Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-09-13
WISE OLD MORGAN.
The Alabama Senator SuEgeHtH REM
edy For the Trust Evil.

49,
Washington, written in reply to re-
quest for elucidation Of his meaning
when he recently declared the remedy
for the trust evil to be TO tax the
trusts"
After discussing the power of con-
gress to use the taxing power to regu-
late business matters, and citing the
taxing of the circulation Of state banks
out of existence and the regulation Of
the manufacture Of oleomargarine by
means Of taxation as instances Of this
use, which had been upheld by the su-
preme court Of the United States, Sem
ator Morgan says:
Corporations are the nesting places
of the combinations that are called
trusts for the reason that the risk Of
the heavy operations necessary to give
them controlling power are too great
even for the boldest audacity Of those
who have large capital and extensive
credit, and such risks are covered large
ly by the shelter that corporations af-
ford their stockholders against person.
al liability.
IF the corporations can be controlled
by law, so THAI such combinations will
be severely checked, IL not prohibited,
the public evil will disappear There
fore the remedy by taxation will be ef-
fectual for the protection Of the people.
if it is limited to corporations.
"Such combinations among natural
persons are treated as partnerships by
the courts, under the principles of the
common law, and they are too risky
for the personal ventures Of large cap
italists.
"a monopoly in any branch Of trade
or industry is a tax upon business that
consumers and laborers must pay, and
often in direct contempt Of law. So
that the general welfare is protected by
any laws that can reach the monopo-
lies, and especially by tax laws, which
are designed to support.and protect the
general welfare under the constitution.
"The general welfare demands the
taxation of corporations rather than to
add to their special privileges by ex-
empting them from a just share in the
burdens Of government, and this prin-
ciple is acknowledged in many state
and Federal laws.
Outside the limits Of express restric-
tions there is no power Of government
that is so supreme and, far-reaching as
the power to levy taxes.
"There is a rightful discretion in the
exercise Of the power Of taxation under
the constitution that Is "a necessary ele-
ment Of such power. and 1t relates to
the general welfare. as a special func-
tion of the laws Of taxation, confided to
their protection.
This is especially exemplified in the
taxation of opium and intoxicating
liquors. which are taxed for the pur-
pose of repression as articles Of COM
merce. and also for the preservation Of
peace and public morals.
"It Is also a wholesome exercise Of
retributive justice that corporations
created by law should be taxed to the
full extent that they tax the people by
the abuse Of the powers given them
through the creation Of monopolies and
trusts of which they are the princi-
pal incubators.
1.-The plan I would suggest, in addi-
ton to the Sherman law, Is q graduated
tax on all business corporations. with
an exemption, in whole or in part, as to
such as can establish to the satisfac-
tion Of the government that they are
not engaged in any agreements or COM
binations that are intended to control
the prices or the cost Of transportation
Of commodities that are Of the descrip-
tion that enter into domestic or foreign
commerce.
1.-THE power thus exercised is simply
the taxing power and is not necessarily
connected with the power Of congress to
regulate commerce between the states
or with foreign countries.
1T is the application Of the princi-
Piles of taxation that are well settled to
corporations that have made arrange
ments that violate the purposes for
which they were created, to the injury
Of competitive trade and the general
welfare.
1.-The formation of such a tax law
cannot be a difficult task to those who
are qualified for such work, and it is
not necessary for me to submit a draft
of such an act to illustrate the simple
propositions on which rest the power
of congress, or of the states, to pro-
tect the country against the usurpation
of power by combined capital and cred
it that now threatens to engulf all in
dustries, domestic and foreign, in one
enormous concentration in few hands
of the alleged powers of corporations.
They cannot be supreme over the
sovereign authority from which they
derive their existence, and the govern
ments of the states and that of the
United States will become the vain
mimicry of civil rule If they cannot put
a hook in the nose Of Behemoth and
subdue it's destructive energies"
MERE-MENTION.
President Roosevelt returned to
Washington from his southern trip last
Wednesday, having travelled 1.16G miles
since the Friday preceding. Wilson