Bisbee daily review. [volume] (Bisbee, Ariz.) 1901-1971, 1907-12-04

menL OF the bureau OF Corporations.
The antitrust law should not pro
hfbit combinations that do no injus-
tice to the public, still less those the
existence of which is on the whole of
benefit to the public. But even IL
this feature of the law were abolish
ed, there would remain as an equally
Objectionable feature the difficulty
and delay now incident to its enforce
ment The Government must now
submit to irksome and repeated delay
before obtaining a final decision of
the courts upon proceedings institut-
ed. and even favorable decree may
mean an empty victory. Moreover, to
attempt to control these corporations
! by lawsuits means to impose upon
both the Department of Justice and
| the courts an impossible burden; it
| is not feasible to carry on more than
| a limited number of such suits. Such
! a law to be really effective must Of
course be administered by an exec
utive body, and not merely by means
| of lawsuits. The design should be to
prevent the abuses incident to the
| creation of unhealthy and improper
! combinations, instead Of waiting I'M
| til they are in existence and then at
tempting to destroy them by civil or
| criminal proceedings.
4 combination should not be toler-
ated if it abuse the power acquired by
| combination to the public detriment.
| No corporation or association of any
| kind should be permitted to engage
| in foreign or interstate commerce that
| is formed for the purpose of, or whose
| operations create, a monopoly or gen
eral control of the production, sale, or
| distribution of any one or more of the
| prime necessities Of life or articles of
general use and necessity. Such
| combinations are against public pol
| icy: they violate the common law;
| the doors of the courts are closed to
| those who are parties to them, and
| believe the Congress can close the
/ channels of interstate commerce
against them for its protection. The
| law should make its prohibitions and
| permissions as clear and definite as
| possible, leaving the least possible
room for arbitrary action, or allega-
| ton OF such action, on the part of the
| Executive, or of divergent inteTpreta-
| lions by the courts. Among the points
| to be aimed at should be the prohibit
! ton of unhealthy competition, such
! as by rendering service at an actual
| loss for the purpose Of crushing out
| competition, the prevention of infla-
| ton of capital, and the prohibition Of
| q corporations making exclusive
| trade with itself a condition Of having
! any trade with itself. Reasonable
| agreements between, or combinations
| of, corporations should be permitted,
| provided they are first submitted 10
and approved by some appropriate
| Government body.
The Congress has the power to char
! ter corporations to engage in inter-
state and foreign commerce, and a
general law can be enacted under the
provisions of which existing corpora
| tons could take out Federal Ncharters
and new Federal corporations could
| be created. An essential provision of
! such law should be a method of pre-
| determining by some Federal board or
| commission whether the applicant lUI
a Federal charter was an association
! or combination within the restrictions
| or the Federal law. Provision should
| also be made for complete publicity
| in all matters affecting the public
and complete protection to the invest
| ing public and the shareholders in
/ the matter of issuing corporate Sc
/ CuTIIIgs. II an incorporation IA '-I5T
! not deemed advisable, a license act
/ for big interstate corporations might
| be enacted; or combination of the
| two might be tried. The supervision
/ established might be analogous to
| that now exercised over national
bangs. At least, the antitrust act
should be supplemented by specific
prohibitions of the methods which ex-
perience has shown have been Of
most service in enabling monopolistic
| combinations to crush out competi-
| ton. The real owners Of corpora
| ton should be compelled TO do bust
| ness in their own name. The right TO
| hold stock in other corporations
should hereafter be denied TO inter
state corporations, unless on approval
| by the proper Government officials,
and a prerequisite to such approval
| should be the listing with the Govern
ment, in connection with the amend
ment / advocate in the antitrust law,
power of supervision over big busi-
nNs concerns engaged in interstate
commerce, would benefit them as It
has benefited the national banks. In
| the recent business crisis il is note
worthy that the institutions which
failed were institutions which were
| HOT uuuGI the olkfCi N4olO4 anu SS4lA VI
of the National Governmet. Those
which we're under National control
stood the test.
National control OK the kind above
advocated would be to the benefit Of
every wellmanaged railway. From
the standpoint of the public there is
need for additional tracks, additional
terminals, and improvements IN the
actual handling of the railroads, and
all this as rapidly as possible. Ample,
safe, and speedy transportation facil-
tiles are even more necessary than
cheap transportation. Therefore, there
| is need for the investment of money
which win provide for all these
! things while at the same time secur-
ing as far as is possible better wages
and shorter hours for their employees.
Therefore, while there must be just
and reas onable- regulation OF rates,
we should be the first to protest
against any arbitrary and unthinking
movement to cut them down without
I the fullest and most carefui consider
alton Of all interests concerned and
of the actual needs of the situation.
| Only a special body Of men acting
for the National Government under
the authority conferred upon it by
! the Congress is competent TO pass
I Judgment on such a matter.
Those who fear. from any reason,
the extension OF Federal activity VIII
/ ~, sell - oxt7dv the hiqforv MT only