The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-07-29

tions To Ownership of 50 Per Cent
 of Plant and Product Is Faulty.
 The suggestion of the democra slc
 platform that trusts be ended by fo"-
 bidding corporations to hold more tn an
 50 per cent of the plant in any Hae
 of manufacture is made without rn
 gard to the possibility of enforcement
 or the real evil in trusts. A corpora
 tion controlling 45 or 50 per cent of
 the products may by well known
 meth ods frequently affect monopoly
 and stamp out competition in any part
 of the country as completely as if il
 controlled so or TO per cent thereof.
 Compulsory Sale of Products at Fixed
 Price Impracticable.
 The proposal to compel every corpor-
 ation to sell it's commodities at the l same price the country over, allowing
 for transportation. is utterly imprac-
 ticable. If 1t can be shown that in
 order to drive out competition, CO.,
 poration owning a large part of tn } l plant producing an article is selling in
 one part of the country, where it has competitors. at low and unprofitable price, and in another part of the coun- try, where it has none. at an exorbl- 1 tant price, this is evidence that it IS attempting an unlawful monopoly and justifies conviction under the anti l trust law; but the proposal to supe"- wise the business of corporations in such way as to fix the price of com modies and compel the sale at sueh price is as absurd and socialistic plank as was ever inserted in a demo cratic political platform.
 Difference Between Republican and
 Democratic Policies and Platform.
 Former Progressive and Regulatve, Later Radical and Destructive.
 The chief difference between the re
 publican and the democratic platforms is the difference which has heretofore been seen between the policies of MT. Roosevelt and those which have been advocated by the democratic candida Mir Bryan MT. Roosevelts policies l have been progressive and regulative: MT. Bryan's destructive. MT. Rooseve has favored regulation of the bushes in which evils have grown up so as 'o stamp out the evils and permit th- business to continue. ~The tendency of MT. Bryan's proposals have general l been destructive of the business witE | respect to which he Is demanding re form. MT. Roosevelt would compel the 1 trusts to conduct their business in q l lawful manner and secure the benefits of their operation and the maintenance l of the prosperity of the country of | which they are an important par while Mir. Bryan would extirpate and destroy the entire business in order to l stamp out the evils which they have l practiced.
 Advantages of Combination of Capital.
 The combination of capital in large l plants to manufacture goods with the 1 greatest economy Is just as necessary as the assembling of the parts of a ma 1 chine to the economical and more rapid manufacture of what in old times was made by hand. The government should not interfere with one any more than the other when such aggregations of capital are legitimate and are properly /, controlled, for they are then the natural results of modern enterprise and are beneficial to the public In the proper operation of competition the public will soon share with the manufacturer the advantage in economical operation and lower prices.
 What Is an Unlawful Trust?
 When, however, such combinations are not based on any economic principle but , are made merely for the purpose of con trolling the market to maintain or raise prices, restrict output and drive out com petitors, the public derives no benefit and we have monopoly There must be some use by the company of the com paratively great size of it's capital and plant and extent of it's output. either to coerce persons to buy of it rather than of some competitor or to coerce those ], who would compete with it to give up their business. There must usually, in other words, be shown an element of duress in the conduct of it's business to- ward the customers in the trade and it's competitors before more aggregation of capital or plant becomes an unlawful monopoly. It is perfectly conceivable that in the interest of economy of production a great number of plants may be ligti- mately assembled under the ownership of one corporation. It is important, there fore, that such large aggregations of capital and combination should be con- trolled so that the public may have the | advantage of reasonable prices and that the avenues of enterprise may be kept open to the individual and the smaller corporation wishing to engage in busi- ness.
 Mere Aggregation of Capital Not Violation of Antitrust Law. In country like this, where in good times there is an enormous floating cap | ital awaiting investment, the period be- 1 fore which effective competition by con- struction of new plants can be intro-
 
 short, rarely exceeding year, and is usually even less than that
 Existence of Actual Plant Is Not
 Therefore Necessary To Potential
 Competition.
 Many enterprises have been organized on the theory that mere aggregation of all or nearly all existing plants in a | line of manufacture without regard to economy of production, destroys compe- | tition. They have most of them gone into 1 bankruptcy. Competition in a profitable business will not be affected by the mere aggregation of many existing plants un- ! der one company, unless the company thereby affects great economy, the benfit of which it shares with the public or takes some illegal method to avoid com petition and to perpetuate a hold on the 1 business.
 Proper Treatment of Trusts. Unlawful trusts should be restrained with all the efficiency of injunctive pro- cess and the persons engaged in main- | taining them should be punished with all the severity of criminal prosecution in order that the methods pursued in the i operation of their business shall be | brought within the law. To destroy them and to eliminate the wealths they repre- i sent from the producing capital of the country would entail enormous loss and