The San Francisco call., 1908-09-24


people of the country shall understand
thfs attitude clearly. and shall then
condemn IL as it should be condelnneu
You say that you have advocated
more radical measures against prlVale
monopolies than either l or my party
associates have been willing to under
take. You have, indeed, advocated
measures that sound more radical, but
they have the prime defect that IN
practice they would not work,
I should not I'm this letter to you
discuss your attitude on TINS ques.
tIon IL you did not yourseil pTing -
answer you that I'm my Judgment the
measures you advocate would be whoiiy
ineffective in curing single eVll ann'
would merely throw the entire business
OF the country into hopeless and utter
confusion.
TAFTcs DEEDS
AGAINST WORDS
l put Mr.. Taft's deeds against your
words. ! ask that Mr.. Taft be judged
by all his deeds, for he wishes none
of them forgotten. l ask that you De
judged both by the words you Wish re-
membered and by the words that seem
ingly you and your party now desire
to have forgotten. ask that your
present plans for regulating the trusts
be Judged in connection with your past
utterances that you did not believe In
their regulation, but in their destruc-
ton; and again, in connection with
your PAST ultcTdHCcS W tiC ClCNl eAiht
only government ownership by a COM
plicated nationaIN and state system OF
railroads would avail; and again Dy
your past utterances when you pro.
posed to remedy all the sufferings OF
our people by a depI eciated currency.
For several years now / have been
steadfastly fighting to secure thorough
going and far reaching control In the
interest of the public over the business
combinations which do an Interstate
business In this effort / have been as
much hampered by tne e1tretis1s. b asI6 nded Meii
visionary and impracticable rad1calsm.
as by those other extremists, no less
dangerous, who stand for the reaction
ary refusal TO remedy my grievance.
AN ENEMY
OF PROGRESS
One side. the side on which 1 am
Obliged to say you have placed your
self. has shown itself to be just as
much the enemy +,,, Of progress ssurai as fne foe
any great law defying corporation to
wish to see you placed in the presi-
dency rather than Mr.. Taft. Your plans
CORPORATIONS are wholly chimerical;
how chimerical your last plan is. you
will yourself see IL you read Governor
Hughes speech at Youngstown, o. TO
recall to your mind what Governor
Hughes said, quote as follows:
When we consider those (proposed)
remedies (of Mr.. Bryan's against the
I
in land of dreams. Again the ma
gician of 1896 waves his wand. At
stroke difficulties disappear and the
complex problems of modern business
simple panacea.
The most important proposal of Mr..
BRYAN is that any manufacturer or
state commerce shall be required TO
take out a federal license before II
shall be permitted to control as much
iae anf Of the r1rnAIct in which
it deals. and no corporation shall be
permitted 10 control more than 90
per cent of the total amount of any
product consumed In the United states
BRYAN's MEANING ASKED
1T might be interesting to inquire
what is the meaning of any product
consumed in the United States. Does
It refer to class of commodities? And
Or does it refer TO each separate article
of commerce? And if so, what ac-
count does this proposal take of the
skill and initiative of manufacturers
whn have built IN a more or less ex-
elusive trade in particular articles often
protected by trade marks, although in
most active competition with other
articles designed for the same general
purpose and seeking the same market?
"In a desire TO correct the evils of
business. are we to place an embargo
present none of the abuses requiring
4 remedies? And, IL not, what statutory
definitions shall be found TO be ade-
quate and just if we lay down our pro.
hibition in terms of volume or ratio OF
business and not in terms of right and
If we adopt Mr.. Bryans proposal.
| to what period of production is the
prohibition TO apply? Is the excess
| for a day or for a month to be con-
sidered? Or is the average production
| for a year to be taken?
And what system shall be devised
by which suitable information may be
furnished in the nature of danger sig
nails along the routes of trade, so that
the manufacturer may know when he
is about to exceed the prescribed
ratio? He may Justly be required to
govern his own conduct. but how shall
he be apprised of the conduct of others
upon which is to depend his guilt or
! innocence?"
SUPPORT ASKED FOR TAFT
Let 'us repeat that no law defying
corporation has anything TO fear from
you save what it will suffer in the
general paralysis of business which
any attempt on your part to reduce to
practice what you have advocated
would bring. This paralysis would
affect the wage workers. the farmer,
the small Businessman. more than ii
would affect the great businessman.
But it would affect the latter, too
Therefore I hope and believe that
all far sighted citizens who wish to see
| this country prosper in material things
will support Mr.. Taft. But above all I
ask for support for him because he
stands for the moral uplift of the ma
ton. because his deeds have made good
his words. and because the policies to
which he is committed are of immeas-
urable consequence alike to the honor.
and the interests of the whole Amer
lean people. Very truly yours
Hon. William Jennings Bryan. Lincoln,
Neb