The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-08-21

useful place. for 1t bridges over the tran sition period until the American people shall definitely make up it's mind that it will exercise over the great corporations that thoroughgoing and radical control which 1t is certain ultimately to find nee essary. The principal of the sherman law so far as 1t prohibits combinations which whether because of their extent of of their character, are harmful to the public must always be preserved. Ulti- mately. and l hope with reasonable speed, the national government must pass laws which, while increasing the supervisory and regulatory power of the government, also permits such useful combinations as are made with absolute openness and as the representatives of the government may previously approve. But it will not be possible to permit such combinations save as the second stage in a course of
 proceedings of which the first stage must be the exercise of a far more complete control by the national government.
 Drastic Laws Needed
 In dealing with those who offend
 against the antitrust and interstate com
 merce laws the department of justice has
 to encounter many and great difficulties.
 Often men who have been guilty of vio
 lating these laws have really acted in
 criminal fashion, and if possible should
 be proceeded against criminally; and
 therefore 1t Is advisable that there should
 be a clause in these laws providing for
 such criminal action, and for punishment
 by Imprisonment as well as by fine. Bat.
 as is well known in a criminal action
 the law is strictly construed fin favor of
 the defendant, and in our country, at
 least both judge and jury are far more
 inclined to consider his rights than they
 are the interests of the general public:
 while in addition 1t is always true that
 a mans general practices may be so bad
 that a civil action will lie when it may
 not be possible to convict him of any one criminal act.
 Undesirable Citizens Again.
 There is unfortunately certain number
 of our felow-countrymen who seem to
 accept the view that unless man can be
 proved guilty of some particular crime he shall be counted a good citizen, no matter how infamous the life he has led,
 no matter how pernicious his doctrines or his practices This Is the ciew announced from time to time with clamorous in- sistance, now by a group of predatory | capitalists now by a group of sinister anarchistic leaders and agitators, when
 ever a special champion of either class, no matter how evil his general life, is &C., quilted of some one specific crime. Such a yiw is wicked whether applld to capi- talist or labor leader ot rich man or poor man. And all that l have said as to desirable and undesirable citizens re- mains true But we have to take this feeling into account when we are debat- ing whether 1t Is possible to get con vlction in a criminal proceeding against l some rich trust magnate many of. whose actions are severely to be condemned from the moral and social standpoint, but no one of whose actions seems clearly to establish such technical guilt as will in-
 sure a conviction. As a matter Of ex- pediency, in enforcing the law against
 great corporation we have continually to weight the arguments pro and con as to whether a prosecution can successfully
 be entered into, and as to whether we can be successful in a criminal actlo1 against the chief individuals in the cor poration, and if not whether we can at
 least be successful in civil action against the corporation itself. Any effec- tive action on the part of the govern ment Is always objected to, as a mater of course, by the wrongdoers, by the benefciaries of the wrongdoers, and ny their champions; and often one Of the most effective ways of attacking the ac-
 ton of the government is by objectng to
 practical action upon the ground that It does not go far enough. One of the fav- orite devices of those who are really striving to prevent the enforcement or these laws is to camor for action of such severity that it cannot be undertaken De- cause it will be certain to fail If tried. An instance of this Is the demand often made for criminal prosecutions where such
 prosecutions would be certain to fail. We have found by actual experience that a iurv which will gladly punish corpor- ation by fine for instance, will acquit the individual members of that corporation if we proceed against them criminally oe- cause of those very things which the
 corporation which they direct and control
 has done In a recent case against the licorice trust we indicted and tried the two corporations and their respective
 presidAnts The contracts and other transactions establishing the guilt or the corporations were made through, ana so far as they were in writing were slsheu
 bv, the two presidents Yet the jury con
 victed the two corporations and aequittea the two men, Both verdlcts could hot nossibly have been correct; but apparent- lv the average iuryman wishes to sec trusts broken up, and Is quite ready to
 fine the corporation itself but IS very
 reluctant to find the facts proven pe- 1ond a reasonable doubt when IL coi,iea
 to sending to jail reputable nie,nnel of inc business community for aoihs
 
 hanniIv grown to recognize IS well hlgh
 normal in business. Moreover, uhaer ene necessary technicalities of cr1illlhai Pio ceedings. often the only man who can pc
 reached criminally will be some supoto' nate who Is not the real guilty party at all. .,.,
 The Criminally Wealthy.
 Many men of large wealth have been
 guilty of conduct which from the moral standnoint is criminal and their misdeeds
 are to a peculiar degree reprehenslble' hacausa those committing them have no excuse of want, of poverty, of weak ness and ignorance to ofer as paruai stonement When in addition to moral responsibility these men have legal re- snonsihility which can be proved so as in inpress a judge and jury, then the denartment will strain every nerve to rearh them crimnally. Where this Is
 ;n,nossible. then it will take whatever action will be most effective under the actual conditions.
 In the last six years we have shown
 that there Is no individual and no cor noration so powerful that he or it stands above the possibility of punishment under the law.
 No Change in Attitude.
 During the present trouble with the
 stock market l have, of course. received countless requests and suggestions pup
 lie and private, that I should say or do
 something to ease the situation There
 is a worldwide financial disturbance