The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-12-03
Message of the PreCident
 To Congress of the Nation

@sseSeesssses>: supervise and control his actions only to prevent him from doing i'll. Publicity can do no harm to the honest corpora ton; and we need .not be overtender about sparing the dishonest corporation
 All Combinations Not Bad.
 In curbing and regulating the combi- nations of capital which are or may be- come injurious to the public we must be careful not to stop the great enterprises which have legitimately reduced the cost of production, not to abandon the place which our country has won in the leao. ership of the international industrial world not to strike down wealth with the result of closing factories and mines, of turning the wage-worker idle Tn the streets and leaving the farmer without market for what he grows 1nsnstence upon the impossible means delay Tn achieving the possible. exactly as. on the other hand, the stubborn defense | alike of what is good and what Is bad | in the existing system. the resolute enort ! betrays blindness to the historic truth | that wise evolution is the sure safeguard against revolution.
 No more important subject can come | before the Congress than this of the reg | ulation of interstate business. This coun- | try can not afford to sit supine on the | plea that under our peculiar system or l government we are helpless in the pres l enCe or the new COnultlOnS, dilu | to grapple with them or to cut out
 whatever of evil has arisen in connection | with them. The power. of the congress | to regulate interstate commerce is an ao- | solute and unqualified grant. and wltnou. l limita tions other than those prescrlpeo i, by the Constitution. The. Congress has | constitutional authority to make all laws l necessary and proper for executing this | power, and l am satisfied that this power
 has not been exhausted by any legisla- | ton now on the statute books. It IS eVl-
 dent, therefore. that evils restrictive or | commercial freedom and entailing re-
 straint upon national commerce IaIl Il Wl.n- | in the regulative power of the Congress, | and that a wise and reasonable law woulu
 be necessary and proper exerclse or Congressional authority to the end that
 such evils should be eradicated.
 believe that nlonopolies. unjust dis criminations, which prevent or cr'noie
 competition. fraudulent over-capitaliza- ton, and other evils in trust organiZa- tons and practices which inturiouSl' ar feet interstate trade can be prevented un- der the power of the Congress to "regu- | late commerce with foreign nations and | among the several States through reg
 ulations and requirements operating ai- | rectIy upon such commerce, the instru,
 me 1talities thereof, and those engaged therein.
 Constitutional Amendment.
 earnestly recommend this subject to
 the consideration of the Congress with
 
 enable in Its provisions and effective In
 Its operations, upon which the questions
 can be finally adiudicated that now raise
 doubts as to the necessity of consutu-
 tional amendment. If it prove impossible
 to accomplish the purposes above set
 forth by such law. then, as5lredly, we
 should not shrink from amending the
 Constitution so as to secN~e beyond per
 adventure the power sought.
 The Congress has not heretofore made
 any appropriation for the better enforce
 ment of the antitrust law as 1t now
 stands. Very much has been done by the
 enforcement of this law. but much more
 could be done if Congress would make
 6 special appropriation for this purpose
 to be expended under the direction or the Attorney-General. One proposition advocated has been the reduction of the tariff as means ol reaching the evils of the trusts Wnici . fall within the category have described , | Not merely would this be wholly ineHect i've, but the diversion of our efforts II : | such a direction would mean the aban donment of all intelligent attempt to az . away with these evils. Many of the iarg est corporations, many of those Wnci should certainly be included in any propel
 scheme of regulation, would not pc al . fected In the slightest degree by chang U in the tariff. save as such change inter fered with the general prosperity Of tn country The only relation of the tariff : to big corporations as a whole Is that th' ? tariff makes manufactures prontable, an' ! | the tariff remedy proposed would be II ] effect simply to make manufactures un 5 profitable. To remove the tariff as punitive measure directed against trust
 would inevitably result in ruin to th'
 weaker competitors who are strugglin; against them. Our aim should be not bl l unwisN tariff changes to give foreign pro ? ducts the advantage over domestic pro : ducts, but by proper regulation to glV domestic competition fair chance; an! Y | AInA ANF n VI 3 changes which would affect unfavorabl! all domestic competitors, good and bat alike. The question of regulation Of tn l trusts, stands apart from the question of tariff revision.
 l No Change in Tariffs.
 . Stability of economic policy must al 7 | ways be the prime economic need of thi country. This stability should not be fos [ silization. The country has acquiesce, oe in the wisdom of the protective-tarif : principle. It is exceedingly undesirabl . that this system should be destroyed , that there should be violent and radica { changes therein. Our past experienc 2 2 shows that great prosperity in this coun e try has always come under protectiv !, tariff, and that the country can not pros per under htful tariff changes at shor , intervals. Moreover, if the tariff law as a whole work well, and If business ha T prospered under them and Is prosper1ng. | is better to endure for time slight In ! | conveniences and inequalities in som ' schedules than to upset business by to E quick and too radical changes. It 1 most earnestly to be wished that we coul . treat the tariff from the standpoint solel s of our business needs. It is, perhaps. to u u much to hope that partisanship may z | entirely excluded from consideration ( u the subject but at least 1t can be mad 2 secondary to the business interests of tn Il country-tha t Is, to the interests or ol . people as a whole. Unquesionably thes y business interests will best be serve : if together with fixity of principle as rt gards the tariff we combine systei c which will permit us from time to tim e to make the necessary reapplication ( l. the principle to the shifting nations = needs. We must take scrupulous car s that the reapplication shall be made 2 such a way that it will not amount to '; | dislocation of our system the mere threa V of which (not to speak of the perform II ance) would produce paralysis in the bus mess energies of the community. Tn ,hchanges would, of course, be to preserv
 the principle which underlies our whol
 tariff system-that is the principle
 putting American business interests
 least on a full equality with interest
 abroad, and of always allowing a stuff
 cient rate of duty to more than cove
 the difference between the labor cost her
 and abroad The well-being of the wage
 worker like the ,well-being of the tile
 tiai in shaping our whole economic DO
 lev There must never be any chang
 which will ieopardize the standard
 comfort, the standard of wages of tn
 American wage-worker.
 Reciprocity Treaties.
 One way in which the readjustmer . sought can be reached is by reciprocit