The Lexington intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1901-1949, 1902-09-06

England states, o4AiNTt'
and bear hunting, the president has
been defining more fully his views on
the subject Of trust restraint To
his original creed he has added a new
article The publicity cure, first
proposed by President Hadley, OF
Yale University, and adopted by Mr..
Roosevelt in his message to congress,
was not received with such confidence
as to lead him to rest his case upon it.
He aow adds that he is 10 favor of a
constitutional amendment that will
enable congress to deal directly with
those combinations Of capital 10
restraint OF trade which have been
ioappropriately called trusts.
Because of his reputation for SINGER
ity and moral purpose, Mr.. Roosevelt's
opinions on problems of public in-
terest are received by the people with
a degree OF seriousness which their
intrinsic value 10 no sense deserves.
II the people Of the states were
to grant to congress the authority to
control by direct legislation these
vast aggregations Of capital called
trusts, aud IL this further grant Of
power were used 10 good faith for the
intended purpose, no objection could
be urged to the plan. But what
guarantee would the people have that
this power would ever be so used, or
on failure that they could ever take
it back. Does the action Of the last
congress in the case Of Cuba versus
the beet sugar infant or the case of
EIkins' insurgents" versus Have
meyer warrant confidence?
Does it not seem quite as likely
that the power given to restrain
trusts might be used to protect them,
and instead Of serving to correct this
abuse Of trade, it might serve to
corrupt the government? An his
torical illustration very much to the
point is close at hand. The states or
adopting the present constitution
gave up by express stipulation the
power Of laying import duties against
each other and against foreign gov
ernments, and they conferred upon
the national government the power Of
raising revenue upon foreign imports.
No state of the thirteen at that time
would have ratified the constitution
il it had been suspected that this
grant might ever be construed to
confer the power of protecting those
industries which are capable of con-
c%entration against those which are not,
or one section Of the country against
another-if it had been suspected
that In pursuance of this grant our
home manufactures might ever be
sold 10 foreign lands at one-third less
that at home.
Mr.. R~oosevelt's last trust cure must
be examined in connection with his
other dictum, that the tariff must not
be touched except by its friends and
in connection with his refusal last
winter to accede to the demands Of
the "insurgents" that the d"ifferentidl
on refined sugar be reduced to cor
respond to the Cuban concession. If
the protective tariff may not be
touched except by its friends, why
may IL not come to pass that the
trusts may not be restrained except
by their friends? And might not
such a friendship come to be estab.
lished among the trusts and the tariff
aud these "friendsn that it would be
impossible ever to dislodge these
'friends" from the control of the
government?
The truth is, Mr.. Roosevelt and
the party to which he belongs have
NJ fundamental principles, no essen
tial theories Of government. His
party fought a great war on the
ground that states could not get out
Of the union, and reconstructed them
on the ground that they we're out
and had to be brought back: in 1868
it issued the greenbacks with legal
tender power which a republican
supreme court pronounced a legitimate
forced loan, aud in 1873 it turned its
back 90 silver: in 1872 it justified its
tariff policy on the ground Of pro-
lection to infant industries and now
in 1902, when the infants have become
giants, the terrors OF the industrial
world, IL justifes it on the ground
- .