Truth. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1901-1908, 1906-01-27
A NEW PLAN FOR REGULATING
TRUSTS.


John F. Cronan a native of Boston,
who has been a member of the Suffolk
bar for quarter of a century The
article deserves the widespread atten-
ticn which it has received Instead
of scraping the surface, it goes to the
root Of the matter. 1t proposes, not a
palliative, but a remedy; or rather it
offers the ounce of prevention which
is proverbially better than a pound OF
cure. The author begins by inquiring,
What are the evils from which the
people suffer, or think they suffer,
through the great agglomerations of
capital to which we give the name of
trusts? He enumerates them in what
he believes to be the order of i'm
portance-to-wit, first, overcapitaliza-
ticn; secondly, the protection afforded
the trusts through the tariff; thirdly,
the lack of any substantial or uniform
regulation by which the affairs of cor
porations are made known in annual
or more frequent reports; lastly, the
lack Of any legislation affording sub
stantial safeguards against discrimi-
nation or injustice, except by the cum
bersome process provided by the Sher-
man act. The author denies the truth
creatures of the tariff. He comedies,
of course, that trusts operating in pro-
tected articles, are no doubt, benefited
by the tariff, but many of the great
trusts are not affected by it in the
least. He reminds us, moreover, that
the people have at all times the power
to compel such a revision of the tariff
as will remove any difficulties arising
ioiA nf hn 70
may be deferred, but it cannot be
averted permanently by the OBJ
structve resources of allied wealth.
fs for the notion that the remedy for
the abuses to which trusts are liable
would be found in greater publicity
as to corporation matters, Mr.. Cronan
pronounces such remedy altogethe,
too narrow to affect substantially the
conditions which are at the foundation
Of the grievances complained of. He
points cut also that the adoption Of
the recent suggestion of Commissioner
Garfield that corporations doing an in
terstate business should procure
federal license, while it might be help
full in removing some of the difficult
ties incident to the control of existing
trusts, would not prevent the forma-
tlOn VI nCW tiuoto WhiSh Wouiu pO
creatures of the several states. To
the suggestion of Mr.. James B. Dill
that congress might pass law per-
hitting corporations doing an inter
state business to be chartered by the
federal government, he opposes a con-
stitutional objection. 1t is seriously
to be doubted, he thinks, whether the
federal constitution, which reserves
to the several states the right to Gre
ate corporate existence, does not pre-;
clude the federal government from
exercising any powers with respect to
the chartering of corporations not ex-
pressly delegated to it under our fed
eral organic law. IT, however, for the
sake of argument, it be granted that
under the commercial clause Of the
constitution the power to control i'm
plies right to create, and that, con-
sequently, congress has power to pro-
vide for federal incorporation, Mr..
Cronan considers it very clear that
the several states, speaking through
their representatives in congress,
would withhold approval from an act
which would deprive them of the reve-
nues now accruing to them through
the creation of corporations. If, on
the other hand, it should be found
that in order to provide for federal in
corporation an amendment to the con-