The Savannah morning news., 1902-10-09
SECRETARY SHAW ON Trusts.

The Republican party ought to feel
grateful to Secretary Shaw for the
very elaborate defense of its inactivity
in dealing with trusts which he made
in the speech he delivered in Boston
last night We publish extracts from
the speech in our Geographic columns
this morning. They are brief, but are
sufficient to show the Secretary's views
on the trust question.
He thinks the Sherman antitrust
law is just about as good a law for
its purpose as it is possible to frame.
but that if it can be improved upon he
feels certain that the Republican par
ty will improve upon it. He is conf
dent that that party is better qualified
to make any improvement in it that
is needed than the Democratic party.
He points out that the law has been
on the statute books for more than
twelve years, and that the republicans
have not made it more effective be-
cause they did not know how, and
that the Democrats. although having
full control of the government at one
time during that period, have not I'M
dertakcn to make changes in it. In
deed, he let's it be understood that the
most capable men in the Democratic
party have all along regarded it as
being as near perfect as human in
genuity could make it.
Why has it not been enforced? That
question Mr.. Shaw answers by saying
that it is extremely difficult to get
the necessary evidence against trusts
1t would be interesting to know if the
efforts to get evidence have been so
great as to attract general attention.
The Department of Justice does not
seem to find it impossible to get evil
dence against individuals who rob the
government Why, then, is it so diff
ficult to get evidence against trusts
that rob the people? This part of Mr..
Shaw's defense of his party for it's
failure to bring trusts to account for
violations of the antitrust law is
weak, to say the least of it.
And Mr. Shaw is very sure that a
reduction of the tariff on articles pro-
duced by trusts would not destroy
trusts. He points to the STANDARD Oil
Company, one of the greatest of the
trusts, as evidence of this. That COM
pany has no protection from the tariff,
and yet it is able to maintain its mo-
nopoly. The reason doubtless is that
there is only one other great illumi-
mating oil concern-that in Russia,-and
with that the Standard Oil Company
has an understanding that neither
shall interfere with the territory of
the other.
Mr.. Shaw says that the United
States Steel Corporation, better known
as the Billion Dollar Steel Trust, has
been the cause of more hostility to
trusts than any other of the trust
corporations. He is of the opinion,
however, that if the tariff were taken
off articles of the kind it produces
it might not be able to pay as big
dividends to it's $4,000 stockholders and
as good wages to it's 100000 employees.
but consumers would be benefited but
very little.
Isn't Mr.. Shaw a little too anxious
to defend trusts? If this Billion Dol
lar Trust isn't squeezing the people
how is it that it can sell it's products
at about so per cent. less in foreign
markets than in the domestic market,
and how is it that upon a capital
twice as great as the actual cost of it's
plants it can make such enormous
earnings? Mr.. Shaw should have an
swered questions like these.