The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-07-07
MUST BE EMBARRASSING.

MUSF 0E EMbAhnASSANus
 It strikes us that the action of the Federal Grand Jury in Chicago in nnd- ing indictments against the Beef Trust of1cials is calculated to place the Presi- dent in a very embarrassing position. It will be recollected that when Messrs. Judson and Harmon. as special attor- neys for the Government, were proceed ing against the Atchison, Topeka ana Santa Fe Railroad for violations CT the Interstate Commerce law. their plan was to prosecute the ofacials of the road and hold them responsible for the unlawful acts.
 But one of the high officials of that road was Paul Morton. and he was also a member of Roosevelt's Cabinet. By his own admissions and by what ap- peared to be unimpeachable evidence, 1t was practically a foregone conclu- sion that If Judson and Harmon had been allowed a free hand. they would have prosecuted-and probably con- victed-Mbrton for his part in the un- lawful relating.
 It was in this emergency that the President came to the rescue of ms friend and Cabinet official and stopped the investigation. It was then hat ne adopted and advanced the unheard-of and absolutely untenable position that 1t was the railroad. as a corporation and not its onicials. that had violated the law. In other words. investiga- tions and prosecutions must be directed against tho corporation. not the om- cials who managed. directed and con- trolled the operations.
 We repeat that the position of the President was as new as it was unten- able. It was just about the same as If a Judge. in a murder case. should direct the States attorney that he must pro- ceed aeianst the gun that killed the victim and not against the man who held 1t and fired the fatal shot. No such theory was ever before propound- ed, so far as we are aware, and we hardly think it would have been thought of by another President. But we are told that desperate diseases re- quire desperate remedies" and this case was a desperate one. It meant that the friend and protege of the President and a member of his official family. was in danger of a criminal trial, and to save him and shut of pros- ecution. Roosevelt sprung a theory that is more absurd and illogical than his famous constructive recess theory, which even his own followers refused to endorse. And he declared that there eating Morton and his associates be yond the holding of their offices." Was ever anything more childish propounded by a high official? How. in the name of justice. Is a corporation to be prose- cuted. regulated or controlled, If no cials? They are the corporation and responsible for its unlawful acts, if any are committed.
 Now comes this Federal Grand Jury in Chicago with twenty-six indictments against officials and managers of the stand that the prosecutions will be viz orously pressed. How can the Presi- dent permit such prosecutions after his course In the other matter? To be consistent, he should order the pro- ceedings stopped on the ground that the Trust itself. not the officials who control 1t. has violated the laws. and that the latter have committed no of fense except to hold the offices. How ever, as there is no Cabinet member in voived. nor any special friend of his. so far as we are informed. 1t may be that he will throw consistency to the winds and let the prosecution go forward. Perhaps he may hope to make some reputation as a trust-fghter by getting few convictions in this case.