The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-09-04

X JIG ~ AVAs@als III -
ceiye foreign contributions Of csrpora-
tons and by opening the books so tha.
every contributor Of any considerable
sum may be known 10 the public before
the election: The majority Of corpora
tons are engaged IN legitimate bust
ness and having nothing 10 fear from
hostile legislation. and the officers
should not pc permitted 10 Use the
money OF the stockholders TO advance
their own political opinions. Contri-
buttons should be individual, not cor
porate. and no party can afford 10 r.
ceive contributions even from indiyid-
uais when the acceptance Of these con-
trlbutlonS secretly pledge the party TO
a course which it cannot openly avow.
In other words. politics should be hon
est and | mistake political conditions
in American If they DO not presage i'm
.prOyement in the conduct of cam
patgnS.
THE TRUST ISSUE.
While men nay defer as 10 the re-
lative importance Of ISSUES. and while
the new Ongre will largely shape
the lines upon which the coming presi-
dental campaign will be fought |
thing il is safe to say that at present
the paramount issue in the minds of a
large majority of the people is the
trust issue.
| congratulate President Roosevelt
upon the steps which be has taken 10
enforce the anti-truSc Jaw and my
qualification is not lessened by the gact
that he has followed the democratic
rather h the republican platform,
in every advance he has made. It has
been a great embarrassment TO him
that the platform upon which he was
elected was filled with praise Of the
republican party's record rather than
with promises of reform. Even the
enthusiastic support given him by the
democrats has enabled the champions
of the trusts to taunt him with fol-
lowing democratic leadership. He has
probably gone as far as he could with
out mourning the hostility OF leaders
OF his own party. The trouble is that
Metropolitan party is not in a posi-
ton to apply effective and thorough
going reform because y has built up,
through special Legislation, the very
abuses which need to be eradicated.
Before any intelligent action can
be taken against the trusts we must
nav q utllllItIoI u q tol. ONuUS
no corporation has an absolute and
complete monopoly of any important
seem to insist that there are in reality
no trusts. Others insist that it is inn
! possible to legislate against such
trusts as may exist without doing in
jury to legitimate. business. For the
purpose of this discussion It is suf-
fcient to draw the line at a point where
o.o--- - - @Eron-;y-o orl
to designate as a trust any corpora
ton which controls so much OF the
product of any article hat it can Tx
the terms and conditions Of d sale.
Legislation which prevents a mon
opoly not only does not injure legiti-
mate business, but actually protects
legitimate business from injury. We
are indebted to the younger ROcketel-
Ter for an illustration which makes
! this distinction clear. In defending
the trusts system be is quoted as say
ing that the American beauty
rose cannot be brought TO perfection
without %pinching off SO buds so that
the one hundredth bud can receive tull
strength of the bush; so great INDUS
trial organizations are impossible with
/, out the elimination of the smaller
, ones. 1t is a cruel illustration. but II
presents a perfectly accurate descrlp-
ton of trust methods. The demOcra-
tic party champions the cause OF the
n~inety-nine enterprises which are
menaced; they must not be sacrificed
that one great combination may hour
ISL.
There must be no mistaklng or the
issue, and no confusing OF the line OF
battle. The trust as an institution Will
have few open defenders. The policy
! OF the trust magnates will be TO insist
upon reasonable legislation" and then
they will relv upon their power to
corrupt legislatures and intimidate
executives to prevent the application
Of any remedies which will interfere
with the trusts.
Our motto must be "A private mon
opoly is indefensible and intolleTa-
BILE" and our plan If attack must con-
template the total and complete over
throw Of the monopoly principle n IN
dustrv. We need not quarrel over
remedies. We must snow ourselves
willing to support any remedy
which promises substantial! adVant-
age to the people in their war
against monopoly. Something Is 10
be expected from the enforcement o.
the criminal clause or the Sherman
antitrust law, but this Law Il De
enforced. not against a lev trusts as
at present. but against all trusts anu
IT, extreme penalty must be TO I'M
prison the guilty. not merely TO reco'-
er a fine
II Tho criminal clause Il not going
70 be enforced Il ought TO be repealed
u imprisonment is too severe a pun
,sh-e,. for the eniue,tly respectable
gentleman wso robs eight Millions q
pecp,e Of hundred. ~ millions q col
lars annually tho la,slasa q the
statute ouch- IN b. r. r--Ad. 70 NOM
;ne Is more celebrated u or7ed a7a-chT
than the ~ailr-e - en'oc. ire IA"
AGAINST Itch criminals while : r1S-oi!
enforced agan.- rettv oaenoers.
r.. I. Ia NJ. sufF"'en: IN ento-cs
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