The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-04-29
TRUST FIGHT IN 1904.
Administration Policy is the sub- iect of Discussion by Politicians.

A SAASy Ac s~~S
 ject of Discussion by Politicians Washington Special to Chicago Record
 Herald.
 tdent Rooseyelt's move upon the so-cailed beef trust is rife here. There Is general agreement that it is pretty sure to prove a good thing for the administration and for the Republican party. lntil Attorney General Knox ordered injunction suits brought against the packers many Repub- licans were decidedly discouraged over the outlook. Now they are feeling better. They believe the masses Of the people VIII gather the impression that the Roosevelt administration Is sincere In its efforts to curb the. power of giant trusts. He moved against the railway combination, ana now he has attacked the packers and their alleged allies. the rate-cutting rail- roads.
 Even if no convictions follow. it is ar- gued that the people will be attracted to the Presidents program. They will give him credit for honesty and feariessness: They will look upon him as the man of the people. who can be neither bought nor intimidated by the great power of organized capital.
 Indeed, elthe Presidents immediate friends, those members of the cabinet who have linked their political fortunes with his now feel that his nomination in 1904 is virtually assured. Until recently they were doubtful. Now they pretend to be confident Their argument Is that the President is strong with the masses, weak with the capitalists. But now. in their opinion. his attack on the big trusts have won the people so securely that the great allied corporations have not power enough to defeat him.
 These are the views expressed by those who stand close to the President. But there is another side to the story. Per- haps a great majority of the public men here are neither for nor against the Pres ident in 1904. They have deliberately avoided taking positions. In their eyes MT. Roosevelt Is still on trial He is on probation. He may be accepted and he may not be. This Is the present attitude of a considerable majority of the mem bers of the House. In the Senate only half a dozen Republicans have openly committed themselves to Roosevelt. Full ly as many are known to be opposed to him. The remainder are neutral; they are waiting. Many of these men with whom your correspondent has talked see a battle in one of the greatest battles ever fought in the political arena in this country.
 This Is to bc a battle of the allied trusts and capitalistic combinations for control of the government. The masses are to be their antagonists. The big combin1- tions are against Roosevelt: The people are supposed to be for him. Over the nomination of Roosevelt In 1904, it Is be- lieved, will come the first great struggle.
 It Is an open secret that the shrewd men who are helping Mir. Roosevelt man. age the political part of his administra- ton have urged him to take such actions as those against the railway combination and the packers. Their platform Is that if the people are for him the trusts may fight fin vain.
 Many of the Presidents advisers have told him that in a war like this there can be no quarter It must be a fight to the bitter death. Consequently they have urged upon him to go after still other trusts. They have pointed to the steel trust and said that is the next one that should be hit. The President listened. He caused some investigation to be made. He learned. or thought he did, that the steel trust had kept within the law. that the shrewd men who framed it had seen to that. At least Attorney General Knox. a former Carnegie lawyer. so assured him The President has more than once said he would attack the steel trust or any other trust that was violating the law.
 Then few of the Presidents friends urged him to attack the steel trust through the tariff: to insist that the Ways summer and frame a tariff bill: to press the question of tariff revision. They pointed out to him that the steel trust has & per cent protection: and that its prices are consequently 3S per cent too high: that 1t ca2 and does sell abroad cheaper than it does at home: that the tariff must come down. that it Is higher now than~ever before In the history of the government; that public opinion Is rising against 1t. especially in the Middle West: that to go iuto the 1904 campaign on the Dingley law means defeat.
 The President hesitates to take this step. He fears to open up. the whole tar if question:; to array manufacturers against him as the trusts are now ar rayed. The latter. he believes. he can fight. and knows he must fight but he
 hesitates about broadening the opposition There are men who think he will he forced to 1t by public opinion. and that as the battle between organized capital and consumers for political control goes on he will find it necessary to go the whole length and make a flight for rationaliza- ton. modernization of the tariff. regard less of consequences.
 The men who hold this view believe that before the actual battle over Roose- velts nomination comes on this tariff war will be at the front. that the cloud Is ris- ing in the West and that It cannot be put down with the phrase. No disturbance