The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-09-21

totally unconnected with the trusts. it
would be well to lower the duties on
various schedules. either by direct leg
islatloS or treaties designed 20 secure
as an onset reciprocal advantages from
the nations with which We trade. Ny
point is that changes in the tariff would
have little appreciable effect on the
trusts, save as they shared in the gen.
erai harm or good proceeding from
such changes. No tariff changes would
help one OF our smaller corporations.
or one OF our private individuals IN
business. still less one OF our wage
workers, as against a large corporation
IN the same business; on the contrary,
II II bore heavily on the large corpor-
alton, II would inevitably be felt still
more by that corporations weaker
rivals; while any injurious result would
of necessity be shared by both the en-
pioyer and employed in the business
concerned. The immediate introduce
ton of substantial free trade in all
articles manufactured by trusts would
not affect some of the most powerful
of our business combinations in the
least. save by the damage done TO the
general business welfare of the coun-
Try; others would undoubtedly be seri-
ousiy affected. but much less so than
their weaker rivals. while the loss
would be divided between the capital
lists and the laborers; and after the
years Of panic and distress had been
lived through and some return to pros
perity had occurred. even though all
were on a lower plane of prosperity
than before. the relative difference be-
tween the trusts and their rivals would
remain as marked as ever
SIN Other Words"
in othr words. the trust or big cor
poration would have suffered relatively
10 and in the interest of its foreign
competitors would probably be inn
proved; little would have been done
toward cutting out or minimizing the
evils in the trust; nothing toward Sc
curing adequate control and regulation
Of the large modern corporations. In
other words, the question of regulating
the trusts with a view OF minimizing or
aboiishing the evils existent in them is
separate and apart from the question of
tariff revision. You must face this
fact that only harm will come from
proposition to attack the so-called
trusts in a vindictive spirit by meas
ures conceived solely with a desire of
hurting them, without any regard as
70 whether or not discrimination should
be made between the good and evil in
them. and without regard as to whether
necessary sequence of the action
would be the hurting Of other interests.
The adoption of such a policy would
mean temporary damage TO all our
business interests, but the effect would
be only temporary. for exactly as the
damage affected all alike, good and bad,
so the reaction would affect all alike.
good and bad.
Slow Remedy.
The necessary supervision and control
IN which ! firmly believe is the only
method OF elimination of the evils OF the
trust. must. through wisely and cautious
~ framed legislation. which shall aim
in the first place to give definite control
10 some sovereign over the great corpo-
rations. and which shall be followed only
when this power Is conferred by a system
giving 10 the government the full knowi-
edge which is essential for satisfactory
action. II might be better If all the
states could agree to work along the same
lines in dealing with these corporations.
but / see not the slightest prospect of
feel that ultimately the nation will have
10 assume the responsibility of regulating
these very large corporations which do
an interstate business. | am well aware
that the process of constitutional amend
ment is necessarily a slow one, and one
into which our people are reluctant TO
enter save for the best of reasons. but l
am confident that in this instance the
reasons exist"