The semi-weekly messenger., 1907-04-30

very IItJe NOISE - DSIiI5 maui az
the government is now conducting a
series Of Investigations covering he
operations Of the largest industries IN
The United Statc5. Sugar alcc., oil to-
bacco. or at least the trusts th2t are
supposed 10 control the production aud
sale of the articles named, are ali feel
ing the probe oi the federal tru~: DIS
e.. The trust buster is Herbert Knox
Smith. United States commissioner %
corporations.
The bureau Of corporations IS The
publicity agency oil The COVE nmchJ; IL
collects evidence upon which future
prosecutions are based This was what
was done in the case Of lhe beef trHat
ana Of standard Oil. The bureau q COL
porations. or more properly speaking,
The commissioner Of C0rDol auOns,
started ihc ball rolling, and Standard
Oil was halcd into court and indicted
on more than thousand counts. It
was uu0n evidence collected by COM
missioner Of corporations that The bee!
trust found itself confronting "rC&@c4-
tiQns in the courts Of the land.
President Roosevelt once designate d
the tobacco trust as = bad trust. n
tobacco trust became unpopular some
wears ago. 1t was charged that it ran
its small competitors out OF business
During the national campaign the to-
bacca trust got into some sort OF
tangle over political contributions. i
was charged that the trust offered one
Of The parties q large amount o. money,
in the event that if the candidate OF
that party was successful at the polls
the trust would not be disturbed. As
the story goes the candidate in queS-
ton refused to permit his managers to
accept any money bearing the OdOr Cf
nicotine All of these things were Dad
enough fer the tobacco trust, but lis
worst piece of luck came when its
operations We're subjected to the close
scrutiny Of the government trust bust
er The trust buster is not preceded
in his work of inquiry by a brass Land
He wears gum shoes, and is SO smooth
that he can walk over piano board
mile wide and not strike a note. The
tobacco trust, which Is engaging most
Of the time and attention of Commits
si0ner of Corporations Smith, feels as
sured that its business methods will
soon be laid bare to the public and l.
does not relish the thought
Two or three years ago the commits
siOner of corporations began lookiue
into the methods of the sugar trust to
ascertain Iust how that combination
was enabled to control prices and reg
ulate the output, in fact, to ascertain
just how much sugar, an article OF
every day necessity in every household
in the United States, came TO fall into
the hands of what practically amounts
to a monopoly, and if such monopoly
could be broken or controlled by the
laws on the statute books. The an
nounCement is made that the report Of
the commissioner of corporations on
the operations of the sugar trust will
soon be given to the public Whether
a suit in the courts will be Instituted
remains to be seen.
Although it is not generally known,
Standard Oil is still under investiga
ton by the commissioner Of corpora
tiOns. The report on that concern for
Warded to congress a year or SO az"
had to do only with it's relations to the
railroads. Commissioner Smith is how
inCuiring into the management a1d
conduct of Standard Oil. the cost Of
production, the influence of the Hpe
line as a factor in monopoly building,
and export and domestic price Of the
Trodnct. It is stated on good authority
that disclosures concerning Standard
Oil more interesting than those thut
have gone before will be made
Tie inquiry into the steel trust,
while we'll advanced. will not be COM
pleted for some time to come.
In addition to his inquiries into the
industries named Commissioner Smith
is conducting an investigation that is
being watched with great interest. Just
before congress adjourned resolution
was introduced in the house authOriz-
ing an inquiry into the operations of
the New York Cotton Exchange. At
the same time an application was made
to the postmaster general for the is
suanceof a fraud order against the New
York institution. The house resClu-
ton was supposed to be directed solely
against the exchange, but Commission
er Smith construed it otherwise. He
decided that the resolution was aimed
at all exchanges and associations deal
ing in cotton, and he proceeded accord
ingly. This inquiry will be broad in
its scope 1t will extend from New
York TO New Orleans. Whether cot
ton exchanges actually deal in the pro-
duct, inst what Influences are brought
to bear to bring about fiuctuating quo
iatiOnS in the market and other nueS-