The Corvallis times. (Corvallis, Or.) 1888-1909, 1903-01-14

full in everyway,"
/ You, Mr.. President, can have no
doubt of the existence Of such a
| conspiracy, but, If there should
Ichance to remain in your mind any
doubt, I suggest that you remove
lit by er.onally examining the evil
! dence which is placed in possession
Of your attorney-general in Octo-
4 ber.
| Sir, these men of the coal trust,
! enormously rich and politically in
| fuential as they may be, are Grim
| inals. they swell their great for.
tunes daily by deliberate law break-
ling.
. And while your attorney-genera
has remained SO strangely quies.
cent, these opulent and politically
Influential criminals have adopted
an old trust device for the double
/ purpose Of further plundering the
public and laying the basis for a
fraudulent defense against the evi-
dence now in the hands of the at
torney.general should he begin pro-
ceedings against them. The pre-
tended division between them and
the so-called Independent" opera
tors has been arranged, whereby
these so-calIed Independents" who
are utterly in the power Of the trust,
and so prepare the ground for the
false contention that the trusts not
monopoly, but legitimate bust
ness organization subject to compe.
fition. As the immediate result of
this counterfeit rivalry the price of
coal has been doubled.
As a citizen regardful Of the pub
lie welfare, Mr.. President, T respect
fully represent to you that the law
officer of your administration has
been, and is, reniss in his duty 10
not proceeding against the eeaf
trust on the evidence of ITS unlaw-
full charaeter supplied by me to
him last year.
By that failure in duty he has
encouraged the coal trust to take
advantage OF situation largely of
its own creation, not merely to- per-
sist in its customary pillage Of the
people, but 10 enormously in
crease the sale of its extertion.
The submission of evidence to
yoar attorney general and nay sp.
peal to him to apply the law to the
coap trust having up to this tinse
resulted in no action on his part, i
turn from him to you. - I
Ia your public speeches and mes-
sagesr Mr.. President, you Lave Oft
en- declared your convictien that
the great combinations of capital
commonly known as trusts, should
be subjected to the fullest pablioity
and brought withfa the regulating
control of the law, to the end that
the public, while profting by the
concentrations of capitalin business,
may be protected against the Incl
dental evil effects Of that coneentra-
ton.
submit, sir, there is no cenoen-
tratian of capital in the country
more contemptuoUs Of the Law than
the. coal trust. And I further sub
nit that the most effective method
of subjecting it to. publicity is to
bring it into court to answer for it's
illegal efenses.
The encouragement of the Unit
ed States is yoar servant. he must
obey your commands or give way
| to successor who will do so.
I appeal ts you, therefore, Mr..
President, to- command your attor-
ney-general to proceed against the
coal trust, both civilly and crimin-
ally on the evidence Of it's unlawful
acts laid before him by me or ex-
plain to the people of the United
States his reasons fer not doing 30.
| if reasons suitable for public avow-
al he has. ,+
The people of the United States,
President Roosevelt, have right to
expect ACTION from you against
the. trust in general and the coal
trust in particular. No conspicu-
lous man of your party has SO We;
hemeptly as yourself expressed a
desire to protect the public from
| spoilation from the hands of .com-
binations of predatory capital. And
YOU have well said that "words are
|good when backed up bydeeds, and
only 80.
! What better proof Of your SINGER.
{ ity could you give. what better deed
in support of your words could you
do, than by moving at once upon
!. this insolent lawbreaker and whole
sale robber of the people, the coal
trust.
AS a citizen I have done my duty