The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-03-01

TRUSTS NOT TO BE ATTACKED.
The action of the President in or
dering the Attorney General to bring
suit against the Northern Securities
Company for the purpose of testing
its legality created something like con-
sternation in Wall street. By some II
was interpreted to mean that It was
the purpose of the President to make
an attack on all trusts. In fact, there
/ were stories to that effect circulated.
Some of the Wall street financiers who
went to Washington to see the Presi-
dent and demonstrate with him for his
course in respect to the Northern Sc
curities Company without first giving
Wall street notice of his intention, told
him that the stories set afioat as to
his intentions in respect to trusts had
so alarmed investors that confidence in
the shares of industrial enterprises
those included in the great combina-
lions like the United States Steel Cor
poration-had been greatly impaired.
The President had the best of rea-
sons for not informing the people in
Company of his intention before taxi
ing action. If he had done so he would
have been overwhelmed with protests.
All the influence that the chief men in
the great trusts could command would
have been brought to bear upon him to
wait until they could prepare to sus-
tain the market, as his action might
tend to disturb trust values, and if he
had yielded the effort would have been
to get him to do nothing at all.
There is no doubt that he acted upon
his own judgment. If he had consulted
any one as to the ACCESSIBILITY of the
action he proposed to take Wall
street would have been informed of his
purpose before he could have done
anything. He gave the promoters of
the Northern Securities Company and
trusts generally genuine surprise.
The President is free to say that he
has no intention to make war upou
trusts. On the contrarj, he is a be-
lever in trusts, provided they are con-
fined within certain limits. He thinks
dustrial revolution, and that trusts are
necessary to meet the new conditions.
: He is Of the opinion, however, that
trusts must be subjected to such re-
straints as will prevent them from be-
coming menace to the public well
fare.
The suit against the Northern Sc
curities Company will be filed some
time next week in a United States
Court in Minnesota or New Jersey.
most probably the latter state. The
purpose of it will. be to discover
whether or not the fears of the peonle
OF the states of the Great Northwest
are going to be injured by the merging
of the Northern Pacific and the Great
Northern railroads. These are the two
roads which the Northern Securities
Company consolidates. They are COM
peting lines, and competition threatens
to ruin them. The people dependent
upon them believe that if the CONSOLE
dation Is permitted their interests will
be seriously injured. 1t is but right
therefore that the matter at issue
should be thoroughly investigated, and
IL the people are right they should
have the relief they seek.
1t is probable that there is Just a lit
tie politics in the action the President
has taken. If the President had re-
fused to order the suit the Northwest
ern states might have come to the con-
clusion that the administration and
the Republican party were in sympa-
thy with trusts, and that the thing to
do was to turn the Republican party
out of power We do not of course.
know that the President was Influenced
by this view of the matter, blu. IL is
within the bounds of probability that
he was.
The case will be a test one and will
attract wide attention. 1t is not i'm
probable that dealings in trust shares
will be somewhat slow until the out
come of it is known.