The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-12-25


brand new antitrust measure, replete with
prohibitions and penalties. This talk has
been made by people not familiar with the
sentiments Of President Roosevelt or of
Attorney General Knox, and not very ia
miliar with the fundamentals Of constitu
tional law.
Line Of important Decisions
1t is the opinion Of the attorney general
and of the other lawyers with whom
Roosevelt has taken counsel, that the only
way in which the evils Of industrial combi-
nation can be reached is through the in
terstate carrying companies The power
must be sought in the clause Of the con-
stitution which gives congress power to
regulate commerce with foreign nations
and among the several states" In other
words. 1t must be done under the same
grant of power which resulted in the in
terstate commerce commission.
There are already line of decisions by
the United States supreme court, result
Ing from the various suits which have
been brought under the interstate COM
MERGE act. Some of these decisions have
limited the power in this regard, but 9TH
ers have established clearly the existence
of certain powers; and there are suits still
pending which are expected to do much in
the way of defining and establishing this
power.
The Abuse OF Power.
Through the transportation companies
the great Industrial combina tions can be
reached. All the trusts, so called, are en-
gagged in Interstate commerce. For the
most part their abuses are abuses of the
fnstrumentalities of interstate commerce
namely, the railroads: Take the coal
trust as an example. 1t is engaged in in
terstate commerce; it takes coal to Illinois
from Pennsylvania; also to every other
state in the union. The mines are owned
or controlled by the railroads, because the
railroads secured a, monopoly Of the coal
carrying business; then they used this
rnonopolistiC power to. secure a. monopoly.
of the coal-digging and rnine-owning bust
ness. The original mine owners were
hemmed in by an all-powerful combina ton
of the railroads; there was no alternative
for them but to sell or be ruined Some
did one and some did the other.
In that case the beginning of the trouble
was in the abuse Of power by the coal
carrying railroads, the Observation-Disclosures
las the president calls them in his mes
sage) of interstate commerce. Had there
been proper regulation of interstate COM
merce, as carried OIL in this locality, there
could have been no monopolizing of the
coal-digging industry by corporations or
gantzed for carrying business. There
could have been no such monopoly as
would cut off the coal supply from the en-
tire country. There would have been no
such conditions of labor as exist in the
anthracite fields. There would have been
no such bitter struggle as took place this
fall. t.''' $500 500
The Power to "Regulate"
The power reserved in the federal gov
eminent to "regulate' interstate COM
merce is calculated to deal with just such
evils. If the president has power to put
his finger on the coal-carrying railroads,
;ol t. l..
commerce upon the manager Of the coal
road and the operator of the coal mine en-
gagged In such commerce, then he can soon
reach and terminate such condition as
occurred last summer. Attorney General
Knox and Secretary Of War Elihu Root
agree that there is constitutional warrant
for such legislation in that clause above
quoted. It Is not out Of order here to
advert to the fact that this was the mes
sage which Mr.. Root took to Mr.. Morgan
in New York, and which had such a won
derful persuasive effect. The prospect of
an immediate call to congress and the
enactment of a bill giving the president
such "regulative" power over the instru-
mentalities engaged in interstate COM
merce. caused a sudden eagerness for ar
bitraton. ~
But the coal trust Is cited merely as an
illustration. According to the presidents
view any trust would be equally amen
u, i
for it's very life on the transportation
companies. Its business is practically all
interstate commerce. Give the federal
government the power to regulate re-
strict or prohibit the carrying of it's prod
ucts from one state to another, and the
trust is at the mercy Of the federal au-
thority The Standard Oil monopoly is
another example which is familiar, and Of
which the same might be said So Of
the sugar trust, the steel trust. the grain
elevator trust, the leather tin plate trust.
salt or any Of score Of other trusts They
are all amenable to the regulation Of in
terstate commerce business. Many of
them are products Of abuses of the in
strumentalities 'of interstate commerce
They have been builded up by special ia
vors, and secret leagues with the rail-
roads, and the railroads have been in
strumentalities in their hands to suppress
competition and to perpetrate such evils
as stand in the general indictment against
trusts. ~
The Proposed Law.
The interstate commerce act. at pres
Ant, is confined to the regulation of rail-
roads; the proposed legislation would ex
tend the federal control to others engaged
In Interstate commerce. Under this class
ifcatlon would come all persons or cor
porations doing business or sending goods
beyond the boundaries Of one state The
law would seek to bring these persons OF
concerns into some moderate restraint
Inspection and publicity, as remedy for
fraudulent overcapitalization, prohibitions
on Determinations, and added regulation
Of monopolies would be the features OF
such act.
Et w. w. Jermane.