Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1903-11-19
EXPOSING THE TRUSTS.
Court Proceedings Have Done More
for Publicity Than Congress
and the President.

The exposure of the way the ship
building trust was wrecked by Schwab
and others has been shown up by the
receiver appointed by the court and
more than verified by the evidence adj
duced at the court proceedings. Re-
ceiver Smith characterizes the wreck
ing of the trust as IAN artistic
swindle" and recommends the court
that the swindlers be prosecuted and
made to disgorge. There is not much
doubt that other corporations and
trusts have been handled in the same
way and more exposures may be ex-
pected in the near future. The as
phalt trust was manipulated in a
similar manner and many Of the rail-
roads have been ~reorganized on a like
basis, but the receivers in the railroad
cases were friendly to the wreckers,
so M punishment of the robbers was
attempted and they were allowed to
get away with the swag. The receiver
of the asphalt trust was not so ccm-
placent and Gen. Greene, the repub-
lican commissioner Of police of New
York city, is being prosecuted by the
receiver with a strong probability that
he will have to disgorge some of the
ill-gotten gains. There are a good
many other trust magnates on the
ragged edge and with hard times COM
ing on and business decreasing, more
of the promoters Of these over-capital-
lied corporations will be taken into
court and asked to explain where all
the money has gone to. Thus the
quarrels of trust promoters over the
cold remains of some of the trusts is
doing more than congress or president
for publicity"
The public are not only swindled by
extortionate trust prices to enable
dividends to be paid on excessive
capitalization, but those who have
been silly enough to buy trust stocks
and bonds find they have a de-
preciated security for the good
money invested. If President Roose-
welt had been half as strong in pushing
publicity" as in some other matters,
what a vast saving might have been
effected for the dupes of the trust
promoters. The last congress passed
a law for publicity of trust transac-
tons, provided an army of clerks and
appropriated the money to pay them,
but left the option of publication of
what might be discovered to the presi-
dent. The bureau of corporations I'M
der which this work is being carried
on, has for months been engaged with
the large force of clerks in unravcllng
trust transactions, but the president
has not authorized the publication of
any discoveries that have been made,
SC the public are still paying the piper
but have received nc protection.
Probably there will be no exposure of
the devious ways of the dad trusts
until after the national election, as the
needs Of the republican party in the
coming campaign will require dona-
tons from the bad trusts" and hold
ing over the heads of the trust mag
mates the threat of exposure of their
methods would be the most effective
way of making them donate literally
to the republican campaign fund.
President Roosevelt has been posing
as the annihilator Of the bad trusts .
but this protection of their interests
by not publishing their doings does
not ~substantiate the title of the trust
killer. There be strange political hap
penings these days and more strange
still may be expected before the next
e1pctiOn