Arizona republican., 1903-04-04

suffering great injury in their business l from the methods of southern railroads i in the handling and transportation CT cotton. They alleged that these rail- 1 roads, by combined action under a | pooling arrangement to support their i rate schedules, had denied to the ship pers to elect over what roads their commodities should be shipped and that by dividing upon a fixed basis the cotton crop of the south all induce ments to compete in rates for the transportation thereof was elimina ted.
 Proceedings were instituted by the attorney-general under the anti trust
 law, which resulted in the destruction of the pool and in restoring to the growers and shippers of the south the right to ship over any road they elect
 ed, thus removing the restraint upon
 the freedom of commerce.
 Tn November, 1902, the attorney
 general directed that q bill for an in
 junction be filed in the United States circuit court at San Francisco against
 the Federal Salt company-a corpora ton which had been organized under
 the laws of an eastern state, but had its main office and principal place of business in California-and against !: number of other companies and per sons constituting what was known as
 the salt trust. These injunctions wer. to restrain the execution Of certain contracts between the Federal Salt company and the other defendants, by
 which the latter agreed neither to inn 1 port. buy or sell salt, except from and
 to the Federal Salt company, and not tr,a salt west of the Mississippi river dur | ing the continuance of such contracts
 As the result ofthese agreements the price of salt had been advanced about four hundred per cent. A temporary 1 injunction order was obtained, which the defendants asked the court to mod
 ify on the ground that the antitrust
 law had no application to contracts | for purchases and sales within a state. l The circuit court overruled this con- tention and sustained the government s position. This practically concluded
 the case, and it is understood that in consequence the Federal Salt con-
 pany is about to be dissolved and that
 no further contest will be made.
 l 'The above is a brief outline of tha
 most important steps, legislative and
 administrative. taken during the past eighteen months in the direction of solving. so far as at present it seems
 practicable by national legislation or
 administration to solve, what we call
 the trust problem. They represent a
 sum of very substantial achievement
 They represent a successful effort tC
 devise and apply real remedies; an ef-
 fort which so far succeeded because il
 was made not only with resolute pur-
 pose and determination, but also in q spirit of common sense and justice, as far removed as possible from rancor
 hysteria. and unworthy demagogic ap- peal. In the same spirit the laws vii continue to be enforced. Not only is the legislation recently enacted effective but in my judgment it was impractic- able to attempt more. Nothing o1 , value is to be expected from ceaseles. l agitation for radical and extreme leg , islat ton. The people may wisely. ant , with confidence, await the result: , which are reasonably to be expected . from the enforcement of the law which have recently been placed upol r the statute books. Legislation of f general and indscrininate characte s would be sure to fail, because it woul,
 involve all interests in a common ruin 6 or because it would not really reacl
 any evil. We have endeavored to pro f vide discriminatln adaptation of tn
 remedy to the real mischief.
 = THE DESTRUCTION CURE.
 - Many of the alleged remedies ad T ! VOcated are of the unDlea Sa ntly draS