Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1902-07-22
Publicity, the Law and the Trusts

Publicity, the Law and the Trusts
While President Roosevelt's express
sed desire to turn the light of Public
ity sore fully upon the trusts is COM
mendable-for there cannot be too
much Publicity on matters of public
concern it is timely to remark few
facts about trusts on which the Xrays
of Publicity have been already focused.
Evidence taken on oath before the
Industrial Commission has given the
fullest possible publicity to this fact:
That not to one trust or combine
only but to several, notably to the
meat-packers' monopoly, many rail-
roads have given discriminating
freight rates without which the mo-
nopoly could not have been main
| tanned.
The Intersta tie Commerce Commits
sioners gave the fullest possible pub
licity in their last report to the same
fact, and said that "the leading traf-
fic officials of many of the principal
railway lineS"-
l. Deliberately violate the law Of
| the land and agree with each other to
| do so.
2. Pay hundreds of thousands of dol
| lars in unlawful rebates to a few great
packing-houSeS.
3. Make like unlawful diScrimina-
| tions in freight rates to shippers OF
wheat and flour.
lis also a fact on which the light
Of Publicity has been streaming for
many years that a Federal statute,
enacted March 2, 1889, amending the
Interstate Commerce law, provides
among other things that ''any direc-
tor or officer, or any receiver, trustee,
lessee, agent or person acting for or
employed by" a railroad corporation,
4 who shall give San unlawful discrimi-
nation in rates, fares or charges for
the transportation Of passengers or
| property shall
j Be subject to fine Of not to exceed
SIS, 900 for EACH otfenSe aud
shall III addition be liable to
imprisonment In the penitentiary for
a term of not exceeding two years.
| Another fact on which Publicity 4
J light has been poured for years is that
whenever, by any kind Of combina'
tion, sin the form of trusts or other
; ,rise," a monopoly of any trade shall
be created or attempted-the hard
! coal trade, for example, is complete
and ironclad 'monopoly-a Fedora
law, enacted July 2, 1890, provides
that the persons forming and main
tanning it shall be each and all liable
to fines of 5000 each and imprison
ment for term not exceeding ont
year, and further (section g. that
Any property owned under any con
! tract or by any combination lma1n
, tanning such monopoly and being il
the course of transpor tation from on
= State to another, shall be forfeited t.
: the United States and may be seize
and condemned by like proceedings a
those provided for the seiz
into the United States contrary t.
) law.
These facts and these laws need NJ
further Publicity. They are estab
lished by sworn proof and the statut
! book. Now that the anthracite-coa
combine.is clamoring for the enforce
ment OF the strict letter of the Law
and insisting that the public has n
right or interest in the strike beyon
seeing that the lew, the whole lay
and nothing but the lay is upheld
!. these extracts from recorded eytdenc
. and the Federal statutes are of timel
: interest. For President Roosevelt
:, said in his Pittsburg speech tina
"above and beyond all legislation ICE NEE
honest and fearless administration Of. tt
) la,os as they are on the statute books. -
= ~ Y. World.