Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-08-27
OUTSIDE POINT OF VIEW
The Trust Corrective Influences al

The Trust Corrective influences at
Work.
Those of us who most fear the dam
ser TO society of the trust, the combine
ana the immense aggresations of mon
ey under any style or name can take
heart again. For with TIE rapid growth
OF these institutions is coming to the
front the factors that will eliminate the
/ evils in them and preserve the good
| mat all must admit lies n a greater or
less degree in the modern co-called
combine" First and foremost of the
working forces in this line is that of
publicity. The law establishing the bu-
reau of commerce was the first practi-
ca, STEP Now duly authorized United
| States officials have the power fully
conferred on them of inquiring into the
heretofore secret workings of all in
|corported interests. Now an official can
! demand access to the books and find
out exactly the earnings of the Stand
ard Oil Company. They can not only
ascertain what salaries ana dividends
they pay but also the wages paid for
labor. Power exists To-Day to oblige q
railroad corporation not only to give its
!
stock has been watered. The coal bar
ons in the year 1903 may be called upon
to state under oath not only what it
costs TO mine coal. but also to whom
| the profits go. Then 20 this possible
| legal publicity is to be added the many
magazine articles giving the history of
the formation of these trusts, the
profits Of these corporations, the saia-
ries paid and the iniQuitous proceed
Iings of such combinations from their
| inception to the present day. Such IN
formation the public IS also getting
from the daily press and of a nature so
reliable that few denials come from the
Imllonaires. So that il an abused
public fails to act, fails TO correct glar-
ing evils, they can blame only them
selves. For 1t is preposterous to sup
! pose that a Rockefeller carries on his
tremendous operations only by the aid
and consent of the American people.
| And that the people are already at
work to check this accumulation OF
millions in the hands of the few is APP
parent Taxation. direct and indirect,
seems at the present Time the best
procedure For instance. the state o.
New York has legally enacted that cor
porations may be in possession OF an m
tangible unseen and heretofore untaN-
able interest which for better name
can be called the good will, and that
such possession has a cash value whlch
can be and Is now taxable. An Illus
tration in point is a street car COM
uany which has an exclusive right TO
toperate on a certain street In crowded
city That exclusive privilege, worth
millions to stockholders, certainly Is an
asset far in value in advance of cars,
rails or operating plant. To tax this
privilege would not have been dreamed
of in the early history of this country.
Again, we find the legls 'ature of Ne
braska passing a law compelling all
corporations doing business in that
state TO file their articles of incorpora-
ton in Nebras ska. and TO pay fee for
the same, which is estimated to pay OH
the floating debt of the state in a very
short time We now notice cities all
over the country guarding new fran
chises with much more care ana geiler-
ally inserting clauses compelling GER
tain percentage of receipts to be pald
irtn the city treasury. Also with TINS
a
tons from charging the pubic more
than named prices for product orIserv-
ice. In many states an inheritance tax
lessons the wealth of the heirs OIL the
moneyed class, and while for some un-
known reason the American pubic
still frowns upon the collection OF an
income tax, it is only question or
very short time when our biiiionaires
will be compelled to return each year
to the public some of taeir vast accu-
INFLATED gains And the American pun
lie can be depended upon to devise new
methods to distribute this accunula-
ton of individuals to the people from
whence it comes. 1t can be SAID at ths
nrasent there is little or no desire on
the part of the people to prevent these
gatherings of dollars into few bank
accounts. but there is most oeclesu
tendency to compel the owners Thereon
ia return some of these dollars. 80
that we may look for more wise legis-
lation along this line