Los Angeles herald., 1908-04-28

the act of congress Of July 2, 1890. The
three years limited for participation in
| these transactions has not elapsed, and
the evidence obtained by the commits
| sion is so complete that there should be
no difficulty in the government In Sc
curing a conviction in this case
II have submitted this case to the
department of Justice for action, if in
vestigation shall prove sufficient.
Surely such state of affairs as that
set forth above emphasizes the need of
further legislation not merely because
of the material benefits such legislation
will secure, but above all, because this
federal action should be part, and a
large part, of the campaign to waken
our people as a whole to a lively and
effective condemnation of the lowl
standard of morality implied in such
conduct on the part of the general busi-
ness concerns.
Mans First Duty
"The first duty of every man is to
provide livelihood for himself and for
those dependent upon him; it is from
every standpoint desirable that each of
our citizens should endeavor by hard
work and honorable methods to secure
for him and his such a competence as
will carry with it the opportunity to
enjoy in reasonable fashion the COM
Furthermore, the man of great business
ability who obtains fortune in upright
| fashion inevitably in so doing confers
benefit upon humanity as a whole
and Is entitled to reward, to respect and
to admiration.
"But among the many kinds of evil,
social. Industrial, political, which it is
our duty as a nation sternly to combat
there Is none at the same time more
| base and more dangerous than the
| greed which treats the plain and simple
rules of honesty with cynical contempt
if they interfere with making a profit
and as a nation we cannot be held
| guiltless If we condone such action. The
man who breaches hatred of wealth
honestly acquired, who inculcates envy
and jealousy and slanderous i'll will to-
ward those of his fellows who by thrift
energy and industry have become men
of means is a menace to the COM
munity.
But his counterpart in evil is to be
found in that particular kind of multi
millionaire who is almost the least en-
viable, and is certainly one of the least
admirable of all our citizens; a man
of whom it has been well said that his
face has grown hard and cruel while
his body has grown soft; whose son is
fool and his daughter a foreign
princess; whose nominal pleasures are
agant luxury and whose real delight.
whose real life work is the accumula-
tion and use of power in its most sordid
and least elevating form.
I'm the chaos of an absolutely unre-
stricted commercial individualism under
modern conditions this Is a type that
becomes prominent as inevitably as the
marauder baron became prominent in
the physical chaos in the dark ages.
We are striving for legislation to min
imiZe the abuses which give this type
its fiourishing prominence, partly for
the sake of what can be accomplished
by the legislation itself and partly be-
cause the legislation marks our par
ticipation In a great and stern moral
development to bring our ideals and
conduct into measurable accord.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
"The White House, April 27 190S."
Report Submitted
In the report of the finance committee
to the mayor and city council of Bos-
ton. subjoined by the president to his
message, the methods employed in the
alleged collusionS are considered under
three heads-combinatio among boil
ermakers, combinations among contrac-
tors for f1reproofing and combinations
between corporations and firms en-
gagged In the manufacture or supply of
structural steel.
Under the first heading the commit
tee charges that "some one familiar
with the operations of the schoolhouse
would furnish each person invited the
name of other persons to whom invita-
tions had been extended. The concerns
selected would then arrange between
themselves as to who should do the
work, as to the price to be fixed and as
to the division of the profits"
The report names two companies as
the corporations found to be guilty of
collusiye practices in bidding for fire.
proofing contracts, and says:
"TheSe companies combined for the
purpose of parceling out the work.
Contract for contract was generally
conceded, although in some cases money
was paid as the price of abstaining
from competition. This resulted in
high prices to the customer and exac-
tions were thus obtained from all sorts
and conditions of men and corpora
tions.'
The portion of the report devoted to
corporations in the structural steel
trade with what is termed the "Bos-
| ton agreement" and the charge is made
that sin order to preserve the appear
ance of competition and to insure the
success of the scheme of collusion Ithe
| parties to the agreement would arrange
the bids to be submitted in a progress
| sive scale above the prearranged bid of
the concern to which the work had been
| allotted. The members of the
agreement did not hesitate to fortify
their bids by false statements in writ
| ing that they were made in good faith,
without fraud or collusion or connec-
tion with any other bidder"
Williams Explains
Before adopting a special rule which
| provides for considering and passing
the sundry civil appropriation bill,
after eight hours general debate, the
house today listened to Mr.. Williams,
the minority leader, in explanation of
a filibuster he is conducting.
The filibuster he said. will end the
moment the house gives permission for
the consideration of the campaign pub
licity bill; bill to put wood pulp and
print paper on the free list, and the
anti-injunction bill.
| These measures, Mr.. Williams in
sisted. were all part Of the presidents
legislative program. Every roll call
taken was only an emphasis which the
country understood TO be lack of action
by the Republican majority. The fill
buster, he said, would continue until
the desired results were accomplished.
That it was not delaying business was
evidenced by the fact that supply bills
were now further along than usual at
this time in a long session.
COUNCIL SELLS FRANCHISES