The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-04-14
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iv prorressive. we cannot gain power, we cannot command support uhIess Me continue to stand for the compietest liberty of the individual consistent with his obligations to society. rms means primarily and always, hperty 10 work. liberty to earn, liberty so to employ his savings that he may rise m the world.
 Corporations and Trusts.
 My own recent experience in poll tics does not incline me to favor over much the management or some Sreta1 t corporations. But no student or oo- server of economic conditions can ques- tion either the logical development or the necessity of corporations any nor than he can ignore the,f nf some ems'ee biind chance groping about in modern indus- try; they are essential features m tne growth of that real cooperation Whlcn has done so much to change conditions. Like all things human, they nave thelr evils, indeed, they have their perils.
 But, as we cannot be rid Of them II we would. and would not II we oou,u' if must be our part properly to en- force the laws against them ana thei. representatives as we nave uohe anu must continue to do against the indi- vidual who does wrong. We nave onIy to look about us, in our separate com munities, to see that the great ma, jority of corporations are managed with as much honesty as we are accus5 toned to see in mundane affairs ana the punishment for offences agalnst law and morais-the punishment in- separable from failure and loss-goes on in these bodies as 1t does among the individuals who constitute them or the others who compete with them.
 In the course of time we have seen the growth of bodies popularity called trusts. which may be defined as cor porations of corporations These, too, have been chartered under laws, taxes have been levied upon them ana con trol asserted in States and smaller communities. Their owners and ofh- cials find that they are responsible to principles and laws long in operation taken advantage of partial and inequi- table laws while others have either secretly or openly violated statutes, In order to oppress the community, is be- yond question.
 Some attempt has been made even in high places to distinguish between these trusts. As an election was com ing on at the time 1t may be assumed, trusts" were those against the party in power or which might not be infiu-- enced in It's favor; while the good or amenable to influence or pressure.
 The Enforcement of the Laws.
 However this may be, the evils 1n- herent in these bodies may be reached in two ways. First. under the existing statute and common law. Little has been heard since the decision in the beef trust case. about the importance of the law. as 1t exists today. to deal with illegal combinations. And there never was a real doubt in the mind of any student of the subject, for the courts of this country have never shown indulgenGe to to- sr great, .nD wrongs nag ernment, either Federal or State, has done its duty.
 But what has the executive authority done? It has fumedi and fused. 1t has thundered in the index and failed to enforce the law. except in a few cases. At the instance of the attorney of a foreign railroad with branch in this country-also the representative Of a Governor of a State, it has very properly and legally broken up great railroad combination. Was 1t because of satisfaction with having suppressed bad" combination that a dozen others, larger more fragrant in their violation of the law. each of them af fecting the interests of ten times as many people, have not been punished or even prosecuted? Is this the natural reward of a good" trust?
 We have seen one department give a character to a great and far-reaching combination just as the legal branch of the government started out to lay the case of the same combination before a federal grand jury. Is this the way In another instance. the managers of a great railroad, having admitted that they have paid rebates. the govern ment. some years after the fact has
 
 to prosecute. Meanwhile the official in power at the time and mainly re- sponsible for this admitted infraction of the laws Is now a member of the strue this to mean that the trust which was once good has now become bad" How to Deal With These Great Abuses. The plain truth is that there has been since the abuses alleged became flag rant when they could not have been eliminated. Nothing has been so much needed as rigid. honest, unyielding enforcement of the law, both civil and criminal. But instead of going on with the enforcement of the law against rebates by putting the railroad officials responsible for them behind prison bars precisely as we do other malefactors. their misconduct made an excuse for further concentra- tion of power in the Federal Govern ment.
 It is expected by the administration and the railroad officials who openly consent to the movement, as well as by those who are ostensibly opposed to 1t, | that the people in their just indigna- ton at the wrongs done to the many for the benefit of the few will lose sight of the danger of so vast cen tralization of power until 1t Is too late to check It. But we should never for get that the safety of our institutions is involved in every such movement, and instead of submitting to it should
  has violated the criminal law the place for the guilty official Is in jail or the penitentiary. not in the cabinet or in the board rooms of great railroads. We do not defend or excuse any wrongs but we must insist upon the truth of the maxim that two wrongs do not make a right A second effective way of dealing with the trust proper is to take away all tariff duties on articles made by any great combination so long as 1t violates the law or while 1t discrimi- mates in price against the American customer In favor of the foreigner. mother of all the abuses to be found | fin these trusts. and yet, the very mo- ment the sacred subject is mentioned, | the President of the United States | draws a red herring across the trail, | all others in Republican authority | raise their hands in holy horror, the | order to stand pat is passed alonE the | time -honored process of throwing dust in the eyes of the people Is re- vived.
 Correction of We'll Known Evils. While we thus take a firm stand against everything that threatens | overlook the fact that there is m the | public mind an impression, that cer- | tain wrongdoing Is going on among | those who, In the cynicism Incident to l club life. are known as the criminal | rich" It Is believed by some that laws, divine or human, that the fruits | of the labor of our people are used | to support bad and dangerous policies | and for the enrichment of mere ma | nipu1ators. Ir other words, the con viction Is strong, and Is growing, that |