Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-08-31

lions re irnpoesfhie without the Niitaina-l
.TsS on the but sd Il s Snes srSst hS
picture OF Trust methods. The detnccratic
party. champions the cause of the ninet,'s
lnustsnot be sacrificed that one great COM
hine shay hourish-and when the si3hlect u
understood We shall receive the cordial aip-
port Of hundreds ~ thousands Of business
men who have themselves felt he opptcs-
sion Of the trusts. or who. having observed
the effect Of the trusts upon oh1ers. realize
that their safety lies. not In futile at
Temps at the restraint Of trusts, but In
legisla ton which will make n private mo-
There must be no mistaking OF the issue
and no confusing 81 the line OF battle.
The trust. as an Institution, will have Jew
msgnates win he TO insist upon reason
able legislation" and then they will rely
and TO intimidate executives 70 prevent the
application Of any remedies which would
interfere with the trusts. our motto must
and intoiera ble," and our plan OF attack
must contemplate the total and complete
overthrow of the monopoly Of industry.
As TO Criminal Prosecution.
We need not quarrel over remedies. We
must show ourselves willing TO support
any remedy which promises substantial ad-
vantages TO the people In their warfare
against monopoly. Something IL to be en-
pected from the enforcement OF the crimi-
nal clause Of the. sherman antitrust law,
but this law must be enforced, not against
trusts, and the aim must be to 'imprison
the guilty, not merely to recover line
What IS a tine OF SLIGO to. trust which
makes 100000 while the trial is in progress?
III the criminal clause is not to be enforced
IT ought TO oe re peJied's Al imprisonment ia
too severe punishment for the emlnently
people. OF nunureds or millions OF
'doi'ars annually, the language Of
f for n stS i IS more cS al Sse 10
breed anarchy than the failure TO enforce
the law against rich criminals while It is
rigidly enforced against petty offenders.
But II is not sufficient to enforce existing
laws. If ten corporations cOnspirinS To-
gether in restraint OF trade are threatened
with punishment. all they have TO do now
is TO dissolve their separate corporations
ana turn their property over to a new
coed to do the same thing that the separate
corporations attempted and yet not violate
the law. We need, therefore, new legisa-
ton, and the republican party not only
fans TO enact SUCH ieSlslatiOn, but fans
even TO promise it. The democratic party
must be prepared to propose new ana effi-
Directors Responsible.
Recent Investigations have brought to
light that nearly all crookedness revealed
in the management Of our legal corpora
directorates. A group of men organized or
obtained oOntroI OF several corpOratlons
doing business with each other and then
proceeded to swindle the stockholders of
the various corporations for which they
acted. No man can. serve two masters,
and the director who attempts to do SO
will fail, no matter how much money he
makes before his failure is discovered.
Many of the trusts control prices by the
same methods. The same group of men
secure control OF several competing cor
porations, and the management is thus
consolidated. II is worth while to con-
slider whether blow may not be struck
at the trusts by a law making 1t illegal
for the same person to act as director or
officer Of two corporations which deal with
general business.
A still more far-reaching remedy was
proposed by the democratic platform, of
1900, namely. the requiring of corporations
to take OUT federal license before
gaging In interstate commerce. This rem
coy Is simple easily applied and compre,
not embarrass legitimate corporations--it
would scarcely inconvenlence theni-whiie
II would confine the predatory corporations
ito the state Of their origin. Just as a
tlicense to sell liquor leaves the possessor
of the license to- sell only in accordance
with the laws of the state in which he
resides, so a corporate license granted by
a federal commission would not interfere
with the right of each state 10 regulate
It's borders. IL corporations were required
to take federal license the federal gov
the terms and conditions which would pro-
tect the public.
Corporation and individual.
A corporation differs from a human being
In that 1t has no natural rights, and as
statutes, Il can be limited or restrained ac-
cOrding as the public welfare may require.
The control which congress has over inter-
state commerce is complete and IL con-
gress can prevent the transportation of a
lottery ticket through the malls by. the
esrtanIy SopBid tse or ss by freight T. can
railways and the telegraphs to any cor
poration which is endeavoring to mono
police an article of commerce. and no party
can long be credited with ainCarifN =
condemns the trusts with words only and
then permits the trusts to employ all the
Observation-Disclosures of Interstate commerce in
the carrying out its nefarious plans 1t is
far easier to prevent monopoly than to
watch IT and punish 1t. and this prevention
can pc accomplished in a practical way by
refusing license to any corporation which
controls more than certain proportion
r tns Rrod aTsd proportion to be
give free operation to competition.
The tarin question Is very closely allied
the tariff furnishes an easy means of
limiting the extortion which the trusts can
practice.
Touches on the Tariff.
While absolute free trade would NOT
necessarily make d trust impossible still
IT is probable that very few manufacturing
e ts,,at !, w9ulq dare TO enter the
put on the free list articles competing with
those controlled by a trusts While I shall
take occasion at an early day TO consider
the tariff question more at length, / can
not permit this opportunity to pass With
out expressing the opinion that the princi-
pie embodied In the protective tariff has
been the fruitful source OF great deal c
political corruption, as well as the support
OF many OF our most Ubiquitous trusts II
is difficut to condemn the manufacturers
for uniting to take advantage OF a high
tariff schedule when the schedule IL framed
on the theory that the industries need all
the protection given, and II is not likely
that the beneficiaries of these schedules
will consent 10 their reduction so long as
the public waits for the tariff to be re-
formed by its friends. ~,Hi
But one of the: worst features of the
tariff levied not for revenue. but for the
Avowed purpose of protection, is that Il
fosters the idea that men should use their
ballots to advance their own financial iH-
terests The manufacturer has been as
sured that 1t is legitimate for him 10 vote
for congressman who, whatever their
opinions on other subjects may be, will
legislate larger dividends into his pocket;
sheep growers have been encouraged. to be-
iieve that they should have no higher aim
In voting than 10 raise the price of wool,
and laborlng men have been urged 10
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 man
ufacturers have been reimbursed by fegis-
lation. Il. l.f~ -r .lG
Public Conscience DE bauehed..
. With the public conscience educated
to believe that insurance companies have
used the money OF thctr policy holo- 5
10 carry elections--no wonder that trusts
havs FASTENED to purchase immunity from