The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-09-11

sGIE fEar at present fH' baFiHi9lalt
Issue In n minds If u large majority
'of the people H. the trust issue Re
linen proceeded to designate a. a trust
any corporation which controls 50
much of the product # any article
that it can TX the terms and condi-
Iuone ana sale. and a. an illustration
of that definition he said
We are indebted u the lounge
Rockefeller for an illustration winch
makes this distinction clear. In de-
Tending the trusts system ne Is quoted
as saving that as the American Beauty
rose cannot be brought 10 perfection
without pinching off - buds 50 that
the one hundredth bud can receive the
fun strength Of the bush SO great
organizations are impo>Sl-
bic WIthou the elimination Of the
smaller ones. II i u cruel illustFa-
tiou. but il presents Il perfectly accu-
rate description of trust methods. Inc
Democratic party champions the cause
Of The ninetv-nine enterprises which
are meuaced; they must not be sacrI-
feed that one great combination may
hOurish.'
Mr.. Bryan took issue With the pres
administrations failure TO apply
ne tIIlIlII1l - VI tl4' 49, 50 '
law. saying that If the criminal
clause is not going To be enforced it
10 br repealed' ana that moth
is more calculated To breed an
archy than the failure to enforce he
against rich criminals while it IS
enforced against petty Offend
trg." And he took issue with Judge
Parker. who holds that no better or
further laws are needed against trusts
But it is not sufficient to en-
force existing laws. We need new leg
and the Republican party not
only fails to enact such legislation but
fails even To promise it." Proceeding,
Mr.. Bryan said:
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
the trusts can practice.
"While absolute free trade would
not necessarily make a trust lmpoSSl-
bic, still it is probable that very few
manufacturing establishments would
dare to enter into a trust if the Presi-
dent were empowered to put upon the
free list articles competing with those
controlled by u trust. l cannot per
init this opportunity to pass without
expressing the opinion tina the prin-
embodied in the protective
tariff have been the fruitful source Of
a great deal of political eruption, as
Well rs the ppO Of many OF our
iniQuitOuS trusts. 1t IS dIfllcu!l
to condemn the manufacturers for
uniting to take advantage of a hlgh
tariff schedule when the schedule is
-, .,.I 80, tho tinnn,,v hot the inI1S-
tries need all the protection given,
and it is % likely that the bene-
of these schedules will con-
sent to their reduction SO long as the
public waits for the tariff to be re-
formed by its friends.
Blu one of the worst features of
tariff, levied not for revenue, but for
The avOWed purpose of protections is
that it fosters the idea that men
use their votes to advance their
own financial interests.
For q generation the fat 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
hat this open purchase of legislation
vas entirely proper, no wonder that
insurance companies nave used the
VI iIti p'Ii'S ~ 80 l y
elections-nO wonder that trusts have
FASTENED to purchase immunity from
punishment with liberal donations.
How can we draw q moral line be-
tween the Senator or Congressman
elected by the trusts to prevent hostile
Legislation and the Senator or Con-
kept in Congress by the
manufacturers to secure friendly legis-
The party which justified the
form of bribery cannot be relied
upon to condemn the Their.
There never was q time when tariff
could be more easily entered
upon for The manufacturers by selling
cheaper than at home, as
many of them do, have not only shown
built the tariff wall for them, but they
demonstrated their ability to sell
in competition with the world"
After discussing the trust question
Mr.. Bryan declared the trust 1.-The
overshadoWing evil of the day with
the ~plutocratic tendencies that result
therefrom.' n he placed h de-
of private monopoly as the
highest duty and purpose of "our
party" The evils of private monopoly,
which found its mother in the pro-
ldllll ana Otll6I lDI1llS o1 SptCldI
privilege and immunity from prosecu-
ton for the violation of laws. was the
burden of Mr.. Bryan's speech, and
it is upon that oVerShadoWing issue
the Democratic party must base
its fight for success IN 1908. Without
rejecting upon Mr.. R~ooseVelt's good
intentions, which are largely negatived
by his devotion to u party largely con
trolled by trusts, it must be patent to
everybody hat there can be no perma-
nent and effective warfare against
that does not include
the withdrawal of the protection bonus
from every trust enriched by it. He
may prosecute here and there with
zeal, but until the tariff counties given
to many trusts are withdrawn the
mother of trusts will not be reached.
All trusts ann be destroyed by tariff
reduction and putting truSt-controlled
articles on the free list, but without
GO