The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1903-09-01

&~%@@f
| the legislators. Whatever may be the
| ultimate outcome OF the Northern Sc
| c~uritIes case IN the Supreme Court or the
/ United States, Is there any man who ex
poets the Great Northern and the North
| ern Pacific Railroads ever 10 be compe-
| titors againe The courts may order q
| distribution OF the securities held by the
| Northern Securities Company as much as
| they viii. and tde securities VIII nc di>-
tributed IN accordance with the decree
OF the court, but within tWentyiolr
! hours after their distribution they Will
find their way back into a mammoth safe
with a mammoth NAV IN a certain bu!id-
ing corner OF Wall and Broad Streets.
| New York. 1t l. quite possible that the
principle OF the Northern Securities case
would apply 10 the combination winch
now exists under the name OF the United
states Steel Corporation, and II IS very
likely that an action similar TO that
brought in the Northern Securities cases
viii be brought against the United States
steel Corporation and with a Ike result.
The court may order a distribution OF
the securities that the United States
Steel Corporation holds among the sep
arate corporations that have pooled thelr
issues to form the greater company, but
does any one believe that these separate
corporations viii ever engage III cOm?etl-
| ton with one another again. That same
mammoth safe, with that same mammoth
nav, would rake in the securities faster
than court receivers could distribute
them.
Competition is the force that we must
save. The destruction of competition i
the evil that must be prevented. We
might cover the statute books OF the
United States and OF every State IN the
Union With sherman Antitrust laws
made a hundred times more drastic, and
the elimination OF competition Us an IN
d~ustrial force would go on just the same.
if not in one way then IN some other. As
long as competition is economically un-
profitable and combination pays dividends,
competition viii disappear and omblna
ton take its place.
We must make combinations u%nproit-
able.
How?
i. We can tax them to death; or, il
that IS too radical a remedy, we can
tax them until their growth and enlarge
ment is impeded.
There are constitutional provisions re
During direct taxations to be uniform.
and in view of these provisions it is pro-
baby impossible to discriminate IN the
matter Of direct taxation against cor
porations holding large amounts OF taxa
BE property. The rate of direct taxa
ton must be uniform.
There Is, however, q franchise tax I'M
posed by most of the States upon cor
Dorations at the time of their Incorpora-
ton and annually thereafter. This fran
chiee tax is IN almost all States IN some
way graded SO as to tax the small cor
p~oration ct a higher rate than the large
one. The first million dollars Jays a
higher rate than subsequent millions. In
our judgment the graduation should be
continued, but it should be a grading up
instead of down. We would leave, per
haps, the first hundred thousand free and
the first million cheap, and raise the
rate with each succeeding million. The
United states Steel Corporation now has
a capitalization of something over one
Thousand millions. The gradatlon stages
might be slow and easy enough TO please
the most conservative and yet result IN
a taxation OF ten per cent. upon the last
hundred millions. How long would the
United States Steel Corporation continue
under that system Of taxation?
Most great combinations, probably all
the combinations from which the people
have anything to lear, are engaged IN
some way In Interstate commerce. The
Constitution OF the United States gives
Congress jurisdiction to regulate COM
merce among the several states THIS
clause Of the Constitution IS broad and
comprehensive enough to enable Congress
to limit or restrict such or to
impose such regulations and limitations
upon 1t as it sees fit. Congress may en-
act that no corporation shall engage IN
interstate commerce. The greater IN
cludes the less, and it may prescribe what
corporations shall engage IN such COM
merce and may rule out any corporation
unless 1t be chartered by the United
states itself and then requIre as one OF
the conditions Of such charter that 1t
shall pay a graded license tax to the
United States government such as now
| imposed by some of the States except
| graded the other way. This would make
| such taxation uniform throughout the
United States and prevent the evils which
might result from a varying rate imposed
by the several States.
2. We can compel them to render bet
| ter and cheaper service.
If the combination of the Northern Pa
cific and the Great Northern Railroads IS
q great enough public disaster to have
warranted the attention which 1t has at
t1acted, it could have been prevented
HULL easter tl1du by a uuUuIGU SllGl lldA
Antitrust laws by a single United States
statute that required any corporation en-
gagged IN interstate to reduce
its rates fifty per cent. to and from every
| point where competition has been pre-
vented by combination, merger, common
control or agreement. a corporation
supplying the city with gas could be com
PEELED TO furnish it cheaper, or to furnish
better gas and to furnish it under more
satisfactory conditions, II by combination
with other corporations or agreement
with them they destroyed CT limited com
petition.
Congress can enact that any person,
corporation or Individual who engages
IN interstate commerce must furnish its
services or supply its goods at lower rates
wherever by any combination, merger or
agreement competition IS prevented than
where competition IS left free. Every
important transportation company and
every important producing organization