The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-01-24
The ANTI-TRUsT BILL.

The indications are that there viii be
an antitrust bill passed by this Con-
gress, Notwithstanding there IS less
than five weeks of the session remain
ing. The bill which the sub-commit-
tee of the judiciary Committee has
reported to the full committee has been
very carefully prepared and contains
the views of Attorney General Knox.
1t is the plan of those who are the
leaders in the movement 10 pass an
antitrust bill at this session to rush
this bill through the House without a
great deal of debate with the hope that
the Senate will take it up and pass
it without delay.
The President is quoted as saying
that if this Congress does not
pass an antitrust bill he will call an
extra session of the next Congress for
the express purpose of enacting anti
trust legislation. There is stronS OPP
position in Congress to an extra ses-
sion, and that fact will increase the
| chances of the passage of the bill
which the committee of the Judi
clay Committee has prepared.
We published the chief features of
the bill yesterday. 1t provides for
publicity. for the punishment of those
who cut rates or grant rebates or who
make combinations for the purpose of
preventing competition and to create
monopolies. 1t gives the Interstate
Commerce Commission the same power
to investigate charges against all COR
poratons doing an interstate business
that it now has to investigate charges
against interstate railroads. and it
prevents articles made by corporations
which violate it's provisions from be-
ing transported from one state to an
other
This of course is only the barest
outline of its provisions, but 1t is suf-
ficient to show that it contains moth
ing that is harmful TO business honesty
conducted. 1t has been pointed out
by Attorney General Knox that over
capitalization is one of the greatest
evils of trusts. In fact, it as the evil
from which most of the other evils
flow. DISQUALIFICATION means that
a purpose exists to cheat investors, and
at the same time to gouge the public
in order to make dividends. If it were
not for overcapitalization the high
prices, of which there is so much COM
plant, would not, in most instances,
exist Being organized upon an honest
basis it would not require so much
to pay fair dividends. Hence, prices
would be more reasonable.
OF course the bill will have opposi-
ton. and efforts may be made to modi-
fly it in important particulars, but it
is evident now that there is a purpose
to put the bill through at this ses-
sion. The President and his advisers
are alarmed by the feeling there is
throughout the country against trusts.
They see that the people believe the
Republican party is so allied with
trusts that it doesn't dare to antago-
nize them. They also understand that
there is a strong and growing belief
that the way to remedy trust evils
it to remove the protective principle
from the tarffic on trust made articles,
and they fear that there will come a
sufficiently strong demand for tariff
reform to carry the Democratic party
into power. Hence their anxiety for
antitrust egislation-anti-tr trust legis-
lation that will have a tendency to
check the sentiment in favor of re-
form of the tariff. Antitrust legis-
lation is certainly on the programme