The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1908-05-01
must result In srotesque absurdity. This

must result In grotesQue absurdity. Thi.
means that we must rely upon nationa
legislation to prevent the commercia
abuses that now exist and the others ,ba,
are sure to arise unless some effcien,
governmental body has adequate power Of
control over them. AT present the failure
OF the congress 10 utilize and exercise tho
great powers conferred upon it as regard.
interstate leaves this commerce
10 be regulated. not by the state nor ye1
by the congress-. but by the occasiona
and necessarily inadequate one-sidet
action of the federal judiciary. However
upright and able a court is, it canno,
lively or destructively. as an agency OF
government; and this means that the
courts are and must always be unable
to deal effectively with a problem likt
the present, which requires constructive
action. A court can decide what is faulty
put 1t has no power to make better VIVA
II thus finds to be faulty. There should
be an efficient executive body created will
power enough to correct abuses and scope
enough to work out the complex problems
that this great country has developed. II
a body may be guilty of unwisdom OF
OF abuses. Any governmental body
whether a court or a commission, whethe!
executive. legislative or judicial. II givet
work for good, must also inevitably re-
ceive enough power to make it possibl,
e1TeCtlNe for evil.
Therefore. it is clear that %(unless a ma
tional Incorporation law can be forthwith
enactcd) some body or bodies IN the exc
cutive service should be given power 10
pass upon any combination or agreement
in relation to interstate commerce. and
every such combination or agreement not
thus approved should be treated as in
violation of law and prosecuted accord
ingly. The issuance OF the securities OF
any combination doing Interstate business
should be under the supervision of the
national government.
Abuse of Power.
A strong effort has been made to ave
labor organizations completely exempted
from any of the operations of this law,
whether or not their acts are IN restraint
of trade. Such ssc eIm Mouid In all a
and the legislature has no more right TO
pass a bill without regard to whether it
is constitutional than The courts have
lightly to declare unconstitutional a law
which the legislature has solemnly en-
acted. The responsibility is as great on
The one side as on the other. and an
one direction is equally 10 be con
demned with an abuse of power by the
courts in the other direction. 1t is not
tons from the workings Of this law. and
they who insist upon totally excepting
them are merely providing that their
status shall be kept wholly
posed to the action which they now dread.
Obviously, an organization not formed for
profit should not be required to furnish
statistics in any way as complete as those
furnished by organizations for profit.
Moreover. so far as labor is engaged in
production only. its claims to be exempted
from the antitrust law are sound. This
would substantially cover the right OF la
borers to combine, to strike peaceably.
and to enter Into trade agreements with
takes in a wrongful manner to prevent the
distribution and sale of the products of
labor. as by certain forms of the boycott.
it has left the field of production, and Its
terstate trade, and must necessarily be
subject to inquiry, exactly as In the case
of any other combination for the pur-
pose, SO as to determine whether such &C
lion is contrary to sound public policy.
The heartiest encouragement should be
given to the wageworkers to form labor
unions and to enter into agreements with
their employers; and their right to strike,
SO long as they act peaceably,. must be
preserved. But we shoul sanction Meth
er a boycott nor a blacklist which would
be illegal at common law.
Law Defyine Days Over.
The measures advocate are In the in.
law-abiding labor unions. They are,
moreover, pre-eminently In the interest
Of the public. for in my judgment the
their minds that the days OF the reign OF
the great law-defying and law-evading
corporations arc over, and that from this
time on the mighty organizations of cap
ital necessary for the transaction of bust
ness under modern conditions. While en-
outraged so long as they act honestly
are to be subjected 70 careful supervision
and regulation of a kind so effective as to
insure their acting in the interest OF the
people as a whole.
feet that there Is no real need for these
laws looking to the more effective contro!
of the great corporations. upon the ground
that they will do their work well without
such control. I call your attention to the
accompanying copy of a 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
that there have been extensive combina-
tons formed among the various corpora
tions which nave 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 sub
many Of the largest corporations in the
United States. engaged in manufacturing
or furnishing structural steel for use in
any part of New England; it affected the
states, 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 the
country. AS regards the city of Boston,
the combination resulted in parceling Out
the work by %collusive bids, plainly dishon-
est, and supported by false affirma lions.
In its conclusion the commission recon-
mendS as follows:
Commission Report.
Comment OH the moral meaning Of these
methods and transactions would seem
superfluous: but as they were defended al
the public hearings of the commission and
asserted to be comnlOn and entirely prop.
err incidents OF business life, and as these
practices have been freely resorted TO by
some of the largest Industrial corporations
that the world has ever known, the com.
mission deems 1t proper TO record its owl
opinion.
The commission dislikes TO believe ,ha,
these practices are. as alleged. established
by the general custom OF the business
community: and this defense itself, il un.
challenged, amounts to a grave accuse.
ton against the honesty of present bust
ness methods.
ITO answer an invitation for public, O,
private work by sending in what purport:
to be genuine BIDS. but what in reality arr
collusive figures purposely made highel
than the bid which is known will be sub
mitted by one OF the supposed competitor.
Is an act of plain dishonesty.
ITO support these Misrepresentation b,
false affirmations in writing that the bid.
are submitted in good faith, and withou
fraud, COLLISION, or connection with an,
other bidder, is a positive and deliberate
fraud; the successful bidder in the com