The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1902-09-25
President Roosevelt :
Delivers a Mastelful Address ON the Great
Question of the Trusts.

general took aeon against certain trust.
There has been considerable discussion as
TO whether the trust aimed at would not
seek to get out from under the law by be-
coming a single corporation.
1 want laws to enable us to deal with 1t,
no matter what shape 1t takes. l want TO
see the government able to get at 1t dehn-
itely, so that the action Of the government
can not be evaded by any turning within
or without federal or state statutes. At
present we have really no efficient control
over q big corporation which does business
In more than one state. Frequently the
corporation has nothing whatever to do
with the state in which 1t Is Incorporated
except to get incorporated, and Its actions
may be taken in entirely different corh-
munities-communities which may object
very much to the methods Of Incorporation
In the state named. do not think You
can get action by any state, action by oil
the states that will give us satisfactory
control OF the trusts or big corporations,
and the result is at present that we have
a great, powerful, artificial creation, which
has no creator to which 1t Is responsible.
OF course 1t is a mere truism that the cor
poration Is the creature of the state; that
the state Is sovereign. Now l want to
make real and not n nominal sovereign;
TO have some one sovereign to which the
corporation shall be really, and not nomi-
nally, responsible.
1 hone to see power given to the national
legislature which shall make the control
real. 1t would be an excellent thing IL
we could have all the states act on some
what similar lines, so that 1t would be
unnecessary for the national government
to act, but all OF you know perfectly well
the states will not act on somewhat SIM
liar lines. Nothing has BEEN done In the
direction Of intelligent dealing by the
states as a collective body with these great
corporations Here In Massachusetts, you
have what l regard as, on the whole, ell
cellent corporation laws. think that most
of our dlficuties-here again remember
am not promising the millennium. 1t Is not
in my power to promise it-would be In
fair way of solution II we had the power
to put on the national statute books and
did put on them laws for the nation much
like those you have here on the subject OF
corporations in Massachusetts,.
The first thing we want Is publicity, and
do not mean publicity as favor by some
corporations. mean 1t as n right from all
corporatlons affected by the law. / want
publicity as to the essential facts, in which
the public has an interest Tho publicity
itself would cure many evils. Some OF
these things I have said can be done now
A good deal Is being done now. AS FAR
as the antitrust laws go they Will be en-
forced. No Buit will be undertaken for
the sake OF seeming to undertake It.
Every suit that Is undertaken will be be-
gun because the great lawyer and upright
man whom We are 80 fortunate as to have
as attorney general, Mr.. Knox, believes
that there is a violation of the law which
we can get at, and when the suit Is un-
dertaken 1t won't be compromised except
Ing on the basis that the government wins