The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1906-12-26
ROOSEVELT'S MESSAGE
AND BYAN'S SPEECH
ENFORCING CRIMINAL CLAUSE.

distinction clear. In defending tire
tInst system he is quoted as saying
that as the American beauty rose can
not be brought to perfection without
pinching off ninety-nine buds, so that
the one hundredth bud can receive
the full strength OF the BUSH so great
industrial organizations are impossi.
BILE without the elimination of the
smaller ones. 1t Is a cruel illustra-
ton but it presents a perfectly acc /
rate picture of trust methods. The
democratic party champions the
cause OF the ninety-nine enterprises
which are menaced; they must not
he sacrificed that one great combina-
tion may flourish and when the sub
ject is understood We shall receive
the cordial support Of hundreds of
thousands of business men who have
themselves felt the oppression of the
trusts or who, having observed the
effect of the trusts uDon others,
realize that their safety lies, not In
futile attempts at the restraint of
, trus!s, but in legislation which will
make a private monopoly impossible.
There must be no mistaking of the
issue and no confusing Of the line of
battle. The trust, as an Institution,
will have few open defenders. The
policy of the trust defenders will be
to insist upon reasonable regulation
and then they will rely upon their
power to corrupt legislatures and to
intimidate executives to prevent the
application Of any remedies which
will interfere with the trusts, Our
motto muse be: "a private monopoly
is indefensible and intolerable," and
our plan of attack must contemplate
the total and complete overthrow of
the monopoly principle in industry.
We need not quarrel over remedies.
We must show ourselves willing to
support any remedy and every rem.
edy which promises substantial advan-
tage to the people in their warfare
against monopoly Something is to
be expected from the enforcement of
the criminal clause of the Sherman
antitrust law. but this law must ne
enforced not against a few trusts as
at present, but against all trusts, aud
the aim must be to imprison the
guilty, not merely to recover a fine.
What is a fine of a thousand dollars
or even ten thousand dollars to a
trust which makes a hundred thou
sand dollars while the trial is In
progress?
If the criminal clause is not going
to be enforced II ought to be repealed.
TX IMPRISONMENT is too severe a pun
ishment for the eminently resnectable
gentlemen who rob eighty millions of
people of hundreds of millions of dol
lars annually, the language of the
statutes ought to be changed. for
nothing is more calculated to breed
anarchy than the failure to enforce
the law against rich criminals while
1t is rigidly enforced against
petty offenders. But it is not suffi-
Gent to enforce existing laws.
Ii ten corporations conspiring to.
gether. in restraint of trade are
/ threatened with punishment. all
; they have to do now is to dissolve
their separate corporations and turn
their property over to a new corpora
ton. The new corporation can pro
coed to do the same thing that the
separate CORPORATIONS attempted. and
| yet not violate the law. We need, there
! fore, new legislation and the repuh.
| lican party not only fails to enact
such legislation but fails even to
| promise il. The democratic party
must be prepared to propose legisla.
ton which will be sufficient