Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-07-31

me Dill passed the house and on We'd
nesday the United States vessel Dixie
sailed from New York heavily laden
with food and clothing for the people
OF the afflicted island, to be distributed
under the supervision of that right arm
OF the commissary department, Col.
Hugh j. Gallagher of Iowa.
Commercial Growth.
along with our wonderful develop
ment have come new problems Agri-
cultural products can be shipped with
out being already sold, and will be alb
sorbed at the great central markets
at some price. The farmer can ship
his grain, Or his live stock, without
any previous contract for their sale.
and they will be bought at the market
price of that day, be that good or bad.
But few manufactured goods can be
thus sold Steel bridges and locomo-
tives cannot be simply made and ship
ped and find market at their destina-
ton. Orders must be obptained for
such products in advance. We are
not able to produce large surplus in
most lines of manufactures and it is
essential that foreign markets be OBJ.
tanned if our factories are to run at
full capacity and labor is to be con.
stantly employed. The seller must
hunt the buyer. Small farms and cor
porations cannot keep agents in all
parts of the world seeking orders for
such goods. To carry on this class of
trade great corporations are neces-
sary, and the loss of this class of trade
last year would have meant the loss to
American workingmen of more than
4OO,O00,000 worth of labor, and would
have materially affected the supply of
work and it's wages throughout the
country. To the end that men may be
kept in all parts of the world seeking
contracts to be performed by Ameri-
can labor, as well as for many other
reasons, it is essential that great cor
porations exist, and no intelligent stu
dent of the public interest would wish
to destroy them; but many of these
great corporations essential to our
commonwealth have become in prac-
teal effect and are now commonly call
ed trusts; have seized advantage OF
the necessity for their existence, and
used the power conferred upon them
for the public good to Cypress and bur.
| NSh thC pSopiS, nave SSCdDllSueu
prices for their commodities out of due
relation to the cost of production, and
have otherwise abused their high priv
ileges. The republican party is de-
termined that these organizations, the
creatures of the people for the public
good, shall not become the masters of
the people.
The Power of Congress.
I'm Iowa the state law is radical
upon this subject, going to the extent
of providing that one who buys goods
of trust can keep the goods and
need not pay for them. The existence
of such institutions was unknown at
the time the national constitution was
adopted, and it is not to be wondered
at that our fathers failed to expressly
confer upon congress any authority
upon the subject, and so it is that such
! power as congress possesses is chiefly
4 derived from that cause of the con.
/ stitution which authorizes it to regu.
late interstate and foreign commerce
In the exercise of this limited poper a
republican congress passed an anti
trust law, drawn by that distinguished
statesman, John Sherman of Ohio, and
it was signed by Benjamin Harrison. a
! republican president. The democratic
party came into power in 1893. but
during its administration no amend
ments whatever were adopted to that
/ law, no effort whatever was made to
enforce it.
Pretend to Know How to Cure Trust
Now when the democratic
party is out of power its leaders pre-
tend that they know just how to cure
the trust evil. A statesman who never
knows how to bring about a reform
until the people have repudiated him
/ revoked his authority and retired him
to private life, is of about as much
value as lawyer who learns how he
could have won his case after it has
been irrevocably lost Our democratic
1 friends in their last national platform,
| declared that all products Of trusts
should be put upon the free list, anC
the last act of the democratic mem
bers of the house of Representatives
was to meet in caucus and reiterate
this declaration. Before giving a mo
ment's attention to this proposed
remedy I want to say that the republi
can party is WSuueQ 10 Ine genera
principle of protective tariff. but no
to any specific schedule. The tariff
should be revised from time to time
to meet changing conditions. and thu
reduction of rate. or placing an ar
ticle on the free list, is no evidence
much less no confession, that the orig
! inal rate was wrong when made. The
. republican party will modify the tariff
, whenever new conditions require sucl
modification, aud if in any specific cas-
change in the tariff will tend TO re
lieve the people from the oppression
of a trust without undue injury t.
,, American labor that change anught t.
be made. Revisions of the tariff, tend
ing as they do to unsettle business
should only be undertaken when tn
! wrong to be corrected is so seriou
that the Improvement contemplated
will COMPENSATE for whatever disturb
: ances to business will result from sucl
revision.
: Examine the Claims.
< "But our democratic friends conten,
e that they have discovered a genera
S principle which can be applied, an