The Detroit times., 1908-08-25

per cent would find in the law requlr-
ms license I'm the case or the larger
onesl o..
License No Preventive.
The license however. would not pre-
| vent the growth OF the corporations
licensed It would simply bring them
ment and compel them 10 deal with the
public IN such = MAYS IL anoId the
! pubttr- the protection recvssstt-s
"One OF the most familiar methods
OF the trust is To undersen a small
competitor in the small competitor
territory-the price being maintained
elsewhere--until the small competitor
/ Is driven TO bankruptcy and then the
price raised. That has been done
/ over and over again. AZ IS open and no
torious, and yet with the Republicans
party in complete power at Washing
1 ton what effort has been made to pre-
4 vent this? This remedy, although We
hementy denounced by Mr. TAFT. Will
! appeal to the average man as not only
! very salutary. but very necessary.
Fifty per cent. is fixed as the maxi
| mum limit. When a corporation con
trolls 90 per cent Of the total product
/ u supplies forty millions or people witn
! that product ls that not enough Nj.
! Tafts objection 10 this limitation can
hardly be characterized as statesman
like. He says:
"A corporation controlling ~ or -
| per cent OF the product, may by well
known methods. frequently effect
monopoly and stamp eat competition IN
part OF a country as completely as ~
it controlled 60 or 20 per cent thereof.
Why. then. does he not propose a
| lower limit? II the control OF as per
cent may constitute MONOPOLY WHY
does he not suggest that "a maxi
mum? II can not be because Of any
disinclination 10 amend his platform.
for he has already made a Iatch-w ork
quilt OF the conventions pIatfoIm by
promiscuous amendments
And 10 what Well known methods
does he refer To the undersCllIn. o
irurrfr-titors-I4a-..Iaa --SGcti aIL-LNhll L b.
price is maintained elsewhere And
Set tins Ia the very thinE which We
propose 10 remedy, but he pro"t eds 10
denounce our remedy a. absu.d AMI
Soctalistic. The trouble vi h SecTctatV
taft IS that he spends so much time
tying to discover excuses for inaCtlon
IN trust matters that he has nc &C left
for the consideration OF effective reric-
dies He spends more time altering
than ne does in pointing out tno eds
I - be remeaiea car In suE geAliE@- rene
dies He says
The combination OF capncl IN Large
plants to manufacture goods with tha
greatest economy is Just a. rt-r rsSe -
as the assembling OF the partS Of L ma
chine to the economical and more rapid
manufacture Of what in old times was
made by h0nd'
And he adds that:
The government should not inter
fere WIN one any more tHdn the other,
when such aggregations Of capital are
legitimate and are properly controlled.
for they are the natural results Of
modern enterprise and are beneficial 70
No one proposes to Interfere with
production OH a large scale. No one
objects 10 production on "A scale suf-
hciently large To enable the producer
To utilize by-products and take advant-
age OF all the economies that large pro-
duction makes possible II is just here
that the trust magnates attempt to
confuse the public mind. and Mr. TAFT
-i-+--i 444-s4i Se--.+i-+l -tAGIr-laI=
guage.
Let the issue be made plain: let the
distinction be accurately drawn, let the
respective positions Of the parties be
fully understood. The Democratic
party does not oppose all corporations
on the contrary. IL recognizes that the
corporation can render an important
service to the public. The Democratic
party wants 20 employ every instru-
ALI = that am p nL.0d- far tho
advancement OF the common good: but
the Democratic party draws the line al
the private monopoly, and declares thai
a private monopoly can not be justified
on either economic or political grounds
business Men Feel Pressure.
The business men of the country
have felt the pressure OF the trusts
The retailer has been compelled To en-
ter into contracts which restrict his
management of mrs own dffrtrs. ire iitts
found the terms OF sale and payment
changed to hts-Q Disadvantage and he
has been forced TO carry more and more
of the risks OF trade. He is convinced
that there are no good trusts aftl-tlfst
his only safety is in the Democratic
plan which lays the ak at the root OF
the tree
The travelling men naturally take
especial interest In the trust question.
because the more complete the monop-
oily secured by "a corporation the less
they are needed We have no more in
telligent class than the representatives
OF commerce. and their retirement from
tht TOad wUUfd TITpHn EDTTOUs T0ss 10
the country while n Few promoters
would be the only persons benefited.
| they gaining by the capitalization OF
the salaries saved by the elimination or
MIR. Taft either misunderstands or
misrepresents the Democratic position
| In regard 10 the determination OF the
principle OF private monopoly. In his
| notification speech, he says:
Mr.. Roosevelt would compel the
trusts TO conduct their business In
lawful manner and secure the dement's
OF their operation and the maintenance
of THO prosperity Of the country OF
which they are an important part;
while Mr.. Bryan would extfrpHte amt
destroy the entire business In order 10
stamp out the evils which they have
practiced'
Taft's Confession.
"Here is confession by Mr.. TAN
that he regards the trusts as neces-
sary TO the nations prosperity, for ne
declares tnat they pluy an important
part In the maintenance OF prosperity.
and he charges that l would 'extirpate
and destroy business I'm extirpating
and destroying the principle OF pri-
vate monopoly. Surrty, his study Of
the trust question has been very SUI
perfcial. IL he sees danger In tie re-
storatiOn OF reign OF competition.
Let US take Illustration Sup
pose the Democrats succeed In the en-
actment VI n law In harmony with the
Democratic nlatform-a law recurring
-eNerx-cor poratlon- to- take Out ffd-
eral UCense- before II is permitted 'foT
control rs per cent OF the business IN
which II is engaged Would thisE"eX-
tirpatc and destroy the business ~ the
country? As already stated. but u very
small Der cent % the corporations
would be affected by the law. and those
affected would he the oncs that have
been giving the officers OF the law so
much trouble during the last is year,.
A. the licensed corporation aincrcoscd
its business from IS To 30 per cent. %
would be under the watchful eye % the
governmenf would be compelled to-
make suchfreDorts as the government
required. would be- prohibited from wa
tering it's stock. and would he required
10 sell 10 all customers upon the same
terms. due allowance being made for
cost ~ sportation, Would n 'eN-