The Farmington times and herald. (Farmington, St. Francois Co., Mo.) 1902-1905, 1903-01-01
SENATOR VEST ON TRUSTS.
The First Step to Correct trust Evils
Is to Remove Tariff Protec.
tIon--Ths Sherman Law
inadequate.

public Senator Vest talks vlgOr-
ously of the trusts, the Sherman
law and the tariff. The Senator's
health is better somewhat than it
recently has been, and although
the burden of wears and sickness
have left their mark heavily upon
him, his mind has lost little of the
vigor that gave. its possessor rank
as one of the intellectual giants of
the Senate.
THE COUHTRy's GREATEST MENACE.
The greatest menace that
threatens this country TO. day,
said Senator Vest, is in combna.
tons Of capital that have monop.
oily for their object. That these
trusts, as they have come to be
known, owe their being largely, if
not solely, to the protective tariff
should be eviden. to any student
vi tCDuOhtt tlutStlDllS.
The existence of a munop0l,
depends on the ability of n com.
bination of capital to control the
output and distribution of com.
modify. That sufficient capital
can be combined to control II com
modify in this country we have
seen; but there has not been and
it does not seem there could be
combination sufficiently gigantic
to control the worlds output of
any of the great necessaries of life.
PRoTECTIoNIsTs ARGUMENT.
In trying to refute the argument
that the tariff is responsible for
trusts in this country, it is declared
that equally great trusts exist in
free trade England. T is is false,
absolutely. There are in England
number of trusts, which control
the supply of certain articles of
commerce, but none of these arti-
Giles is Il great necessity OF life Of
the general production.
The English monopolies are
possible because the articles they
control are of such limited produc.
ton that they have been able to
gain possession of the sources of
supply. No monopoly can exist
in great staple commerce where
competition is open to the world.
This being the case, it seems
very clear that monopolies in com
mercial staples is possible in the
United States only because compc.
titlon is not open to the world,
and the protective tariff is con.
victed of responsibility. The first
step, then. in an honest attempt to
correct the evils from which we
suffer, il to remove the protection
the tariff gives to monopolies, and
force them into world competition
But the Republican party will
not take this step. The protective
tariff is an intcrdependent mutual.
ty OF greed Let an attempt be made
to remove the protection afforded
one industry, and every industry
that feeds on proection will cry
out in pain. Like flock of En-.
glish sparrows that comes noisily
to the succOr of one that has
emitted cries of distress, the entire
protection brood will join in II
chorus of protest against any
change in existing tariff schedules. |
DINGLEY's ADMISSION.
When the tariff was under con.
sideration in the House of Repre-.
sentatives MIR. Dingley, the ac.
credited author of the measure,
admitted the rates were unneces-
sarily high, but declared the sched-
ulcs were fixed as basis from
which to negotiate favorable com |
mercial treaties with other nations. |
Yet the Dingley rates are now held |
sacred. and their continuance is
demanded by the interests that
have CAUTIONED on them.
Refusal to reduce the tariff |
rates leaves Congress with but
weak weapons with which to fight
monopoly. The act of 1890,
known enormously rs the Sherman
anti trust law, represents the limit
of the constitutional authority of
Congress to regulate trade between
States, and only in the regulation
of trade between the States can
Congress touch the trusts.
1t is absurd that the name of
the late Senator Sherman should
be coupled to a measure which he
consplcuously opposed aud refused
to vote for. In 1890 Mr.. Sherman
from the Senate Finance
Committee n bill designed to reg.
ulate trusts. but it was clearly I'M
constitutional in that it sought to
take from the States their right to
regulate their domestic commerce
The bill was referred TO the Judi
ciary Committee, of which Senator
Edmunds was chairman and of
which | was n member. The Ju-
dietary Committee took up the
question and reported the anti
trust measure. which became law.
but which embodied none of the
essential features of the Sherman
law. When the bill came before
the Senate. Mr.. Sherman opposed
i and, rather than vote fol- its pas
sage, got up and left the Senate
chamber.
EVASION OF ACT OF 1890.
This act requires the establish
nent of two primary facts in order
20 make prosecution of a trust sue
,essful The first is that the goods
Ire manufactured or produced by a