The Detroit times., 1908-04-28

bodies In the executive service shouId
be given power TO pass upon any COM
binatIon or agreement In relation to
Interstate commerce, and every SUCH
combination or agreement not thus
approved should be treated as In vlo-
Iation of law and prosecuted accord
inqIy. The issuance Of the securities
Of any combination doing interstate
business should be under the super
vision OF the national government.
1T is not possible wholly 10 except
labor organizations from the work
ings OF this law, and they who insist
upon totally excepting them are mere
ly providing THAI their status shall
be kept wholly unchanged, and that
they shall continue TO be exposed TO
the action which they now dread. OBJ
viously, an organization not formed
for profit should not be required 10
furnish statistics in any way as COM
plete as those furnished by organiza-
tons for profit Moreover, 90 ar az
labor Is engaged In production only.
lie claims to be exempted from the
antitrust law are sound. This would
substantially cover the right Of lab
orers to combine, to strike peaceably,
and to enter into trade agreements
with the employers. But when labor
undertakes In wrongful manner 20
prevent the distribution and sale Of
the products Of labor, 40 In certain
forms Of the boycott, IL has left the
field Of production, and ito action may
plainly be In restraint OF interstate
trade, and must necessarily be sub
jest to inquiry, exactly az In the case
Of any other combination for the Same
purpose, 90 az to determine whether
such action 10 contrary 20 sound public
policy.
We should sanction neither . boy
colt, nor blacklist which would be
illegal az common law.
THE measures I advocate are In
the interest both OF decent corpora
tons and of law-abiding labor unions.
They are. moreover, pre-eminently In
the interest of the public"
The "eoston Agreement"
President Roosevelt then refers to
a report Of the finance committee of
the city OF Boston, relating to certain
evil practices OF corporations doing
business with the city.
That report alleges that collusive
bids were submitted by manufacturers
and dealers In structural steel, fnclud.
ing the American Bridge Co.; one of
the constituent members OF the United
States Steel corporation. for the pur-
pose OF raising prices.
The president sasy that he has sub
mitted this report to the department
OF Justice for thorough investigation
and for action under the antitrust law
II action shall prove practicable. He
gives the complete report In this Bos-
ton case as an appendix to his mes
sage.
AS to undesirsbles, both poor and
rich. the president has this to say:
THE man OF great business ability
who obtains a fortune In upright fash
ion, inevitably In SO doing confers a
benefit upon the community and as
whole he Is entitled to reward. to re-
spect and to admiration. The man
who breaches hatred OF death honest
|ly acquired: who inculcates envy and
jealousy and slanderous ill.will to-
ward those OF his fellows who by
thrift, energy and industry have be-
come men OF means. Ia a menace to
tbs community. But his counterpart
in evil Is to be found In that particu-
lar kind OF multi-millionaire who Is
almost the least enviable. and is the
only one least admirable of all our
citizens:N man Of whom II has been
we'll said that his face has grown hard
and cruel while his body has grown
soft: whose son Is fool and his
daughter foreign princess whose
nominal pleasures are at best those
OF tasteless and extravagant luxury,
and whose real delight. whose real
life work Is the accumulation and use
OF power In its most sordid and least
elevating form. In the chaos OF an
absolutely unrestricted commercial In
Idividualism, under modern conditions.
this Is a type that becomes prominent
as inevitably as the mahrauder bapon
became prominent In the physical
chaos OF the dark ages"
This from the president regarding
the injunction:
The process OF injunction In labor
disputes. as well as where state laws
are involved, should be used sparing-
Ily and only when there is the clearest