The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-08-31


nually the language of the statute
moro calculated to breed anarchy than
the failure to enforce the law against
rEh criminals while it is rigidly en-
fnced against petty Offenders.
10 Prohibit Community of Interest.
But it. is not .sumcient--to enforce
existing laws If ten corporations
conspiring together in restraint of
trade are threatened with punishment
AL they ave to do now is to dissolve
their separate corporations and turn
their property owe to a new
ton. The new corporation can %
coed to 10 the same thing hat the
separate corporations attempted, and
yet not violate the law. We need
therefore new legislation and the Re-.
publican party not only fails to enact
such legislation, but falls even to-
promise it. The Democratic party
must be prepared to propose new and
efficient legislation.
Recent Investigations have brought
to light that nearly all crookedness re-
vealed in the management of our large
corporations has been due to the
duplication of directorates. A group
Of men organized, or obtained control
of, several corporations doing business
with each other and hen proceeded to
swindle the stockholders of the vAri-
Gus corporations for which they acted.
Nc 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 dis
covered.
MANY of the trusts control prices
by the same methods. The same.
group of men secure control Of several
competing corporations and the man.
agement is hui consolidated. It IS
worth while to consider whether a
h10H- ~ ~ 54ot ~ 4-ar11- - 4tO --,-4
by e. law making it Illegal for the same
person to act-as director or ohcar- of
two corpor1tfors which deal With eac11-
other or are engaged in the same gen
eral business.
Federal License as. a Remedy.
"A still more -far-reaching remedy.
was proposed by the Democratic plat
form of 1900, namely, the requiring of
corporations to take out a federal IL
cense before engaging in Interstate
commerce This remedy is simple,
easily applied and comprehensive.
The requiring Of a license would not
embarrass legitimate corporations@it
would scarcely inconvenience them
while It wou1d conhne the predatory
corporations to the state Of their Off
gin
Just as a license to sell LIQUOR
leaves the possessOr of the license to
sell only in accordance with the laws
OF the state in which he resides, 50 a
corporation license granted by a fed
eral commission would not interfere
with the right of each state to regu-
late foreign corporations doing busi-
ness within its borders. If corpora
lions were required to take a federal
license the federal government could
then issue the license upon the terms
and conditions which would protect
the public.
"A corporation differs from a hu-
man being in that 1t has no natural
rights, n as all of its rights are de-
rived from the statutes, It can be linz
tied or restrained, according as the
public welfare may require The con-
troll which congress has over interstate
commerce is complete, and If congress
can prevent the transportation of a
lottery ticket through the malls, by
the e express companies. Or by freight.
It can certainly forbid the use Of the
mails, Tx railways and the telegraphs
to any corporation which is e~ndeavor-
ing to m~onopolize an article OF COM
merce. and no party can long be
credited with sincerity If it condemns
the trusts with lords only and then
permits the trusts to employ all the
instrumentaIities Of interstate conn
merce ii the carrying out OF its nefar-
ious plans.
1T is far easier to prevent a mon
opoly than to watch It and punish it,
and his prevention a be accom-
plished in a practical way by refusing
q license to any corporation which
controls more than a certain proper
ton of the total product-this no
portion to be arbitrarily fixed at a
point which will give free operation to
competition.
Tariff and Trusts.
1.-THE tariff question is very closely
allied to the trust question and the
reduction of the tariff furnishes an
easy means of limiting the extortfon
which the trusts can practice
while absolute free rad would
not necessarily make a trust fmpos-
sbIe.. still It is probable that very few
manufacturing establishments would
dare to enter into the trust If the
president were empowered to put on
the free lists articles competing with
those controlled by a trust.
while I shall take occasion at an
early day to consider the tariff ques-
ton more at length, I can not permit
this opportunity to pass without ex-
bpressing the opinion that the principle
been the fruitful our of a great deal
Of political corruption as well as the
support OF many of our most iniquit-
Gus trusts.
ut is difficult to condemn the man
ufacturers for uniting to take advan-
tage of a high tariff schedule when
+ the schedule is framed on the theory
| that the Industries need all the pro-
lection given, and 1t is not likely that
the benehciaries of these schedules
viii consent to their reduction SO long
as the public waits for the tariff TO be
reformed by its friends.
Fat Frying and It's Recompe4se-
'But one Of the worst features Of