The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1907-09-28
PRECIcTED URBANcEs YEAR
AGO AND FINDS FULFILL.
MENT IN CONDITIONS.
BLAMES SHERMAN LAW
For Locs Of Confidence and Declare o
Il Must Be Changed Or Prove
Constant Menace TO Com.
mercial Interests.

principal feature Of this the con Ind
ing day Of the American Painters as.
sociation convention, was tile address
of Melville IL. ingalls,. Of Cincinnati,
Who spoke On Our Present and F,i-
tife Prosperity" Mr.. ingalls, tauchc |
Ilq,on his address { .aar ago he ore
| the Ohio bankers. ia which he warmed
| them. in spite Of the good times pre-
! railing then. Of coming trouble. He
/ spoke then Of how four hundred mil.
| lien dallars had been spent for auto
hmobles within one or two years, He
! history of financing railroads would
he written up. people would wonder
| ii such things really did and cor'l
| have existed at this time. He sad a
4 yearago that II the Sherman law con
| tinnel it would cause great industrial
controversies aud in his speech today
said that he felt that his words If
| rrophesy had come true. Mr. ingalls,
concluded by saying;
| Why try to array class against class
by constantly harping upon wrongs
cf the past? We have gone on in this
country preaching crusade against
property and the accumulation 6f
wealth without making any distinc-
| ton as to how or why or when 1t was
lacnmired until we have so confused
The minds of the ordinary people that
lthey thnF all the wealth and prop.
fnrty is their foe when the fact Is
there are scarcely any people II this
IcpHntry hnt what. to some extent are
pcssessors Of property and accufnr
latrrs ef waaith. The poor worthless
class. lhe social reformer who hopes,
without work, to get some Of his
peighbOfs roperty, are very few We
should net encourage this number or
lead our people. who are nearly al
comparatively well off. to think that
there Is any class in this country try
ing to cypress another. Above all
the Sherman law, so called. should be
changed. | have repeatedly stated
and | think my construction of that
law has been agreed to by the highest
terms. and If strictly construed. no
man can honestly engage in business |
without violating It, Any agreement |
almost between two parties is CON
spiracy This spirit has been enlarged
and re reenacted in state legislatures ,
until It has produced even worse con-
diticns In my own state Legislation |
is so strict that If two butchers on
corners of the street should |
agree upon the price OF beefsteak il |
world be a penitentiary offense, and
can be proved without the
usual forms of evidence How can
you expect men to risk their fortunes
9nd time in building up enterprises or
in business If they are
liable to be punished under law like
this? You may say that no such con
has been applied. and yet Is
i safe to have a law which can be so
and If strictly enforced the
liberty of individuals made rependent
upon the will of those who control
the channels OF prosecution We have
ions on account of wrongs undoubt
idly committed by some in the past,
and we have wrought up such popu-
lar feeling that today combination,
whether in the form of a company or
4 trust. seems odious and criminal,
when the fact is that modern condi-
items are such that combinations.
whether in the form of trusts, corpo-
rations. or partnerships. are as neces
sary as life itself We must so change
our laws that a fair agreement or or
for the conduct of business
shall not he a conspiracy. and that
only the unfair and unjust comhina
tons. which shall be so found after
proper investigation and trial. shall
be deemed unlawful
Our president has recommended
This change. our National Civic Fed
eration has taken it up. and there is
to be large meeting in Chicago the
latter part of October composed Of
delegates from all the states to seri
,usly consider this reform. | hope
therefore that some change will be
gade. have given you in haste
some OF the reasons for my belief that
Ne are not going to have a panic in
Witch the railways will go into the
hands OF receivers. as they have dcne
Il former times. in which the fires IN
furnaces viii go out, and the machine
shops be lille and the labOrer go
lround the streets searching for work =.
M Of this could come for the differ
nee between COOL times and poor
lines is very slight less than ia per q
ent. As bankers we should use our
% restore confidence il this
ountry. an1 If our government OH :
iaIs national and state. our state s
len and business men. instead q
arning continually upon what is bad.