Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1902-08-29
THE ToTTERINe TRUSTS.

me UIiEhiNu inooto.
It is evident that there is weaker
ceiling in regard to the forming of
great combinations, and that feeling
mas been. We hope, strengthened by
Mr.. Roosevelt's recent utterances. He
has talked about them in a recent
speech made at Providence, r. L., on
a tour of that country in the interests
of his political future. His remarks |
may he condensed as follows:
One OF the features OF the tremen- |
dous industrial growth Of the last gen. |
GRAFTON has been the very great in
crease in large private, and especially
in large corporate fortunes
1t is not true that the poor have
grown poorer; but some of the rich
have grown very much richer.
Much of the complaint against COM
binations is entirely unwarranted.
Under present-day conditions it is as
necessary to have corporations In the
business world as it ls to have organt-
zation among wageworkers. But we
have q right to ask in each case that
they shall do good, and not harm.
The corporations-and therefore
those great corporations remaining
some tendency to monopoly which we
have grown to speak of rather loosely
as trusts-are the creatures Of the
State, and the State not only has the
right to control them, but is in duty
bound to control them wherever the
need for such control is shown.
There Is in our country a peculiar
difficulty In the way of exercising such
supery iSiOn and control because Of the
peculiar division of Governmental
power.
believe that the nation must as
sumo this power of control by legisla-
ton, and if it becomes evident that
the Constitution will not permit need.
ed legislation, then by constitutional
amendment.
The first exercise of that power
should be the securing OF publicity
among all great corporations doing an
Interstate business. The publicity,
though nOn.iLquisitOrial, should be
real and thorough as to all important
lfacts with which the public has concern.
/ see no promise of a complete solu
ton for all the problems we group
together when we speak OF the trust
IouestiOn. But we can make be-
ginning.
This talk to any one who reads be-
tween the lines carefully, is easily
seen to be, not very dangerous. 1t is
such talk as a Republican Presidential
candidate can mako, and must make.
to catch the popular vote, but does
not alarm the capitalist, because he
knows no threat made before election
by such candidate will ever be carried
into effect afterward. The only man
who cannot make such a speech Is W.
J. Bryan. In his mouth these words
would be anarchy, in the mouth of
President Roosevelt they are simply
soft solder for the workingm an, and a
huge joke from the stand point of cap.
ital. But withal, and notwithstand-
ing the fact that the capitalist no more
fears an attack on trusts and combi.
nations by the Republican administra
ton than he fears the falling of the
stars, still there is in business circles
a feeling that the thing has gone far
enough, just as there sometimes arrives
in boom town feeling that lots
have gone high enough, and a halt
must be called.
The Steel trust has not been so great
a success as the surface would indi-
cate, and they want money. 1t is
possible they want 1t as old John Gar
rett used to do when he had declared
a large dividend on B. & o. stock with
not enough money at hand to pay it.
But dividend had to be ordered OF
the whole thing would go to pie at
once. So with the Steel trust. Sup.
Ipose no dividend had been declared,
trusts and combines would have gone
to smithereens at the moment the
dividend was passed, and with them,
prosperity, that ideal of Republican
coincidence would have come crashing
to the ground.
There is trouble brewing for the
trusts, but not from the Intentions OF
the Republican party as expressed by
the President, but from the fact that
they violate the rules of trade and
business, by being unwieldly and cum
bersome, by having no one who has
the success of the scheme at heart, OF
who works after Office hours. So their
salaries are paid the employees care
but little for anything else, and the
stockholders will know this sooner OF
later