Fergus County argus., 1902-10-22

to stife competition. They come
about to enable a competitor to meet
competition.
Tariff is Not to Blame.
Now, do you thinA these so.cslIed
trusts, with their enormous cupitaliz.
alton. are due to the tariug our
Democratic friends tell you So. We
have had a tariff now for over sixty
years and these combinations IN the
main have only come within the last
ten years in protected industries. A
great many of them have come since
1891. They followed the oyer-produc.
ton and strife for business which fol.
lowed the panic and the paralysis OF
trade in the years from 1898 TO 1897.
THE Standard Oil Company was
the strongest and greatest. or may
fairly be said to have been the lead,
er. Did the tariff cause that. my
Democratic friends? You cannot say
il did, because petroleum was not on
the dutiable list and never has been.
Competition Partly to Blame.
Continuing the senator said; An.
other reason why nave thought that
the tariff had nothing to do with II
except perhaps so far as il had brought
| in part these combinations about by
| the immense home competition which
it had created. as We always prophe.
sled il would. is that trusts are not
peculiar to the United States. You
! fnd them in all countries today. You
find them in Germany; You find them
in England, which is free trade. You
cannot remove the tariff TO remedy
trusts In a country where there is no
tariff.
There is danger in these combina-
tions If they become so powerful that
they absorb the industry in a country
so that they are at liberty if they
choose to fix prices as they will and
become a positive menace.
Check Must Not be Violent.
What help is there for II in this
country? We cannot stop them at
once. II you would have the power
to stop them tomorrow. in five days
from today there would not be bank
open in any city in United States
ana there would not be factory open
or a large establishment engaged in
any industry. only mean to indicate
that whatever remedy is to be sought
for them must be carefully sought and
intelligently applied. have been of
the opinion that the laws of compe-
tition. If left to have their way, would
in the end conquer them and protect
the people"
In opening his speech he paid trib-
ute to President Mckinley. He said
in part: "A devils hand smote him
to death. What life, what career;
so full of lofty impulse; answering
in his devotion to the flag and to the
interests of the people; so charming
in his courtesy, so filled with high and
successful endeavor.
1T Is not strange that the people
of the United States came to love
him. nor is it strange that he awak-
ened in the people of the whole world
admiration and tender regard for him.
so that when he sank into that sim
less, stirless rest. which we call death.
untimely death.
II think | may truthfully say-I
know that may truthfully say-that
he sleeps in the grave at Canton clos
er, nearer and dearer to the great
tnrobbing heart of the American peo-
pie than any other of our presidents
save one-Abraham Lincoln"
Roosevelt a Straight Man.
or President Roosevelt Senator
Spooner said: "He thinks straight,
he talks straight, he acts straight. he
shoots straight tlaughter). and he is
straight. He is an intense American.
He is a man of lofty ideals. Among
other things, no political influence or
persuasion can induce him to appoint
anyone to public office who has a
taint upon his name or whom he has
reason to doubt as to character or eff
ficiency. Another thing. nave never
known a man who. charged with exc
cutive duty. has higher appreciation
of the obligation to enforce the law
without fear and without favor"
Points to Nations Prosperity.
In speaking of the prosperity of the
country he quoted census figures that
showed steady progress under Re
publican administration and said it
was Mckinley who had guided the
country SO well.
II hear now and then that prices
are higher for necessaries of life and
for iron products and steel products,
for this thing and the other thing.
than they used to be. he said. That
is true. Prices are higher for every
thing now than they were under the
last Democratic administration. When
the business of the country is active,
when men are employed in the factor
les. and the rolling mills, and in all
the avenues OF industrial activity.
when the consumer is hunting the pro
ducer, prices are always higher than
they are in the periods OF oppression.
than they are in times when the pro-
ducer is availing himself oil every
competitive resource in the world to
induce the consumer to buy of him."
Typewriter ribbons at the ARGUS.