The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1903-01-16


possession OF your attorney general in
October.
Sir. these men of the coal trust, nor
as they may be, are CRIMINALS. They
swell their great fortunes daily by e
lberate law-breaking.
And while your attorney general has
remained SO strangely ~Quiescent these
opuleut and politically influential GRIM
inals have adopted an old trust device
for the double purpose of further plum
derfnS the public and laying the basis
for a fraudulent defense against the
evidence now in the hands of the attor-
ney general should he begin proceed
ings against them. A pretended d.
vision w them INT the so-called
Independent" operators has been ar
ranged, whereby these so-called indie
pe~ndents," who are utterly in the power
OF the trust, shall seem to compete with
the trust, and so prepare the ground for
a false contention that the trust is not
a monopoly, put a legitimate business
organization subject to competition. AS
the immediate result of this counterfeit
rivalry the price of coal has been
doubled. .
As a citizen ~regardful Of the public
welfare, Mr.. President, ] respectfully
represent to you that the law officer OF
your administration has been, and is,
remiss in his duty in not proceeding
against the coal trust on the evidence
of its unlawful character supplied by
me to him last e
BY that failure in duty he has en-
couraged the coal trust to tax advan-
tage OF a situation largely OF its own
creation not merely to persist In its
customary piiiage OF the people, but to
enormously increase the scale OF its ex-
tortion.
The submission of evidence to your
attorney general and my appeal to him
to apply the law to the coal trust hay
ing Up to this time resulted in no action
on his par ! turn from him to you.
In your public speeches and mes
sases, Mr.. President, you rave often de-
clared your conviction hat the great
combinations OF capital commonly
known as trusts should be subjected to
the fullest publicity and brought within
the regulating control of the law, TO the
end that the public. while profrtng by
the concentration Of capital in business,
may be protected against the Incidental
evil effects OF that concentration.
1 submit, sir, that there is no other
combination OF capital in the country
more c~ontemptuous of law than the coal
trust. And I further submit that the
most effective method of subjectina It
to publicity is to bring il into court to
answer for its Illegal offences.
The attorney general OF the United
States is your servant He must obey
your commands or give way to q sue
cessor who will do so.
appeal to you, therefore, Mir. Presi-
dent, to command your attorney gen.
eral to proceed against the coal trust,
both civiily and eririnafiy, on the evil
dence of it's unlawful acts laid before
him by me, or explain to the people OF
the United States his reasons for not
doing SO, if eason suitable for public
avowai he has.
The people OF Che United States,
President Roosevelt, have q right to
expect ACTION from you against the
rus in general and the coal trust in
particular. No conspicuous public man
of your party has so vehemenuy rs
yourself expressed a desire TO protect
the public from spoliation at the hands
OF combinations OF predatory capital.
And you have well said that words are
good when backed up by deeds, and
only So"
What better proof Of your sincerity
could you give, what better deed in sup
port of your words could you do, than
by moving at once upon this i~nsolenc
lawbrsakeT and wholesale robbec of the
people. the GAL trust?
AS, a citizen I have done my duty in
supplying evidence for the attack TO
your attorney general AS a citizen I
you when time has shown his iayincibie
reluctance 10 act
The coal trust continues to exist and
continues to plumber because the laws
are not enforced
For that acknowledgements Of the
laws, Mr.. President your attorney gen
eral is responsible 70 you, and IL you
uphold him in his refusal 70 act
against the o = L YOU viii be re-
sponsible TO the American people.
Respectfully,
William Randolph Hearst.