The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-04-17
MERRIAM ENDORSES TRUSTS
HAVE AN EFFECT LIKE BALLAST
 IN fl SHIP.

Concentration .n a Few Hands of so
 Large a Number of industrial Com
 csrns Steady the siiuntton- Nat UM-
 mtndfuI, However, of the Evils of
 Greed for Ownership or the Dangrrs
 of UnItmtied Power.
 St. Paul, April 16.-William R. Mer- riam, formerly governor of Minnesota, and until recently United States census commissioner was the principal speak CT before the St. Paul Credit Mems as- sociation banquet in this city tonight. His subject was "The Present Business Condition and Financial Outlook" Af- ter speaking briefly of the unprecedent- ed prosperity and the great industrial 1 combinations he said, in part:
 T cannot help coming to the conclu- | sion that the concentration in few | hands of so large a number of the in- I dustrial concerns throughout the coun- try must have an effect like ballast on ship-to steady the situation; that the evolution has resulted in placing the management of these large concerns in 1 the hands of men of the highest experi- ence and of great financial strength. This Is emphasized by the further fact 1 that certain industries, like the iron anl steel, controlled as they are by a comparatively few men owning the raw material and the transportation facili- ties, and finally producing the manu- i factured article, must be in better situation to restrict the output and ad- just supply to demand, with less of loss, than could possibly be expected were their constituent companies resolved into original ownership, with conse- quent competition and cost of admins tration.
 T am not unmindful of the necessity of corporation to our modern methols of commerce, but I desire distinctly to disavow any disposition to underestl- mate the possible evils which may over shadow the state from the greed oi ownership or the dangers that may threaten the public by reason of the unlimited power that follows the mass ing of capital, as well as the disaster which inevitably comes to the citizen 1T ! lut dLlGIIlpI ttIlICl Io HL4i1C t"ti or to destroy an unfortunate rival.
 After speaking Of various attendan
 evils he continued:
 Many of these great corporations dt
 not deal in articles that can be consld cred monopolies, but the very mass O. their capital and their ability to de stroy, practically give them the broad
 est field for operations, and I canno
 help coming to the conclusion that un der the opinion, promulgated by th'
 court of appeals some few days since
 in which it is distinctly pointed ou - that while the right of private owner - ship is bestowed upon every citizen f this country under the constitution, n man and no corporation shall be per = mitted to utilize that ownership to tn h extent of injuring his neighbor or men 0 acing the public good. I am right il ] this contention, no corporation do1ni e business in the states can destroy it e rival by a disastrous cut in prices, o - raise prices for products to the poin e of oppression. Hence, the conclusion r that the courts in this country, whil
 recognizing the right of corporations t transact their legitimate business, in n
 way restraining them, yet, WheneVe
 they touch the citizen in such a wa,
 as to prove a public menace, in tha
 moment become, enemies to the com
 monwealth, disobedient to the law an
 are liable to be destroyed. The conclu
 sion is irresistible that in the centra
 government rests the power to deter
 mine that the individual or the cor poration transacting any bushes
 which is interstate in it's characte cannot hold, maintain or operate an property that results in injury to tn
 publiv."
 T71