The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1908-04-03

terest of the public, the business use
of the enormous aggregations of cor
porate wealth that are so marked a
feature of the modern industrial world
But the present antitrust law, On its
construction and working, has exempli
fed only too well the kind Of legisla
ton, which, under the guise of being
thorough-going, is drawn up in such
sweeping form as to become either in
| effective OF else mischievous.
In the modern industrial world com
binations are absolutely necessary;
| they are necessary among business
men, they are necessary among labor
ing men, they are becoming more and
more necessary among farmers. Some
! of these mbinations are among the
most powerful of all instruments for
wrongdoing. Others offer the only eff
| fective way of meeting actual business
needs. 1t is mischievous and unwhole'
some to keep upon the statute books
| unmodified a law, like the antitrust
law, which, while in practice only par
| TALLY effective against vicious COM
DO not pretend to say the exact shape
| that the bill should take, and the sug'
gestions | have to offer are tentative;
and my views would apply equally to
any other measure which would
achieve the desired end. Bearing this
in mind, | would suggest, merely ten
tatively the following changes in the
law:
The substantive part of the anti
trust law should remain as at present;
that is, every contract in restraint OF
trade or commerce among the several
states or with foreign nations should
continue to be declared illegal; pro-
vded, however, that some proper gov
ernmental authority (such as the COM
missioner of corporations acting I'M
der the secretary of commerce and Ia
bor) be allowed to pass on any such
contracts. Probably the best method
of providing for this would be to enact
that any contract, subject to the prohi-
bition contained in the antitrust law,
into which it was desired to enter,
might be filed with the bureau of cor
porations or other appropriate eXecu-
tive body. This would provide public
ity. Within, say, 60 days of the filing
which period could be extended by
order of the department whenever for
any reason it did not give the depart
ment sufficient time for thorough eX-
amination-the executive department
having power might forbid the con-
tract, which would then become sub
ject to the provisions of the antitrust
law, if at all in restraint of trade.
If no such prohibition was issued,
the contract would then only be liable
to attack on the ground that it con-
stituted an unreasonable restraint of
trade. Whenever the period OF filing
had passed without any such prohibi-
ton, the contracts or combinations
could be disapproved or forbidden only
after notice and hearing with a rea-
sonable provision for summary review
on appeal by the courts. Labor Or
CARNATIONS, farmers organizations,
and other organizations not organized
for purposes of profit, should be al
lowed to register under the law by
giving the location of the head Office,
the charter and bylaws, and the names
and addresses of their principal Of
fcers. In the interest of all these
Observation-Disclosures labor, and
farmers organizations alike-the pres
ent provision permitting the recov-
cry of threefold damages should be
abolished, and as q substitute therefor
the right of recovery allowed for
should be only the damages sustained
by the plaintiff and the cost OF suit,
including reasonable attorneys fee.
The law should not affect pending
suits; short statute OF limitations
should be provided, so far as the past
is concerned not to exceed a year
Moreover, and even more in the inter-
est of labor than of business combin-
atoms, all such suits brought FOR
causes of action heretofore occurred
should be brought only if the contract
or combination complained of was I'M
fair or unreasonable. 1t may be well
to remember that all of the suits hith-
erto brought by the government under
the antitrust law have been in cases
where the combination or contract was
in fact unfair, unreasonable and
against the public interest.
1t is important that we should en-
courage trade agreements between EN-
ployer and employee where they are
Just ard fair. A strike is a clumsy
weapon for righting wrongs done to
labor, ard we should extend, so far as
possible, the process of Cancellation
and arbitration as a substitute for
strikes. Moreover, violence, disorder,
and coercion, when committed in con-
nection with strikes, should be as
promptly and as sternly repressed as
when committed in any other connec-
ton. But strikes themselves are, and
should be, recognized to be entirely
legal. Combinations of workingmen
have a peculiar reason for their exist
ence. The very wealthy individual en-
| rlover and still more the very wealthy