on
| the subject, the national authorities see
| the industrial combines increase and
multiply each succeeding day. Who
will say that legitimate competition is
not stifed in the products controlled
by the trusts. The very existence of a
trust or combine implies in almost
every case the effort to destroy compe-
| tition. The methods resorted to to de-
stroy competition have involved open
crime against the commercial freedom
of the people. Purchase has now large
| ly taken the place of coercion; but the
result aimed at by those combinations
is now, as it always has been, the de-
struction of legitimate commercial
| competition. That result has been
| achieved in all existing cases through
| Republican official inaction, state and
national. The evil is upon us in it's
present menaeing form because state
and nation alike has been in Repub-
1ican control. Outside of the South
there has been no effort to control the
trusts; outside of the South Republican
control has prevailed everywhere since
the problem reached it's present pro-
portions.
Republican politicians and editors
cannot get away from the rust-tariff
issue. 1t will decide the present con-
gressional elections. And if the people
are not wholly lost to an enlightened
understanding of their own interests
the decisions must be attended by the
establishment of an aggressive Demo-
cratic majority in the next national
house of representatives.