Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-31
POLITICAL ECONOMISTS MEET.
New York Man Declared Congress Can
Suppress Trusts.

Edward B. Whitney Of New York de-
cIared in Chicago yesterday before the
American Political Science and Economic
Associations that Congress has the direct
power to put an end to the United States
steel corporation, the anthracite coal
pool and similar corporations. In paper
upon Governmental Interference With In
dustria1 Combinations he asserted that a
law forbidding company engaged In in
terstate commerce to engage in product
I've industry would prohibit such "agglom-
Grafton
His paper was read before joint session
OF the two associations. This was followed
by discussion. in which Prof. J. W. jerks
of Cornell and E. E. Prussing of Chicago
took the lead. Mr.. Whitney declared In
part:
Congress has entire Jurisdiction over in
terstate commerce and can therefore i'm
pose any conditions not specially prohibited
by the Constitution upon corporations en-
gagihg in interstate commerce. 1t has the
same broad power to exclude state corpora
tons from interstate commerce except upon
It's own terms which a state has to ex-
clude from its territory a corporation of
another state.
It's terms may include restrictions upon
the membership of the corporation so as to
prevent its being controlled by any outside
corporation, and 1t may declare that no
company engaged in interstate transporta-
ton can be engaged in any productive in
dustry either directly or indirectly by lease,
stock ownership bond ownership or other
wise. thus breaking up such agglomerations
as the United States steel corporation or
the members of the so-called anthra cite
coal pool.
1t can impose conditions by means of
license. as suggested by Commissioner Gar
field, up to the point where the companies
would regard it preferable to retire from
Interstate commerce altogether, each fac
tory selling to jobbers at its own doors.
The device of selling company attached
to each Industrial controlled by it through
stock ownership would prove insufficient.
The demand for publicity should be grant,
ed under proper regulations as to every
corporation great enough to constitute a
not be successful under conditions Of pub
licity then 1t should dissolve into smaller
bodies, but by publicity Is not meant the
kind intended by the law establishing the
bureau of corporations at Washington It
may be more dangerous to the public to
have the secrets OF great corporations
shared between their. directors and q domi-
nant political Organization than to have
them confined to the directors alone.
Effective restriction by graduated taxa
ton would raise constitutional questions
not yet fully settled Congress can proba-
bly, supplement any state antitrust legtsla-
tion by excluding from interstate commerce
any article made in violation thereof. The
scheme of. national corporation law is
subject to serious criticism as overcentral-
izing and overburdening the governmental
system at Washington, and 1t Is also of
very doubtful ,constitutionality.
Congress has no direct power to charter
Industrial corporations to be located In the
states and 1t Is very doubtful whether 1t
can obtain the same result through either
of the indirect methods which have been
suggested.
Regulation OF pools and railways by the
government was the subject discussed at
the joint session.