The Irish standard., 1902-10-11

United States and any and all agreements with
other corporations, companies or individuals
gagged IN manufacturing the same similar
lirodlCts Tor the maintenance of uniform prices
| the limiting of production with reference
to the wages of labor, and oil arrangements with
transportation companies for specially advan
tageous freight rates
| Such reports shall he verified by the president
| manager or chief office. of the corporation, who
| upon the demand of the director, shall furnish
| such additional details as said director may deem
| necessary to aprrise him of the nature and en-
| tent of the business and the methods applied
| In Its management. The failure by the presi-
| dent, manager or chief officer of any manufac-
| turing corporation to make the reports herein
provided for. or any intentionally false state
| iheiits concerning any matters set forth in
| report which he does make, shall. for every Of
| Tense. be punished by fine of not less than
Sl.OVo or mole than $5,ooo. or Imprisonment for
not less than year. or hy both such fine aid
| Imprisonment.
All information thus obtained by the director
OF the census shall he permanently filed in his
office in con.enicI and accessible form, he clas-
sitied and published annually.
Every republican senator. whether it
was to spite the president or to shield the
trusts, voted against this bill, while
every democrat voted for it. Is it sur
prising under these circumstances.
now FESTIVE and i'll at ease when the
president is still advocating publicity If
the republican senators wanted publicity,
why did they not support the president
and support this measure? Would it be
a wonder if he should weaken with such
| opposition in both houses. Would it not
be the part of wisdom for the people of
this district and of other districts to send
men to congress who will support meas
ures whether suggested by the president
or from any other source?
AS to the proposition for constitu-
in the meantime the trusts would have
full sway. Besides feel confident. speak
4, tt,rr
| legislation for curbing the trusts can be
passed without a constitutional amend
ment as with one. The president said in
| his Cincinnati speech: without the
adoption Of constitutional amendment
my belief is that a good deal can be done
| by law This is true. 1 say let US do
| what which can be DONE and let us do
it at the earliest possible moment.
| Remedies That Lie at Hand
| Under the commerce clause of the con-
| stitution, congress has absolute control of
| interstate commerce. This has been so
| repeatedly held by the supreme court of
the United States that 1t would be waste
| OF time to cite authorities. Congress
| can regulate the hours of labor on inter-
| state railways, prescribe the character of
| the conveyances. 1t can determine what
classes of products may be transported
from one state into another or into
territory. When the products of prison
| labor in some of the state penitentaries
| became menace to free labor engaged in
the production of like goods in other
| states, congress promptly granted relief
| and efficient relief. When Iowa deter
mined to exclude intoxicants from that
state, congress promptly seconded the
| policy OF the state and made it illegal for
interstate carriers to carry a commodity
| into state in violation of the laws of
| that state.
There is no lack of power in congress to
legislate efficiently on the trust question.
me inherent difficulty is that it is eco
nomlclllV impracticable for congress to
| assume to fix the price of commodities.
This can only be done safely by COMPETE
ton. The problem is therefore to restore
| efficient competition. To undertake to
| prevent the Transportation of trust made
commodities, would be a cure worse than
the disease If the supply of trust-made
goods were cut off from the city of Min
neapolis. we would be at the door Of star
vation in fOrty-eight hours.
The evil can also be efficiently reached
by the exercise of the taxing power BY
the exercise Of that power the evil of note
issues by state banks which threatened
and actually had paralyzed the Industry
| and commerce of the nation was prohib-
| tied. The control of the manufacture and
sale of oleomargarine is a more recent IL
lustration of that power
So far as the stock jobbing feature of
| the trust problem is concerned, which, in
| itself, is serious menace to our indus
try and financial stability. congress could
remedy that by a simple bill requiring
every corporation engaged or about to en-
gage In commerce among the states to
! take out license in that behalf AS a
condition for obtaining that license, the
corporation might be required to eliminate
lls us, tclltious Capitalization and to comply
win the requiremnts outlined in the bill
proposed by Senator DuBosc. And there
might also be imposed an additional obli--
CATION that In every corporation avaiing
Itself OF the privilege of that license. and
which engaged in commerce among the
states. the stockholders should be person.
any liable for an amount equal to the
race value of the stock which thew held in
such CORPORATION This is the liability of
stockholders In national banks It has
certainly shown that it tends to conserve
atlVe management and prudent business
operations. I cannot see why capital in
vested IN other corporations is more sa-
| cred than money invested in a national
bank.
How Present Tariff Shelters Trusts.
But this, or other legislation on those
| lines, would not reach the evil from which
the general public suffers That owl is
the monopoly prices that the trusts are
able to eXtort from the public by reason
OF unreasonable and unnecessary tariff
schedules. This power has been conferred
by congress and can only be remedied nv
congress. Remove the power of monopoly
from the corporations and believe that
they would be as harmless in the future
as they have been useful and necessary
for our industrial development in the
| past. No sane man will rail against cor
porations as such. The association of
capital Is absolutely essential to the UNI
dertaking and successful prosecution of
the great undertakings of the present day.
| But organized capital is strong enough
without the addition of the monoDoly con-
| fcrred by law. What Is it that enables
| the steel trust TO sell steel rails at from
SIG to $22 in competition with foreign
| producers abroad and to exact SIS per ton
from the American consumer? What is
| 1t that enables 1t to sell barbed wire in
like competition at $2.25 per 100 pounds
| abroad and at $500 at home. and wire
| nails at $1.30 per key abroad, and charge
| our people upwards of 81. I defy any one
| to give an explanation that would satisfy
n rational sentient being that it is any
thing except the unreasonably high tariff
| schedules now in force that enables that
gigantic trust to innict such discrimna-
| ton.
Let me give you the steel colnpany's
| output for last year In tons, with the
rates of duty per tor and the monopoly
wrongly called protection that that duty
affords:
Finished rroduc- Duty Tariff
stss! rails ,;,,;: :n,o7S'sss s7si a,,7@sSs
md slabs $685.. .24sl,227 $40 10.o4os1o
Merchant steel
hoops .......1 ,?36.3+3 11.2O up 1236343O
Sheets ........... 415,220 15.6S up 4,9s274S