The San Francisco call., 1908-04-28
ANTITRUST LAW
!. AGAIN ADVOCATED
Continued from Page 3, Column 5.

. zenS Il may be and often is the. duty of a
court. legislature or an executive TO resist and
osfy gust OF popular passion. and most Ger
tainly no public servant. whatever may be the
consequences 70 himself, should yield TO what he
thinks wrong But in question which is en-
phatically Of public policy, the policy which
tie public demands. Is In the end to be
adopted, ana a persistent refusal 10 grant 10 a
large portion Of our people what is right is only
TOO apt IN the end 10 result in causing much irr-
iation that when the right is obtained ii is OBJ
taineo in a movement 50 ill considered and yio-
lent as 10 be accompanied by much that is
wrong: The process Of injunction in labor
troubles as well where state laws are in
VOWED should be used sparingly and only when
there is she cleafest necessity for it; but il is
one so necessary to the efficient performance of
the duty Of the court IN behalf of the nation
that il is IN the highest degree TO be regretted
Ilat Il should be liable TO reckless use for this
reckless use tends 10 make honest men to desire
70 50 hamper lis execution 70 destroy its use
fuinese.
AVOID CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS
Every far sighted patriot should protest first
OF All against the growth in this country Of
Tfsf evil thing which is called 'class conscious
ness The demagogue. the sinister or socialist
visionary who strives 10 arouse this feeling OF
class consciousness in our working people, does
ioul and EVIL thing; for he is no true Amer
Jean, he Is no self-respecting citizen Of this re-
public ke forfeits his right to stand with manly
self-reliance on footing Of entire equality with
all other citizens. who bows TO envy and greed,
who erects this doctrine Of class aired into a
shihboleth who substitutes loyalty TO men of a
particular status whether rich or Door for low
atty to the. eternal and immutable principles Of
Righteousness which bid us treat each man on
bis worth man without regard 70 his
wealth or his poverty But evil though the In
nuence Of these demagogges and visionaries is,
ouence exercised by the of great wealth
or the man OF power and position IN the indus
trial world, who by his lack OF sympathy with.
ana lack or understanding OF, still more by any
exhibition OF uncompromising hostility to, the
millions Of our working people. tends TO unite
them against their fellow Americans who are
better OF ia This worlds O0ods Is q "a
thing 70 teach our working people that men Of
means who have the largest proportion OF the
greedy. Grssping and cold hearted and that they
unJustly demand and appropriate more than their
share OF the substance Of the many. Stern con-
oemnation should be visited upon demagogue and
visionary who teach this untruth and even
sterner upon those capitalists who are in truth
Rrssping and greedy and brutally disregardful
Of the rights of others. and who by their actions
teach the dreadful lesson far effectively than
any mere preacher Of unrest class grievance
left TOO long without remedy breeds '-class con-
6ciousness' and therefore class resentment and
The strengthening Of the antitrust law is
demanded upon both moral and economic grounds.
ocr purpose in strengthening Il is TO secure more
effective control by the national government over
the business use Of the vast masses OF individual
and especially Of corporate wealth. which at the
present tine monopolizes most Of the interstate
control can best be exercised by preventing the
growth OF abuses, rather than merely by trying
70 destroy them when they have aiready grown.
In the higher sense OF the word this movement
for thorough control OF the business use of this
great wealth is conservative
SEEK SAFE MIDDLE COURSE
We are trying to steer a safe middle
course which alone can save us from
putocratic class government on the one
hand or a socalstic class government
on the other. either OF which would be fraught
with disaster TO our free institutions. state and
national. We trying TO avoid alike the
evils which would dow from government owner
ship OF the public utilities by which interstate
commerce IS chiefly carried on. and the evils
which how from tie riot and chaos Of unrestrict-
Cd indHidGslism There is grave danger 70 our
free institutions in the corruptlng influence ex-
ercisec By great wealth suddenly concentrated in
manner ffr 10 remedy this danger. in spite OF
the sullcn opposition OF these men and with the
full purpose 70 protect them IN all. their rights
az the very time that require them 10 deal
rightfully with others.
When with steam and electricity modern bust
ness conditions went through the astounding
revolution which IN this country began half
= century ago there was at first much hesita-
should be used to grapple with the eondi-
lions. At almost the same time. about 20 years
since, the effort WAS made to control cOmbina-
lions by regulating them through interstate
commerce commissions and to abolish them by
means OF the antitrust act. the Two remedies
therefore being in part mutually Incompatible.
The interstate commerce Law has produced ad-
irable results. especially since II was strength
ened by the Hepburn law two years ago. The
antitrust law. though Il worked good
because ANYTHING IS better than anarchy and
romnlete absence Of regulation. nevertheless
las proved IN many respects not merely made
misuse of corporate power had produced almost
every conceivable form OF abuse and had worked
the gravest injury TO business morality and the
public conscience. For a long time federal
regulation OF interstate commerce had been
surely negative. the national judiciary merely