The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-08-31
;1GONERNMENT OWNERSHIP is
! THE NEW MESSAGE OF BRYAN

hat nearly all crookedness revealed in the man.
lgement of large corporations has been due to
he duplication Of directorates. "A: group Of
men organized oDtaned contro1 Of several COR
porations doing business with each other, and
then proceeded to sWindle the stockholders of
the various corporations for whicht they acted
tor who attempts to do SO will fab, matter
how much money he makes before his failure
Is discovered. = ~ ..- i
Many of the trusts control prices by tle4I
same methods. :. The same group OF men secure !
control of several competing corporations, and
the management Is thus consolidated. 1t is |
worth while to consider whether IL blow may |
not be struck at the trusts by law making |
er eer the e M to- act as
with each other or are engaged In the same
general business
still more far-reaching remedy was pro-
posed by the democratic platform Of 1890,
namely, the requiring Of corporations to take
out federal license before engaging in inter-
state commence. This remedy is simple, easily
applied and comprehensive. = g..
The requiring Of license would not erlbarrass
n1 tt would Guild ea m
predatory corporations to the state OF their
origin. Just as license to sell liquor leaves
the possessor of the license to sell only in
accordance of the, laws of the state in which
lie resides, SO corporate license granted by
federal commission. would not interfere with
the right of EACH state to regulate foreign cor
porations doing business within its borders
If corporations We're required to take A fed
eral license the federal government could then
issue the license upon the terms and conditions
which would protect the public.
A corporation differs from human being in
that it has no natural rights, and, all of
its rights derived from the statutes, 1t can
be limited or restrained according as the public
welfare may require. The control which con-
gress has over interstate commerce is complete
Nnd5 Ran
of lottery ticket thru the mails by the eX-
press companies by freight.- it can certainly
for the of the s ae wc IS
deavorins to monopolize any article OF COM
merce. and no party can long be credited win
sincerity If it condemns the trusts with words
only and then permits the trusts to employ all
the instrumentalties of interstate commerce in
carrying out its nefarious plans.
1t is far easier to prevent monopoly than
to watch it and punish it, and this prevention
be accomplished in a practical way by re-
fusing a license to any corporation which con-
trolls more than certain proportion OF the
total product this proportion to be arbitrarily
fixed at a point which. will give free operation
to competition. The tariff question is very
closely allied to the trust question, and the
reduction of the tariff furnishes an easy means
of limiting the extortion which the trusts can
practice.
The Tariff Question.
While absolute free trade would not neces
sarily make a trust impossible. stu 1t IS
I probable that very few: manufacturing estab-
iishments would dare to enter into the trust
If the president We're empowered to put on the
free list articles competing with those con-
trolled by trust.
While I shall take OCCASION at early date
to consider the tariff question more at length,
1 cannot permit this opportunity to pass with
out expressing the opinion that the principle
embodied in the protective tariff has been the
fruitful source of great deal of political cor
| rI1pfio
most ubiquitous trusts.
1t is difficult to condemn the manufacturers
| for uniting to take advantage of a high-tarlh
| schedule when the schedule is framed on the
| theory that the industries need all the pro-
+ lection given and it is not likely that the
| benehcinries Of these schedules will consent to
! for the tariff to be reformed by its friends.
| But one of the worst features of the tariff
levied not for revenue. but for the avoWed pur-
| pose 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 for him
| to vote for congressman who. whatever thelr
! opinions on other subjects may be. will legls-
| late larger dividends into his pockets; sheep
| growers have been encouraged TO. believe thai
they should have higher aimsin voting than
| to raise the price Of WOOL and laboring men
have been urged to make their wages their only
concern. For a generation the fat has been
! fried out of the manufacturers by the republican
| congressional committee and then the manulac'
turers have been reimbursed with the leglsla
| ton. With the public conscience educated &c
! believe that this open purchase OF Legislation
| was entirely proper. no wonder that insurance
| companies have used the money OF their policy
| holders to carry elections-no wonder that trusts
have fastened to purchase immunity from pun
! ishment with liberal donations.
l.: draw moral distinction between
the man who sells his vote for So election
day and the manufacturer who sells his politica
4 influence for $50 or 100000. payable in divi
Hr6U a
, tween the senator or congressman elected by
the trusts to prevent hostile Legislation ant
the senator or congressman Kept IN CONGRESS Ds
the manufacturers to secure friendly legislation
The party which juStifes the one form OF. brlb
cry cannot be relied upon to condemn thu
| other.
-, There never was time when tariff reform
could be more easily entered upon, for the manu-
facturers. by selling abroad cheaper than a
home as many Of them do, have not only showI
their ingratitude toward those who built tn.
tariff wall for them but they have demonstrates
world The high tariff has long been burde1
to the consumers In the United States, and i
is growing and more menace to ou
foreign commerce because it arouses resentment
and provokes retaliation.
Railroad Question.
The railroad question is also interviewer will
the trust question. Nearly all the private mon
opoles have received rebates secured othe
of treatment at the hands of the railroads woult
go far toward crippling the trusts and re
joice that the president had the courage to pres
the question upon congress. While the law a:
it finally distorted by the senate Is not al
that could be wished, it deserves a fair trial
, Rate regulation was absolutely necessary. ant
lit furnishes some relief from the unbearahls
conditions which previously EXISTED but We
must not forget that the vesting OF this enor
nous power in the hands Of the commission
appointed by the president introduces ne"
danger. If an appointive board has the power
to fix rates. and can by the exercise Oh ina,
power increase decrease by hundreds OF
millions of dollars the annual revenues OF tht
railroads. will not the railroads feel that the!
have large pecuniary interest IN the elcctlol
Of president friendly to the railroads: En-
perience has 1emonsrraTeu that mnn1clP"l cor
r,lption Is largely traceable to the fact tina
franchise lions desire to control the cit!
council and thus increase their dividends
If their managers adopt the same policy. tn
sentiment in favor Of the ownership OF tint
railroads by the government is likely to increase
nc ronidlv turnout the country as the sentimen
in favor Of municipal ownership has increased
! IN the cities.
I have already reached the conclusion tina
railroads partake so much OF the nature OF
MONOPOLY that they must ultimately become pub
lie property and be managed by public Officials
in the nteres: Of the whole community IN ac
cordance with the well-defned theory that pub
lie ownership is necessary where competition l.
impossible. do not know that the country il
ready for this change. do, not know that
ma iority of my own party favor 1t. but l believ
that an increasing number of the members .
all rarties see in public ownership the sur
remedy for determinations between persons an
politics. az and for the eXtortionate rates TO
the carrying Of freight and passengers. !,
l. Believing however, that the operation of al
the railroads by the federal government woul
| result in a Capitalization which would all bu
obliterate state lines, I prefer to see only tn
trunk lines operated by the federal government