The sun., 1903-04-18


, n,ua IN oil ea.cs send aamps Ior ihai pvrpnsr
Reasonable mbination, or Un-
reasonable Competition
which Shall 1t Be?
II viii be in vain to try to conceal or
minimize the consequences OF the Anti
Trust law Of 1890 under an interpreta-
tion by the Supreme Court brought to
light by the recent opinion and decree
in the Northern Securities case. 1t will
avail nothing TO point TO the prospect
Of great agricultural crops and the mar
vellous prosperity Of the country. A
condition produced by competitive poll
tioians, competitive political parties, and
the Government at Washington con-
fronts US. The exigency has not come OF
natural laws, but of mans doings 1t is
misleading to speak and write OF the
pending crisis as II only few very rich
men are troubled by the courts decree
that no dividends on the shares OF the
Great Northern or Northern Pacific rail-
way shall be paid to the Northern Securi-
ties Company. and that majority OF the
shares OF neither Of the two companies
shall be voted at shareowners' meetings.
1t is misleading because there are i'm
perilled the earnings, savings and in
comes OF numberless innocent persons,
men and women who honestly invested,
years ago, in the shares Of the two roads,
and with no thought OF doing an illegal
act exchanged their shares for those Of
the holding corporation.
How has the critical situation come to
pass? What created it? Which Of those
concerned has been ignorant, careless,
or recklessly selfish? Has the Govern
ment at Washington. or its laws. or dis
regard or false Interpretation OF those
lava created existing conditions? That
ID what innocent investo rs, the people
and the voters, will demand and have a
right to be told!
The Antitrust enactment OF June 20,
1890. popularity known as the Sherman
law is the starting point. Senator
SHERMAN described It's origin in the
second volume OF his Recollections
and left little doubt that 1t was to be
applied only to production and not TO
transportation. Nobody was quite sat-
isfied with it, yet under public clamor
only ono Senator voted against 1t.
Senator HoAR insists that he and
Senator EpMuNps were tho draftsmen
Of the law; that Senator SHERMAN had
little or nothing to do with it, and that it
was enacted substantially in the Ian
suage In which II left the draftsmen's
hands. Senator EDMUNDs has been re-
ported (the correctness Of the report
has never beer questione6 as declaring
that he never intended the enactment
TO be applied to railways. and Senator
HoAB has repeatedly said in the Senate
that he had never thought the law In.
cluded and denounced every restraint
Of trade, whether good or bad.
Last autumn each Of the two political
parties, through its Congressional Com
mittee, comprising member from each
State. published. as is now the usage,
a Campaign Text Book Therein the
Antitrust law and its administration
was, by the managers Of both political
parties, made the prominent topic.
The Republican book, referring to the
attitude Of the parties regarding trusts,
said:
The Democratic party looks to constant axtta-
ton. with no restrictive legislation: the Repubi-
can party made such restriction will prevent
arbitrary sdvsnec In prices. or reduction In wages.
through exclusive control
Il refers to the history Of the Anti
Trust law OF 1890, and adds:
TIE Cleveland Administration failed 70 restrain
any combination Of capital; by use OF this isv.
President CLEVELAND. In his last annual message
TO Congress- expressed the opinion that the Federal
Government could not suppress the evil OF trusts.
and he looked 70 adaptation of the tarn and 70
the state Legislatures for the only possible relief
The Republican text book claims ex-
elusive credit for the legislation of 1890.
The Democratic Campaign Book,
on the other hand, ridiculed the Repub-
lican pretension Of exceptional fidelity
to the work Of suppressing trusts; in
sisted that the Sherman law had been .
failure; that under it trusts had devel-
oped in number, extent and power a.
never before; claimed that Mr.. CLEvE-
LANDS Administration had begun the
most important of the Government prose-
cutions under the law and that the Re-
publicans had not put in force the crimi-
nal sections Of the statute. The text
book made q striking display Of l4i, ,5S3
out Of 100000 miles of railway in the
United States consolidated since the
enact nent of the Antitrust Law into
seven groups, known now as the Wander
.bilt group, the Hartman group, tho Gould
group. the Pennsylvania group, the New
Haven group, and 80 on.
Those two publications are important
because they exhibited in 1907 the opin-
ions Of the controlling politicians Of the
two parties regarding the topic referred
to- Therein the leaders Of both are
seen, down to McKINLEYs death, throw
ing the law Of 1890 and suits under it
as tub to the antitrust whale.
After those two publications last au-
tumn President ROOSEVELT began his
antitrust campaign with his Provi-
dence speech in Rhode Island.