The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-12-04
Message of President Roosevelt to Sixtiet Congress

missions. each within its own province. to achieve the desired end.
 Sherman Antt-trust Law.
 Moreover. In my. judgment there should be additional legislation look Ing to the proper control of the great
 ats su.nsss hs consrol to prosperity no less than for the pro. lection of investors and of the genera messages to Congress and elsewhere. experience has definitely shown not merely the unwisdom but the futility nst Modern GD naas o trial conditions are such that combina- tion Is not only necessary put inev,t- able. It is also In the world oI pusl- ness just as it is so in the world or labor. ana 1t Is as idle to desire to put an end to all corporations-toa to all pig combinations of capital, as to desire Corporation and labor union alike have come to stay. Each if properly managed Is source of good and not evil. Whenever in either there is evil. | but 1t should receive hearty encourage ment so long as 1t is properly manaK. l ed It is profoundly immoral 10 put ksep on the ,s stasu5s intsrsst e0oaS of puhlsc | morality that really puts premium | upon public immortality. by. undertak- | ing to forbid honest men from doing what must be done under modern buG. ness conditions, SC that the law itself provides that its own infractfon must | be the condition precedent upon vusi- ment of too much usually means the accomplishment of too little. and often the doing of positive damage.
 |
 The antitrust law should not pc l repealed. but 1t should be made D0tn l eficient1 and more in harmony with | actual conditions. It should pc eo l amended as to forbid only the Kind oI combination which sndnnnt does map.n # to be be | Accompanied by, or to be an incident l of. grant of supervisory power .o the Government over these DIE con | This should be accompanied by provis. | ion for the compulsory publication oi | accounts and the subJection or pooks | Government officials. A beginning has already been made for such supervision l by the establishment of tho Bureau or The antitrust law should not pro- l hfbft combinations that do no injustice | 10 the public. still less those the exist ence of which is on the whoie th, or oeas- sas- l ture of the law were abolished. there l would remain as an equally obiectlon- 1 able feature the diffculty and delay Government must now submit. to irk- | some and repeated delay before ob- 1 taining a final decision of the courts | upon proceedings instituted and even favorable decree may mean an empty l victory. Moreover. to attempt to con-
 trol these corporations by lawsuits
 to impose & upon sna pSsh tSs courts 5ae pe an | impossible burden; 1t is.~-e feasible 10
 carry on more than limited numb or
 of such suits. Such law to be really
 effective must of course be admins.
 tered by an executive body. and not
 merely by means of lawsuits; The de-
 sign should be to prevent the abuses
 and, improper combinations, instead of
 waiting until they are in existence and
 then attempting to destroy them by
 0A combination should not be toIer.
 ated if 1t abuse the power acquired
 by combination to the public detriment
 No corporation or association or any
 kind should be permitted to engage IT
 foreign Of interstate commerce that is
 formed for the purpose of. or whose
 operations create a monopoly or gem
 distribntion dist of any one or more of tht
 prime necessities of life or articles oi
 general use and necessity. Such | combinations are against public policy
 they violate the common law: the door.
 of the courts are closed to those wht
 are parties to them. and believe th'
 Congress can close the enannels oI in ,.,
 protection. The law should make fti
 prohibitions and permIssions as cleai
 and definite. as possible. leaving tht
 tion, or allegation of such action. or
 the part of the Executive. or of diverg-
 ent interpretations by the courts
 be the prohibition of unhealthy com
 petition. such as by rendering servict
 at an actual loss for the purpose oi crushing out competition, the proven
 tion of imitation of capital, and the
 prohibition of a corporations making
 exclusive trade with itself a condition
 any or
 tions of, corporations should be per- mitted, provided they are first sub mitted to and approved by some appro- priate Government body.
 The Congress has the power to char
 ter corporations to engage in inter state and foreign commerce. and general law can be enacted under the provisions of which existing corpora
 tions could take out Federal charters and new Federal corporations could bt
 created. An essential provision oi
 such law should be a method of pre-
 determining by some Federal board ol
 commission whether the applicant fol
 a Federal charter was an association
 or combination within the restrictions also be made for complete publicity il
 all matters affecting the public anC
 complete protection to the investing public and the shareholders in the mat
 
 an incorporation law is not deemed
 advisable a license act for big inter
 state corporations might be enacted or a combination of the two might b' tried. The supervision established } might be analogous to that now exer cised over national banks. At least
 the antitrust act should be supple mented by specific prohibitions oI thu
 methods which /inexperience has showI have been of most service in enabling
 monopolistic combinations to crush on competition. The real owners of corporation should be compelled to d,
 business in their own name. The righ
 should hereafter be denied to interstat corporations. unless on approval by tn proper Government officials, and a pre-
 requisite to such approval should b,
 the listing with the Government of al
 owners and stockholders both by tn,
 corporation owning such stock and b! the corporation in which such stock | . owned.
 To confer upon the National Govern ment. in connection with the amend
 ment l advocate in the antitrust law power of supervision over pig bust ness concerns engaged In interstat
 commerce, would benefit u em as it ha benefited the national banks. In th recent business crisis 1t is noteworth! institutions which were not under tn
 supervision and control of the Nation al Government. Those which were un
 der National control stood the test.
 | National control of the kind abov
 advocated would be to the benefit 0 ] the standpoint of the public there i need for additional tracks, additiona . terminals. and improvements in the ac
 tual handling of the railroads, and al