The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1904-06-30
A PRESIDENTIAL JOKE.

ncy General Knox, on the occasion
Of the latter's retirement from the
cabinet, uses this remarkable Ian
guage:
MANY great and able men have pre-.
cedei you in the Office you hold; but
there is none among them whose ad-
ministration has left so deep a mark
for good upon the country's develop
ment Under you It has been liter.
ally true that the mightiest and the
humblest in the land have alike had
| 1t brought home 20 them that each
was sure Of the laws protection while
he did right and that neither could
hope 10 defy the law If he did wrong.
In what you have done YOU have
given proof not merely q the pro.
found learning Of the jurist but Of
the bold initiative and wide grasp Of
the statesman. You nave deeply ar
fcctcd for good the development Of
our entire political System in It's re-
lations to the Industrial and economic
tendencies Of the time"
There Is no doubt the president
meant this seriously but surely to
every intelligent citizen of the coun.
try it will read like joke. Admitting
that the routine work of the depart
ment OF justice has been performed
we'll under Mr. KnoX's direction, as
It would have been performed by the
subordinates had Knox never been
heard Of, what has he done to justify
such an encomium as that hanlel
him by the president?
The Northern Securities case was
totally barren Of results. The merger
was dissolved and the stockholders
got back for securities stock the orig
inal stock of the constituent railroads
which they had surrendered to the
merger officials for the new stock
Hundreds of investors who had
bought the watcred stocks of the mcr.
ger were simply wiped out, and the
Judgment cf the court offered them
no recourse whatever.
After the merger was dissolved,
what then? Did the public get the
benefit of competition in rates from
parallel lines? Not at all. The own
ers rcorganized under the so-called
community of interest plan anl are
so III, roughly In control Of the con
stiuent properties as they We're be
fore. and the transportation rates
are just as high as ever.
The victory was entirely superficial
even if We admit that Knox is enti-
tied to all the credit for it, Not a
| substantial benefit accrued 10 the peo-
pie of the Northwest
But there was a p-int in the North
orn Securities case, which the presi'
dent seemed to overlook just as Mr..
Knox overlooked IT, one of the jus
tices of the court stated IN SO many
words that the time had come in the
merger litigation for criminal prose
cutions under the antitrust law. Did
the attorney general heed this sug.
gestion? Not al all. He merely as.
| sured every combination and individ
ual that there would be no running
amuck by the administration The
result OF the trial of the case from
its incipiency 10 the decision Cf tn
supreme court showed very clearly
that the offending officials Of The mer
ger had violated a penal statute, anC
vet no punishment follows the viola
tion nor has there been an effort {,
punish them. And there will not be
How can penal statute be en-
forced if the penalties are never as
sessed? Suppose we should conduc
? our criminal litigation that way, hoy
{ long would II be until anarchy pre-
vailed?
- As little as Knox has accomplish
{ In the merger case, he has accomplish
X cl less against other and more offei
siye combinations, The beef trus
continues to exploit The consumers
~ will, SO do dozens Of other powert'
combinations. and yet not a tng'
has been lifted against them. Sti
" Roosevelt has the sublime nerve
crack Knox mp TO be the greatest a
torncy general of all time. KnC
must have laughed at the ridiculo'
assertion. Record.
Us There was some business transa'
IS ed at the Territorial Democratic co