The Washington times., 1908-09-05

vision and that the application OF the
protective principle viii not be worked
out in a reasonable and proper way, u
may fairly be retorted that there is no
basis, TO say the least for any greater
confidence IN the operations and meth
OQs which might be adopted by OuI on
P0nents IN their proposed rCadjustmenU.
The experience of the years when they
last had the opportunity 10 frame new
schedules i'm the tariff of 1885, does not
inspire such confidence. The rugged
Cleveland was disguised with the work
Of his own party and while he did not
veto the bin that was prepared. he re-
fused TO give II the sanction OF his sig
roture.
Bryan's Trust Remedy.
" hen we consider other remedies that
are proposed for the trusts, we find
ourselves journeying I'm a land Of dreams.
Again the magician of 1896 waves his
wand. At stroke difficulties disappear
and the complex problems of modern
business are forgotten i'm the fascina-
ton of the simple panacea. And as
the free coinage Of silver Ia the ratio
OF rs 10 / was TO destroy the curse OF
gold, so the ueW-fOuud specific of equal
perfection is to remove The curse OF
industrial oppression. The d-lusiol OF
1908 is comparable only 10 that OF twelve
years ago.
The drst suggestion is that The law
should prevent q duplication Of directors
among competing corporations.
But the more important proposal is
that any manufacturing or trading
corporation engaged in interstate com
merce stall be required Go take out
a FederII license before il shUn be per-
Knitted 10 control as mucn as - pcr
cent of the product In which it deals
License Is Permission.
"A license is permission, and the OBJ
ject OF the remedy is not TO regulate
large businesses, but to destroy trusts.
Hence the supposed efficiency of the
plan is to be found i'm the prohibition
of the control by any aucI corporation
of more than 90 per cent Of the total
amount of any product consumed in
the United States" This is another de-
fusion of ratio
II might be interesting to inquire what
IS the meaning OF any product con-
sumed in the United States" Does 1t
refer 10 a class of commodities And,
If so, now shall the classes be denued2
or does IL refer to each separate article
of commerce.
The patent laws confer a true mOn0q-
oily In the exclusive right TO mauufaC-
ture and sell. Are these laws TO be re-
pealed because a private monopoly is
uudefeusible and intOlerable2' Is IL pro
posed 10 apply the prohibition Of control
OF more than 90 per cent TO patented
articles2
An example of Mr.. Bryan's reasoning
Is found i'm his statement that when a
corporation controls 80 per cent OF the
total product il supplies forty millions
of people with that product There
are, of course, SpeCialties which have q
limited market and are used by a reIa-
lively small number of the people OF
the United States.
One Firm May Control
More than 50 per cent, and indeed
even as much as 100 per cent OF the
trade in such articles may be in the
control of a particular corporation.
This may. IN fact, be relatively a sman
corporation II may never have aspired
to the uHsavory renowu of a trust"
But by prosecuting its particular line
with fidelity and meeting satisfactorily
a limited want or by reason of some
secret processes or advantage of expe-
rience, Il may control the trade In a
given article OF commerce. or. suppose
a concern controls the whole trade in
some useful by-prOduct which IL has
found IT advantageous TO make. is the
trade 10 be prohibited
The Democratic platform makes no
exceptions TO cover such cases and we
have learned that IL Is equally binding
as 10 what IL Omits."
If we could imagine such a crude pre-
hlDltlOn 10 be enacted into law and q
he regarded as valid. what would be thu
effect2 Mr.. Bryan. with his usual readi-
ness. suggests that the concern may sell
as much OF its plants is are not needed
90 produce the amount allowed by law.
He speaks as though every manufactur-
ing concern had as many fully equipped
units Of production as would correspond
TO any given percentage or trade MHlcl
il might be required TO lOp of. Plants
are not so easily dismembered.
Means Reduction Of Work.
Reduction I'm output means reduction
In work. reduction I'm the number of
men employed, and curtailment Of the
efficiency of a going concern. Let US
suppose a concern which controls so
per cent Of a given product-that is 10
. say, makes and sells SS,00000D in value
out Of @ total trade i'm the product
amounting 10 600. Is IL to be COM
PEELED % reduce It's output TO 81 COO 600
because only S2O00OJO in value are made
by OthC~s2 Then. If il could sell a part
of it's plant on Mr. BTyau's theory, what
should IL sell2 Should il sell OF enough
10 reduce its capacity To S5O00,0UO and
allow turee-ffths of its plant to remain
idle until others developed "a capacity
for handling the other Sj,0O0O00. Should
III assume that the total trade will in
crease and is not always 10 remain at
SI0OO0OGC and hence retain a larger Dor
ton of its plant ~ Idleuess2 Or suppose
concern CCnIICls 100 per cent Of the
trade in some article, what plants shall
ii retain2
1t can produce nothing until others
produce. bat il may produce an amount
equal 10 the production OF others. and
ii hopes the trade viii grow. What a
vision of business uncertainty and con
fusion. of idle and impaired plants: of
the ruin OF WOTkingmen whose lives
hayr clustered around particular in
dus .ries and who derend upon their
con iuued efficiency Is presented by this
fanliful remedy for the destruction Of
trusts,
Law Not to Hurt Business.
In the solemnity with which this pro-
/ pOsaI has been declared. and the in
/ sistence with which Il Is advocated we
/ find an appropriate test of the capacity
/ OF our opponents 10 deal wisely with the
/ problems of the day
Ii is the junction of law to define and
punish rvrongdoing, and not to throttle
/ business.
/ The Republican party i'm making intel
ugenU progress 20 these ends will be
I under competent leadership. Ten years
ago IN the discharge of his duties as a
I Judge without Wrought Of political
preferaent, Mr.. TAFT I'm a luminous and
/ Commemorative opinion laid down the
/ principles governing the antitrust act
/ aoplied to improper combinations at
1 fecting interstate trade in industrial
/ nrDducta This was the famous Addys-