The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-08-28
ROSE ON THE TRUSTS
sAYs 4,ooo ARE ALREADY IN
 EXISTENCE.
Says If Existing Law Could Be En- forced, Perhaps No New Ones Would Be Needed-Publicity
 Impractical.

Saratoga Springs. N. r.. Aug. 27.-The American Bar Association convened in this city today. There is a large attend ancs of distinguished men from all over the country. The meeting was called to order at 10 o'clock.
 In opening his address President U. M. Rose of Little Rock. Ark, paid tribute to the memory of former President Henry Hitchcock of the association, who died last March, and President Mckinley, de- nouncing anarchy in the strongest terms
 Proceeding he took up the subject or trusts, saying in part:
 We are all by this time familiar with what are called 'trusts;' so-called, per- haps, because they contain In their com position not a single fiduciary element.
 ''Our country. during the last thirty years. has witnessed a change of such magnitude as to be without single par allel in history. By means of vast az gregations of money, corporate monopo- lies have been established tn almost ev- cry branch of industry.
 ''Monopolies are as old as human his- tory, and we cannot doubt that by their grinding oppression they kept men and women lying awake of nights long be- fore the first page of history was writ ten. They were forbidden by the laws of ancient Greece and Rome; they were forbidden by the common law of England, and the common law was reinforced from time to time by statutes.
 We have at present more than four thousand monopolies. to say nothing of price and rate-fxing and proht-sharing pools, with buying and selling agencies. exercising functions similar to those of the trusts. all organized for the purpose of fixing prices arbitrarily. That the ad- vantage arising from suppressed rivalry and the power to dictate prices Is duly appreciated. is shown by the vast amount of money lavishly invested in these com binations. Every day brings its report of some new and gigantic alliance
 ''The Supreme Court of the United States and several of our Presidents have more than once called attention to the gravity of the situation, and we cannot suppose that men occupying such high only to excite public apprehension.
 The principal difficulty pertains to the remedy. If existing laws could be en- forced perhaps no new ones would be needed"
 MT. Rose then referred to the lack of uniformity in the laws of the different States regarding the trusts. and stated that in the absence of uniformity the laws of the various States had little effect.
 Continuing, he said he regarded public fly. which was often proposed as rem edy with seeming confidence, as q good thing, but to investigate the business of several thousand corporations, extending to all parts of the globe. involving annu- ally many millions of dollars, would be task of immense labor, even if the inquiry extended only to books and pa- pers.
 ''To go behind the returns" he assert ed, would require the constant employ ment of an army or bookkeepers; 1t might be even necessary to call out the militia. And then where such tremendous interests are involved, who will guaran- tee the skill and fidelity of the &C., countants?"
 The remedy of publicity would only serve to prolong the present situation.
 The proposed modification of the tariff he considered inadequate, as 1t would not reach all trusts, while the plan to amend the Federal Constitution to give Congress power to control all corpora tfons was too drastic and might introduce an era of political corruption hitherto un- known. Nor did he think that the plan to amend the Constitution so as to enable Congress to prevent by appropriate penal ties the slugging of rivals by local un. derselling. by factors agreements and by similar devices would have the desired effect. And he cited the Sherman law, which he maintained did not meet the diiiiculties of the situation.