The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-08-20

ress to take any action, not conhscatory' l in the most rigid control of interstate 1 commerce cannot be denied.
 Objections to Government Ownership. I am opposed to government owner ship
 First, because existing government rail- ways are not managed with either the efficiency or economy of privately man aged roads and the rates charged are not as low and therefore not as bene- ficial to the public:
 Second because it would involve an ex- pendlture of certainly twelve billions of dollars to acquire the interstate railways and the creation of an enormous na- tional debt.
 Third, because it would place in the hands of a reckless executive power of control over business and politics that the imagination can hardly conceive, and would expose our popular institutions to danger
 Trusts.
 I pass now from railway regulation and the abuses arising in the discharge of public function to the evils which have grown out of the combinations existing in private business, and so come to the subject of trusts. The combination of capital in large plants to manufacture goods with the greatest economy Is Just l as necessary as the assembling of the parts of a machine to the economical and more rapid manufacture of what in old times was made by hand The gov ernment should not interfere with the one any more than the other In the proper operation of competition the pub lie will soon share with the manutac- turer the advantage in lowered prices. When, however, such combinations not only lower the cost to themselves, but are able to control the market and main tain raise the old prices, the public derives no benefit and Is helpless In the hands of a monopoly.
 Antitrust Law.
 Fear of the existence of such an abuse led to the passage of the antitrust law, in 1890 It recognizes two forms in which this evil may be maintained One is by an agreement among a number of diff ferent manufacturers of an article for the maintenance of the price of the ar ticle and the suppression of competition. This is denounced when the contract Is in restraint of interstate trade as crlm- inal offense against the United States. punishable by fine and imprisonment, and conspiracy which may be restrained by injunction in a civil suit. The other form Is denounced with similar remedies against 1t, as a monopoly of interstate trade, and covers the union of the con spring companies into one company
 which, by owning all the plant or nearly all the plant. engaged In the >manufae- ture of the product and by use of other devices, controls the prices. The supreme court of the United States has not de- fined what monopoly under this section of the antitrust law is.
 Unlawful Monopoly
 conceive that it is not sufficiently defined by saying that 1t Is the combina- ton of a large part of the plants in the country engaged in the manufacture Of a particular product in one corporation. There must be something more than the mere union of capital and plant before the law Is violated. There must be some use by the company of the comparatively great size of its capital and plant and extent of It's output, either to coerce those
 who would compete with it. to give up | their business. There must. in other words, be an element of duress in the conduct of its business toward the GUS toners in the trade and it's competitors before mere aggregation of plant becomes an unlawful monopoly. It Is perfectly conceivable that in the interest of econ omy of production, a great number of plants may be legltimately assembled un- der the ownership of one corporation. In such a case it is either not trust, if the term involves unlawfulness or 1t SI, a company which has assembled large part of the manufacturing plant of any product. It may be. as MT. Bryan, in his controversy with Senator BeVeridge says, that there is a limit in the union of capital and plant that will effect 1 economy, and that after that limit is reached the increase of the plant or the apital rather enlarges the risk In the management of the business, and Is like 1 ly to increase the cost of production rather than to diminish it. If so, then' when a corporation goes beyond that l limit, there is a reasonable presumption 1 that it Is doing SO for the purpose of
 monopollzing trade.
 Evils of Swollen Fortunes. ] One of the results of the conditions ] and evils which l have been describing i has been the concentration of enormous 1 wealth in the hands of few men, do not mean to say that all the large 1 fortunes are to be traced to unlawful l means, but it Is quite clear that many l of those described as swollen, are due to rebates, or to some form of un- 1 lawful monopoly, or fo oVer-capltal- ization. Of course, great enterprises organized and managed by men Of i transcendent ability should result In
 great profit to them. It is proper compensation when they share with the people the profit from the econo- mics that they introduce in the business l by reducing the price. The captains of legitimate industry, therefore are l entitled to large reward, and 1t Is l impossible to impose a fixed limita- l tion upon the amount which they may l accumulate.
 State Legislation.
 The critics I have referred to are in l the habit of charging to MT. Roosevelt responsibility for all the recent state l legislation looking to the restraint of corporations and especially for that l which cuts down the passenger rates 1 on state railways. This is most unjust. i for wh ether such legislation Is proper or oppressive the impetus that car
 ried it into law was given not by MT. Roosevelt but by the evils that he has been attempting to remedy within the ! federal Jurisdiction. If the state meas
 ures are unjust to the property rights
 of the railways, they may be corrected | In the courts. If they are unwise. they will react against the communities in which they operate by making the
 service poorer and in other ways. and
 the reaction will lead to their repeal.
 The railways can blame no one but themselves if the revelation of their l fragrant violations of law and of their unjust administration of a public trust l have led to an outburst of popular in- l dignation and have brought on tenn l porary excess.
 Slump In Wall Street. l Again, every time that there is a fall | z ,lx.. f,, Vol -trA