The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-04-04
DlNGLEY TARIFF NOT
 FATHER OF TRUSTS
Continued from First Pass)
of the great corporations and eorporat combinations.
lndustrlal= Commission.

or monopolistic practices. Some eighteen months ago the industrial commission, an able and nonpartisan body, reported To congress the result of their inVestlsa- ton of trusts and industrial eomplna- tions. One of the most important or their concl. sions was that diserimina- tions In freight rates and facilities were granted favored shippers by the railroads and that these determinations clearly tended toward the control of production and prices in many fields of business by large combinations. That this conclusion was justifiable was shown by the diselos- ures in the investigation or railroad methods pursued in the fall and winter of 19Ol-19O2, It was then shown that certain trunk lines had entered Into unlawful agreements as to the transportation of food products from the west to the Allan tic seaboard, giving a few favored ship pers rates much below the tariff charges imposed upon the smaller dealers and the general public These unjust practices had prevailed to such an extent and for so long a time that many smaller ship pers had been driven out of business, un- til practically one buyer of grain on each railway system had been able by his H. legal advantages to secure a monopoly on the line with which his secret compact was made; this monopoly enabling him to fix the price to both producer and consumer. Many of the great packing | house concerns were shown to be in com bination with each other and with most of the great railway lines, whereby they | enjoyed large secret concessions in rates and thus obtained a practical monopoly of the fresh and cured meat industry of the country. These fusions, though vio- lative of the statute had prevailed un- checked for so many years that they had l become entrenched in and interwoven with the commercial life of certain large l distributing localities although this was | of course at the expense of the vast body of law-abiding merchants, the general 1 public, and particularly of unfavored lo- l calities
 1 Under those circumstances 1t was a ser 1 lous problem to determins the wise course to follow In vitalizing law which had in part become obsolete or proved incap- able of enforcement. Of what the attor- ney-general did in enfUcing 1t I shall speak later The decisions of the courts upon the law had betrayed weaknesses and imperfectlons, some of them so seri- ous as to render abortive efforts to apply any effective remedy for the existing evils.
 Corporations.
 It is clear that corporations created for quasi public purposes, clothed for that reason with the ultimate power of the state to take private property against the will of the owner, hold their corpor- ate powers as carriers in trust for the fair impartial service of all the public. Favoritism in the use of such powers, untustly enriching some and unjustly inn poverishing others, discriminating in favor of some places and against others, is palpably yiolatiye Of plain principles of justice. Such practice unchecked is hurtful in many ways. Congress, hav- ing had it's attention drawn to the matter, enacted a most important anti-rebate law, which greatly strengthens the inter- state-commerce law. This new law pro- hibits under adequate penalties the giv- ing and as well the demanding or receiv- ing of such preferences and provides the preventative remedy or injunction. The vigorous administration of this law, and it will be enforced, will, 1t Is hoped af- ford substantial remedy for certain trust evils which have attracted public attention and have created public unrest
 This law represents noteworthy and important advance toward just and eff fective regulation of transportation. Moreover, its passage has been supple mented by the enactment of law to ex- pedite the hearing of actions of public moment under the antitrust act, known as the Sherman law and under the act to regulate commerce, at the request of the attorney-general; and furthermore addi- tional funds have been appropriated to be expended under the direction of the at torney-general in the enforcement of these laws.
 Advance in Legislation.
 All of this represents a great and sub stantial advance in legislation. But more important even than legislation is the p1 1ft1ita aiefF Fofi of tha Ior., .1- your attention for a moment to the way in which the law has been administered by the profund jurists and fearless pub lie servant who now occupies the posi- ton of attorney general MT. Knox. The constitution enjoins upon the President that he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and under this pro- vision the attorney-general formulated a policy which was in effect nothing but the rigid enforcement, by suits managed with consumate skill and ability, both of the antitrust law and of the imperfect provisions of the act to regulate com merce. The first step taken was the prosecution of fourteen suits against the principal railroads of the middle west, restraining them by injunction from fur ther violations of either the laws in ques- ton.
 Northern Securities Company.
 About the same time the case against the Northern Securities company was ini- tiated. This was a corporation organized under the laws of the state of New Jer- sey with capital of four hundred million dollars the alleged purpose being to con trol the Great Northern and the North ern Pacific railroad companies. two par allel and competing lines extending across the northern tier of the states from the Mississippi river to the Pacific ocean. Whatever the purpose it's consummation would have resulted in the control of the two great railway systems, upon which the people of the northwestern states were so largely dependent for their sup plies and to get their products to market, being practically merged into the New Jersey corporation. The proposition that these independent systems of railroads should be merged under a single control alarmed the people of the states concern ed, lest they be subjected to what they deemed a monopoly of interstate trans portation and the suppression of compe- tition. The governors of the states most deeply affected held a meeting to con slider how to prevent the merger becom- ing effective and passed resolutions call ing upon the national government to en- force the antitrust laws against the al- legged combination. When these resolu- tions were referred to tfe attorney-gener- al for consideration and advice. he report ed that in his opinion the Northern Se- curities company and its control of the railroads mentioned was combination in restraint of trade and was attempting a monopoly in violation of the national an- ti-trust law. Thereupon suit in equity, which Is now pending, was begun by the government to test the validity of this