New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-02-27

pronounced the Northern Securities Company
illegal, and the ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF the United
States. who Is the Presidents legal adviser,
ana whose experience and associations made IL
certain that be would take as favorable a view
OF me corporation as possible reported mat Il
MaS IA violation OF the sherman law Ll4ef
these circumstance. 10 complain of the Presi-
dent action IN this matter is 10 complain that
ne has enforced the law. II the PLAIN truth may
De TOLD the whole basis OF your objection 10
ms course in respect 10 the Northern Securities
Ease Is Just this. that he has enoeaN ored 20 en-
Lorce the law. When confronted with taat
pIoposlllon you declare that OF course You nave
no objection 10 the enforcement Of the law, bGL
mar had il been another President he would
maze sent word OF his intention 10 enforce tle
Jaw so that, IN sporting phrase, those 10 Or
affected might have had tine Ito get 10 cover
Tins answer. think you must see. is impossl-
oie and ridiculous.
a PATRIOTIC SERVICE.
maintain that however the Northern securi-
ties case may be decided. the President in d.
recliug X 10 be brought has done greet and
direct service. Indirectly, 4 thInIA, he has done
al even greater service, Tor he mas SHOWN t-e
plaln people THAI muItl-LnlI Onalres. trusts
ana ~ az street influences are just alneDai-
bic TO the as any BODY else ana that nobody
need be afraid OF them. Il is curious IN how
many quarters the notion that al immense prl-
FaJe fortune IS a public menace has found lodge
eat capital. destroyed IL, or boarded it. or in
some OLlcr way prevented IL from dong lis
work in The world. OF course. that cannot pc
DuL the nolon Is so widespread ana the ATTITUDE
OF SO many OF TIE plutocracy is IA so many ways
immoral tnat an antl-capitalistic feeling has
been aroused which is real danger What
Go 4 mean by immoral you viii ask " ny.
briefly, the inCapacity and uuwiIllnguess OF the
very rich TO consider any mortal or spiritual
thing except their own objects at any given
moment Thereby they nave convinced the ma
1Orlty Of their countryrlen that they essen
ua4y noi "a law aolding class do not say
tney are Llousht 70 De altogether laWless, oe-
cause they spend tine and money 10 ascertain
the limits within which they may go; but they
are thought 10 be restrained in the pursuit OF
an object only by the fear OF external conse-
quences, and not by any innate sense Of right,
or or what is due 10 other people. This is 10
oe immoral and the negative manifests itself
ID many ways Most boards OF directors OF
companies which operate public franchises. for
instance. have developed corporate conscience
the late Norvin Green 1 believe invented the
eXpresslo n-which enables the members OF a
board collectively TO Go things or 10 permit
things Of which they would individually be
ashamed and afraid.
Those OF US who have ever been behind the
scenes ia Wall Street know that the unvarnished
comments Of the leaders upon each other album
dainty justify my statement Of the basis and
scope Of the general opinion. No demag0gue
has ever said worse things about Wall Street
dlgnitaz1es than they say about each other. al
though I have noticed one remarkable excep-
ton have never heard the word OF Afr. j. p.
MORGAN questioned popular he rs not. but his
word Is sacred. But IN listening 10 these COM
uenrs. and In reading such histories as are
now being published 81 the marazines OF the
construction OF the Standard OIL and the Anal
gamared Copper cOmpanies-which have per
meated far deeper and wider than the people At
Ing the newspaper accounts Of the testimony in
the Shipbuildiug company case. one perceives
clearly the origin OF the anti-capitastic feeling
10 which have alluded In the light OK these
disclosures some OF cur most solvent characters
appear in the Palace Of Truth 10 be- after ali.
only Unconvfcted felous. and we know thar I'm
France. England and Germany lawyers and
business men are to-day suffering social ostra-
cisn. professional disgrace. and In some cases
penal servitude for the same sort Sf things
which are here being exhibited.
To al those who entertain these ideas. how
ever casually, the Presidents enforcement OF
the law In the Northern Securities case n
a shaft Of sunlight through q cloudy sky. bring
ing hope 20 many who needed ~. and dissipat-
Ing Ike mist the senseless fear OF what for
mer district attorney IN New-York calls the
criminal rich.
OUR PANAMA POLICY.
The second main question Is the course OF the
administration IN the recognition OF the Re-
public OF Panama confess that Z for one. do
not Ike f. I do not suppose that anybody
likes H. President Roosevelt least OF all: but
The reason Tor not liking Il Is. I look az Il.
not because OF anything the President has done
o. left urdone, but simply because OF the in
herent difficulties or dealing with the Central
Americans AZ all L is easy TO find fauls with
what has been done. but have not heard or
read a suggestion as 10 any alternative course
which might have been pursued By the admin
lstratfCn which did not ignore the conditions
IA Central America the probable action OF our
Congress. AID the statute entitled act 10
provide for the construction OF canal con-
meeting the waters OF the Atlantic and Pacific
oceans"
In accordance with that act the Hay-Herraa
treaty was prepared with Colombia, giving 10
that republic liberal terms for the rights
CURED by the statute. Our Senate confirmed
that treaty. and the Colombian Senate. after
many rlonths' consideration, unanimously
jected IT,
From the papers now before the United States
Senate. II appears clearly enough that the Re
public OF Colombia intended 10 hold up the
United States and the French Panama Canal
Company. and 10 get for itself AL the money in
sight
IL also appears clearly that there were ample
warnings in Bogota that II that course were per
sisted In Panama would set up FOR itself The
precise order OF events upon the isthmus do not
know nor is II worth while TO consider. Under
these general circumstances, however, Il Is OBJ
vious that the French Panama Canal Company
and SITS friends and allies had a sufficient
tive 70 fornent revolution. 70 do anything
else thew found possible IN order 10 the
money coming TO them In consequence OF the
Hay-Herr1n treaty and from the fact that the
engineer Of the canal company appeared in
Washington the representative OF the new
born republic IL may be concluded that they
did not neglect their opportunities or their
necessities. az you may choose 20 put II. Down
TO this point I do not understand that any
body now seriously questions the course OF the
administration except those evil minded people
who win not believe that anything oppOr-
time as the Independence OF Panama could
have come about without Mr. Roosevelts aid
and abetting. Il IS over the rapid recognition
OF the new republic and the making Of the
treaty for its protection. and the construction
OF the canal. that the opposition 10 the Presi-
dent RACES What however. should he have
done Let Colombia and Panama fight II Cut2
wait tn France recognized the new republic
Give Up the Panama Canal altogether and en-
spavor TO make contracts with Costa Rica and
Nfcararua2 or abGiCate his own functions. and
turn the situation over TO Congress for debate
until the election
The affection 10 each OF these courses is
plain and would have been loudly voiced when
Congress met in January. To my mind, it is
even more plain that the President should have