The Charles Mix new era. (Wagner, Charles Mix County, S.D.) 1???-1911, 1908-05-01

/ control evss them At present the !afiure
| az the congress 70 utilize and exercise me
rraaf rover conferred upon y as re9arns
10 ~ reSulated. NOT by the state nor yet
~ the congress. but by the ocsa stonai
and necessarily inadequate ana one-ssneu
action OF the federal judiciary. How
| uDrfeh. ard able u court ". u cannon
act constructiveiy: II can only ACT mega.
| lively or desfructiveiy. "a an agency OF
government and this means thas ,ne
courts are and must aiwAss ~.
the present. which requires consstus1.ss
| action. A court can decide what is fAuiss,
| but II has no power to MAKE peter wa
4 thus finds to De lan'.y. ..s xiih
l power enough to correct abuses ana SCOPE
| enough 10 work out the complex proniehis
that this great country has deve.spsu. -
q body may be guilty OF unwisdom or
Of abuses. Amy governmental oooy.
whether Z court or \ com mission. wheiurI
executive. legislative or juase'sa. rIr,,vs
work for good. must also ineyltaoiy re-
! c~ive enough power to make II possipfy
effective for evil -
tional incorporation Law can BE- forthwith
| enacted some body or bodies In the exc
cutiye service should be given poWfI 70
pass upon any combination or axreemTns
1H EE{0 NIyu III
| every such combination or agreement NOT
h approved should be treated as ~
viola tlon Of Law and prosecuted accfru.
insiy; The i,..a nc:n. % ,o ,nr busin@sa
hould be under N supervision OF tne
national government.
A strong effort has been made 70 nass
labor organisations completely exempted
from any Of the operations OF this law.
whether or not their acts are In restraint
of trade. uch exception would IN ~
probability make the bill unconstitus,ona
and the legislature has no more right 70
pass = bill without regard to whether u
II constitutional than the courts nave
lightly % declare unconstitutional q law
acted. The responsibility Is AZ great on
the ons side as on the other. and an
abuse OF power BY the legislature In
one direction il equally 10 be on.
courts In the other direction II - not
possible wholly to except labor organiza.
ttonA from the workings OF this law, ana
ihey rho insist upon totally s,cep, hsss
status shall be kept wholly unchanged,
and hat they shall continue to be ex-
posed 70 the action which they now dread.
Obviously. ~ organization not formed Tor
profit should not be required TO furnish
statistics In any way ~ complete ~ those
furnished by organisation Tor prom.
Moreover. 20 far N labor Is engaged In
production only, its claims TO be exempted
from the antitrust law are sound. This
would substantially cover the right of Ia
borerU to combine. to strike peaceabiy.
and - enter nto trade agreements with
the employers. But labor under
takes In . wrongful manner to prevent the
distribution and sale Of the products OF
labor. - by certain forms OF the boycott.
action may plainly be in restraint Of In
terHtate trade. and must necessarily pc
subject to inquiry. exactly as In the case
OF any other combination for the pur-
pose. % A. to determine whether such &C.
ton II contrary to sound public policy.
The haartiest encouragement should be
given to the waGeworkers To form IaDor
unions and to enter into agreements with
their employers: and their light to strike.
% long - they act peaceably, must be
preserved. But we should sanction neith-
er q 6oycott nor . blacklist which would
be illegal at common Law.
Tho measures / advocate are In the IN
tereot both of decent corporations and or
iaw-alAding labor unions. They are,
moreover. pre-eminentiy In the interest
Hmerssan 'p people have DEFINITELY made up
their 0inds that the days OF the reign Of
the great hw-defying and l~aw-evAding
corporations are over. and that from this
ital necessary for the transaction OF busi-
ness under modern conditions. while en-
couraGed q long As they act honestly
and il the interest OF the general public.
are to Be subjected e careful supervision
tk8usS thelr acting IN tina interest," 20 the
people as . whole.
feet that there II no real need for thene
laws looking to the more effective control
OF the great corporations, upon the ground
that they will do their work well without
such control. ! call your attention to the
accompanying copy OF q report just sub
mitted by Nathan Matthews. chairman Of
city council OF Boston. relating to certain
evil practices of various corporations
which have been bidders for furnishing to
the city iron and steel. This report shows
lions formed among the various corpora
lions which q business with the city Of
Boston, including. for instance. a care
fully planned combination embracing
practically all the firms and corporations
engaged In structural steel work in New
England. This combination included SUBJ
stanthally AL the local concerns. and
many OF the largest corporations In the
United States. engaged In manufacturing
or furnishing structural steel for use in
any Bart Of New England: Il affected the
statea, the cities and towns. the railroads
and street railways. and generally all per-
sons having occasion to use iron or steel
for any purpose in that section Of this
country. AZ regards the city OF Boston,
the combination resulted In parceling out
the work by collusive bids. plainly dishon-
est, and supported by false affirmations.
In it, conclusion the commission recon-
mendS A. follows:
comment on the moral meaning OF these
methods and transactions would seem
superfuous: but as they were defended Al
the public hearings OF the commission and
asserted to be common and entirely prop
er incidents of business life. and az these
practices have been freely resorted to BY
aOm0 Of the largest Industrial corporations
hat the world has ever known. the COM
misaton deems 1t proper to record Its owr
opinion.
The commission dislikes to believe that
these practices are. ~ alleged. established
by the general custom OF the business
community: and this defense itself. If un.
ton against the honesty OF present bust
neao methods.
10 answer an invitation for public OF
| private work by sending In what purports
4 to ~ genuine bids, but what In reality arr
C0lluAvo figures purposely made higher
than the bid which ID known will be sub.
mttts4 by one Of the supposed competitor
u an act OF plain dishonesty.
To support these misrepresentation by
are eubmitted In good faith. md withoul
frAuA, collusion. or connection with any
other bidder. - = positive and deliberate
fraud. the successful bidder In the rom.
petition = guilty Of obtaining money by
falao pFetense. and the others have made
Themselves parties to = conspiracy ciearl,
unlawful 1T the common law.
where. ~ In the case Of the .'Bostor
AgISsment." . number Of the most I'm,
Str11turAl steel In this country. Including
the American Bridge company, one OF thu
constituent member OF the United State,
oto0 corporation. have combined together
for he purpose Of raising prices BY mean
Of eOelustve bids and false representations