The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-08-31
BRYAN IN TEARS.
lcontinued from second Pagel

ACOI1LlILllCb llOlAl eIN0O- " not necessarily make trust impossi-
 ble still it is probable that very few manufacturing establishments would dare to enter into a trust if the presi- dent were empowered to put on the free list articles competing with those controlled by trust. While l shall take occasion at an early day to con- slider the tariff question more at
 length. I cannot permit this opportuni- ty to pass without expressing the opin- ion that the principle embodied in the protective tariff has been the fruitful source of a great deal of political cor ruption as well as the support of many of our most iniquitous trusts. It is difficult to condemn the manufacturers
 flor uniting to take advantage of a
 high tariff schedule when the schedule is framed on the theory that the in- 'dustries need all the protection given, tnd it is not likely that the hebeneficiaries of these schedules will consent to their reduction so long as the public waits for the tariff to be reformed by it's friends.
 But one of the worst features of tariff, levied not for revenue, but for
 the avoWed purpose of protection, is that it fosters the idea that men should use their votes to advance their own financial interests The manufacturer has been assured that it is legitimate flor him to vote for congressman who, whatever their opinions on other sub- jects may be- will legislate larger divi- dends into his pocket; sheep growers have been encouraged to believe that they should have no higher aim in vot- ing than to raise the price of wool; and laboring men have been urged to make their wages their only concern. For a generation the fiat has been fried out of the manufacturers by the republican campaign committee and then the manufacturers have been re- imbursed by legislation. With. the public conscience educated to believe that this open purchase of legislation was entirely proper, no wonder that in- surance companies have used the mon- ey of their policy y-holders to carry elec- tions-no wonder that trusts have has tened to purchase immunity from pun lshment with liberal donations. How can We draw a moral distinction be- tween the man who sells his vote for five dollars on election day and the manufacturer who sells his political in- fiuence for fifty or hundred thousand dollars, payable in dividends? How can we draw moral line between the senator or congressman elected by the trusts to prevent hostile legislation and the senator or congressman kept in congress by the manufacturers to se- cure friendly legislation? The party which justifies the one form of bribery cannot be relied upon to condemn the Othe:, There was never a time when tariff reform could be more easily en- tered upon, for the manufacturers by selling abroad cheaper than at home, as many of them do, have not only shown their ingratitude toward those who built the tariff wall for them, but
 they have demonstrated their ability to sell in competition with the world The high tariff has long been a burden to the consumer in the United States, and 1t is growing more and more a menace to our foreign commerce be- cause it arouses resentment and pro- vokes retaliation.
 The railroad question is also inter- woven with the trust question. Nearly all the private monopolies have re- ceived rebates or secured other advan- tages over competitors, Absolute equality of treatment at the hands of the railroads would go far toward crip- bling the trusts, and I rejoice that the President has had the courage to press this question upon congress. While
 the law, as it was finally distorted by the senate is not all that could be wihed it deserves a fair trial.
 Rate regulation was absolutely ne- cessary, and it furnishes some relief from the unibearable conditions which previously existed; but we must not forget that the vesting of this enor- nous power in the hands of commits
 sion appointed by the President intro duces a new danger If an appointed board has the power to fix rates, and can by the exercise of that power in- crease or decrease by hundreds of mil lions of dollars the annual revenue of
 the railroads, will not the railroads feel that they have a large pecuniary inter est in the election of President friendly to the railroads?
 Experience has demonstrated that municipal corruption is largely tracea- ble to the fact that franchise corpora tions desire to control the city council land thus increase their dividends. If the railroad managers adopt the same policy the sentiment in favor of the municipal ownership of the railroads by the government is likely to increase as rapidly throughout the country as the sentiment in favor of municipal ownership has increased in the cities
 I have already reached the conclu- sion that railroads partake so much of the nature of a monopoly that they must ultimately become public proper ty and be managed by public officials in the interest of the whole community, in accordance with the Well defined theory that public ownership is neces- sary where competition is impossible. T do not know that the country is ready for this change. do not know that a majority of my own party fa- vor it, but believe that an increasing humber of the members of all parties see in public ownership the sure reme- dy for determinations between persons and places and for the extortionate
 rates for the carrying of freight and passengers