Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1903-03-11
a Program of "Ifs."

oslty ana n great show Of opposition
on the part of the trusts-all the while
keeping their faces straight before the
public and looking as serious and de-
termined as possible-a law giving the
new Department of Commerce and La
Dor the power to investigate and gath
er information about certain great cor
porations, or trusts. and to report such
data to the President That this law
is meaningless and harmless, SO far as
the trusts are concerned, no one with
a thimbleful of brains and an ounce
of political experience can doubt.
There is a preponderance of evidence
against it, both internal and external.
In the first place, observe the Ifs" In
the law itself:
If the Secretary of this new depart
ment is SO inclined lie may fish for
facts in regard to trusts.
If the Chief of the bureau of corpora
lions in this new department is not
owned by the trusts. and if he Is ca
pable, and If lie has competent and
honest assistants, and If they fish in
the right place, they may obtain valu-
able data.
If, when valuable data is obtained,
the President wishes. he may secure It.
If, then, the President has time to
read 1t, and sees fit to do so. he may
make public some or all of this data;
or
If he thinks best. lie may simply
make recommendations to Congress-
for legislation to regulate trusts.
II. then, Congress is not controlled
by the allied trusts and railroads, II
may, in the course of time, pass new
legislation to curb trusts.
If, then, the Attorney General is so
inclined, and II he has time, he may
apply for new legislation to the Offend
ing trusts.
If, then, the evidence is sufficient
the courts may, in the years to come
decide that the new legislation is con-
stitutional and that some particular
trust has been guilty of illegal prac-
tees.
If, then, the trust has not already
changed its form or ceased to exist. 1t
may pay a nominal fine, and in the
course of eight or ten years-as did
the Standard Oil trust = slightly
change its name and location and con-
tinue its business of plundering the
people, MS will also the hundreds of
other trusts against which suits will
not be brought.
WIKI such program of offs" in
front of him.. is 1t surprising that Mr..
John d. Rockefeller got frightened, be-
came hysterical and telegraphed all
the Senators whose names lie could
remember not to pass such drastic leg
islation?
Besides this internal there is ample
external evidence to condemn this new
legislation.
1t apparently has not occurred to
our Republican trust-busting legisla-
tors that we have had four years. ex-
perience with n Republican institution
having all and greater powers t;.ssn
the new department will have. Tue
Industrial Commission was created in
June, 1893, and sat until February
1902. 1t investigated, or pretended to
investigate, numerous trusts, and made
nineteen volumes of reports averaging
nearly 900 pages each. 1t made some
milk and water recommendations all
of which have been ignored by the Re-
publican body which created it. If
this great commission. composed OF
Senators. Representatives and indus.
trial experts, and having full power tc
Inquire into all Notwithstanding
railroads, which are debarred in the
new department-acc moth
| ing. after four years of nrduous effort
and with high salaries, what may we
expect of this department, with limited
powers to investigate and publish
facts? Nothing, surely, except that II
will satisfy our President and may
| prevent effective antitrust Legislation
| and thus gain time for the trusts
every such years time being wortl
| hundreds of millions to the trusts, II
so, 1t will have accomplished its sin
lister object.
More external evidence is the fact
that all the so-called ANTITRUST legis
lation that has passed this year has
passed while the Senate was deadlock
cd by the Statehood bill, with Senator
| Quay in charge. One word from Quay
would have prevented this bill. If the
trusts had asked IT, Senator Quay
would have said that word, for lie is
par excellence, the representative OF
the trusts.-Byron w. Holt.
Weeping Patriots.
When Secretary Shaw makes
,peech, any one. even the most unso
phistlcated, would mark him as a pa
triot of the Flanagan school. He exult.
over the old flag and sheds tears of 10!
at the prospect of an appropriation ant
revels in spells. His picture of the Fill
pinos weeping over the chances of bein,
deprived of Governor Taft and their de