The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1906-09-07

fusing to receive campaign contributions
from corporations. and is opening the
books so that every contributor of any
considerable sum may be known to the
public before the election. The great
majority of corporations are engaged in
legitimate business. and have nothing
to fear from hostile legislation, and the
officers should not be permitted to use
the money of the stockholders to advance
their own political opinion. Contributions
should be individual, not corporate, and
no party can afford to receive contrlbu-
tons. even from individuals, when the
acceptance of these contributions Sc
cretly pledge the party to a course which
1t can not, openly aVow In other words,
politics should be honest, and, / mistake
present conditions in America If they do
not receive improvement in the conduct
of campaigns.
The Paramount lssue-Trusts.
While men may differ as to the relative
Importance Of issues and while the next
congress will largely shape the lines upon
which the coming presidential campaign
will be fought. / think it is safe to say
that the paramount issue in the minds of
a large majority of the people is the
trust issue. l congratulate President
Roosevelt upon the steps which he has
taken to enforce the antitrust laws, and
my qualification is not lessened by the
fact that he has followed the democratic
rather than the republican platform in
every advance he has made. 1t has been
a great embarrassment, to him that the
platform upon which he was elected was
filled with praise of the republican par
tvs record rather than with promises of
reform. Even the enthusiastic support
given him by the democrats has enable,
the champions Of the trusts to taunt hir
with following democratic leadership. He
has probably gone as far as he could
without mourning the hostility of the
leaders of his own party. The thouble is
that the republican party Is not In posi-
ton to apply effective and thorough-going
reforms. because it has built up through
special legislation the very abuses which
need to be eradicated
Definition of Trust.
Before any intelligent action can be
taken against the trusts we must have
a definition Of a trust. Because no cor
poration has an absolute and complete
monopoly of any important product the
apologists for the trusts sometimes insist
that there are really no trusts. Others
insists that it is impossible to legis!ate
against such trusts as may exist with
out doing injury to legitimate business.
For the purpose of this delusion it is
sufficient to draw the line at the point
where competition ceases to be effective,
and to designate as trust any corpora
ton which controls so much of the prod
uct of any article that it can fix the
terms and conditions of sale.
Young Rockefeller Quoted.
Legislation which prevents monopoly,
not only does not injure legitimate bust
ness, but actually protects legitimate bus
mess from injury. We are indebted to the
younger Rockefeller for an illustration
which makes this distinction clear. In
defending the trust system he Is quoted
as saying that, as the American beauty
cannot 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 impossible without the
elimination of the smaller ones 1t is a
cruel illustration, but it puts a perfectly
accurate picture Of trust methods.
The Cause Of the Ninety. Nine.
The democratic party champions the
cause Of the ninety-nine enterprises which
are menaced-they must not be sacrificed
that one great combination may flourish,
and when the subject is understood we
shall receive the cordial support of hum
dreds of thousands OF business men who
have themselves felt the oppression Of the
trusts. or who, having observed the effect
OF the trusts upon others. realize that
their safety lies, not In futile attempts at
the restraint Of trusts. but in legislation