Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-12-04

| proper for executing this power, and am
hausted by. any legislation now on the
stature books. II is evident. therefore,
hat evils restrictive Of commercial free.
dom and entailing restraint upon national
commerce fall within the regulative pow
err OF the congress and that a wise and
rea sonable law would be a necessary and
icatcd
believe that monopolies. unjust dis
crmina tions, which prevent or cripple
competition, fraudulent overcaplt slization
and other evils in trust organiza lions and
practices which injuriously affect inter
n sower 'rs r, ,h can be- prevented Under the
the, several states through Equation:
such commerce, the instrumentalities
earnestly recommend this subjec to the
consideration Of the congress with a Wow
to the, passage Of a law rea sonable in its
| provisions and effective in its operations.
upon which the questions can be finally
| adJudicated that now raise doubts ELS to
the necessity Of constitutional amend
ment II it prove impossible to accom-
| plish the purposes aboVc set forth by such
v law. then assurcdy we should not
shrink from amending the constitution 50
as to secure beyond pcradventure the
The congress has not heretofore made
any Appropriation for the better enforce
si.nt. OF the antitrust law as it now
torc.nent. of this law. but much n more ore
e eoH1d De done II congress would make a
be expended under the direction OF the
attorney general
One proposition advocated has been the
REDUCTION of the tariff as means OF
reaching the evils of the trusts which fall
N Not .r ths b. hays de7crised
tive. but the diversion, of our efforts in
such a direction would mean the aban-
gest corporations. many OF those which
should certainly be included in any proper
ssch.me Of regulation would not be ar
in the tariff, save as such change inter-
fered with the general prosperity of the
| to big corporations as . whole is that the
tarin makes manufactures profitable and
the tariff remedy proposed would be in
effect simply, to make manufactures UNI
profitable To remove the tariff as a
punitive measure directed against trusts
would inevitably result in ruin to the
weaker competitors who are struggling
against them Our aim should be not by
unwise tarr changes to give foreign prod
ucts, but by proper regulation TO give do
nestle competition fair chance, and
changes which would affect unfavorably
| all domestic competitors good and bad
alike. The question of regulation OF the
trusts sta nds apart from the question Of
Stability OF economic policy must al.
WAYS be the prime economic need of this
silization. The country has acquiesced
in the wisdom of the protective tariri
principle II is exceedingly undesirable
that this system should he destroyed or
that there should be violent and radical
changes therein Our past experience
shows she that great prosperity in this eoun-
IN and that the. country cannot prosper
under fatful tariff changes at short inter
VAS VAS. M0Teo wei. II The tariff laws as
pered under them and is prosperins, ii is
better to endure for q time slight incon-
veniences and Inequalities in some sched-
and too radical changes. 1t is most ear
n nest to be wished that We could treat
much much to hoPs that partisanshin may be
the subject but at least it can be made
secondary to the business interests OF the
country-that is to the Interests. of our
people as whole, Unouestionahy these
together with hxity Of principle as re-
gard. the tariff We com bine a system
make the necessary rsapplication of the
principle to the shifting national needs
We must take scrupulous care that the
renpplication shall be made in such way
that II Will not amount TO a dislocation OF
our system. the more threat OF which. not
70 speak Of the performance, would pro-
Of tho community. The krst consdcra-
ton in making those changes would, Of
underi-s our whole tariff systeni-lhat is
M, The ptr ri Of putting AmsTiean bust
with interests abroad and OF Away. al |
than cover She difference between the
ns Of RSa psF0f Ike TIE ws be- be-
Ing OF the tiller Of the soil. should be
treated as an essential in shaping our
nj n
be any change which viii jeopardizo the
standard Of comfort, the standard OF
one way in which the reedjus tment !
sought can be reached is by rcciprocitv
treaties II is greatly TO be desired that
be used to widen our markets and to give
q greater field for the activities of our
producers on the ono hand, ana on the |
the lowering of duties VII n they arc no ,
longer needed for protection among our
own people or when the minimum Of dam .
OF the maximum of good accomplished. /
II it prove impossible to ratlfy the pend !
Ing treaties and If there soom to be no !
warrant for the endcavor to execute 9th |
ers or to amend the pending treaties so /
that they can be ratified then the same
by direct legislation.
Wherever the tariff conditions are such |
that needed change cannot with advan- !
taEc be made by the application Of the |
right by lowering of duties on given |
product If possible, such change should /
be made only after the fullest considera- /
ton by practical experts, who should ap- !
proach the subject from a business stand |
point, having in view both the particular !
interests affected and the commercial well /
being OF the people a whole The ma
Chinery for providing such careful inves-
tigation can readily be supplied The ex-
ecUtive department has already at it's |
disposal methods Of collecting facts and |
ngureS ana II the congress desires addi- |
tiOnal consideration to that which will be
given the subject by its own committees, /
then n commission OF business experts can
be appointed whose duty it should be to
recommend action by the congress affair
n deliberate and scientific examination OF
by the changed and changing conditions
The unhurried and unbiased report OF this
commission would show what changes
should be made in the various schedules /
and how far these changes could go with
out also changing the great prosperity
which this country is now enjoying or
upsetting its fixed economic policy
The cases in which the tariff can pro-
duce a monopoly are so few as TO consti-
tute an Uncomfortable factor in the CUES
found that given rate of duty does pro-
mote a monopoly which works H. no pro-
tectionist would object to such reduction
OF the duty as would equalize competition.
In my judgment, the tariff on anthracite
coal should be removed and anthracite
put actually, where 1t now is nominally.
on the free list. This would have no effect
at al save in crises; but in crises 1t might
be Of service to the people.
Interest rates are potent factor In
rates may be equsized to meet the vary
Ing needs of the seasons and OF widely