Morgan County republican. (Versailles, Mo.) 1906-1914, 1908-04-02

"ii'ik b'',''F 80 -
becoming more and more necessary
among farmers SOM Of these comblna-
tions are anon Ill" most powerful OF au
Instruments for wrong1oing. Others onti
the only effective way Of meeting actual
! business needs. II Is mischievous ana un-
I 80 olesomc to kip upon the statute books
unn3dihed 2 law. Tx" me anh,,'rus. iaw.
which, while in practice only partially
effective against vicious combinations
has nevertheless in theory been construed
so as swccpingly to prohibit every COM
business. Some READ good has resulted
from this law. But the time has come
when 1t Is imperative to modify 1t. Such
sax" Df inc Farmers.
Dangers to BE Avoided.
II has now become uncertain how far
this law may invul'" all labor organiza,
ti"ns and farmers urganizatlons. as wei
AZ all business IL ulZntions.. In connict
with the law; or. If W. secure literal com
pliance with tho law how far 1t may re-
suit IL tho destruction Of the orSaniza.
ions necessary for Tia, ,rahsac,iom OF
modern business. ag well as OF all labor
organizations and farmers organizations.
completely check III" wis" morcni-nt Tor
securing business cooperation among
farmers, and put back half n century the
progress Of the mov"m"nt for the better,
mont of labor. \ hill has been presented
IN IN" Congress to remedy ms SITUATION.
Some such measure as this bill II needed
in the interest of all engaged In tho In
duStri"s which ar" essential to IN" ronn-
trys' wellheing. ] Do not pretend to say
the exact shape that IN" bill should take.
and the suggestions hay" To offer are
tentative; and my views would apply
equally to any other measure which would
achieve the desired end. Bearing this in
nina: would sugs"st, merely tentatively
tn" following changes In tho law:
Actual Damages as Limit.
If no such prohibition was issued. the
contract would then only b" liable to at
tack on tho ground that il constituted an
unreasonable restraiut of trade. When
over the period of hiiug had passed with
ont any such prohibition, the contracts
or combinations could h" ~d'sapprovod or
forbidden only after notice and hearing
with a reasonable provision for summary
review on appeal Icy tn" courts. Labor
organizations. farm'rs ORGANIZATIONS. ana
other organizations not organized for rur-
poses Of profit. should h" allowed to reg
lister under tn" law hv giving the location
Of tn" head office. "a" char,'r and by
laws, and the names ana addresses Of
their principal Officers, In the interest Of
all th"s" organizations business, labor
and farmers orr Mutations alik" the
present provision permitting N" recovery
of thi""-fold diml""s Shouii be aiol-
ishcd, and ms n substitute" therefor the
right Of recovery allowed for should he
only tn" damages sus tanned 10y the plain
tiff aud tn" cost of snit. including a r"n-
Sonibl" attorneys fy".
The law should NOT Effect pending suits:
II short statute" of limititIouS should he
provided. 50 far rs tl" past Is concerned.
not to exceed n year. Nor Yer, and even
lIl''l' III Wv ll'11'Ht W NV l'l'1 VI
business combinations, ell such suits
brought for causes uf action h"r"tnfnr"
occurred should L." brought only If the
contract or "omlinl,i"n complained Of
WAS unfair or unreasonable. 1t may he
Wei 70 remember that all of tho suits
hilbert" brought ly INV" Government I'M
der IA" antitrust law have been In cases
wh"r" tn" combination or contract was
in fact unfair, unreasonable, and against
the public interest.
Means 70 Avoid Strikes.
1t H. important that W" should cncOur-
~" trad" agreements employer
and employ" whor" they are just ana fair.
\ Strik" X "A cluinfy weapon for righting
WRONGS don" I" labor, and "" should OK
"rn"lIiati"n ana arbitration as n substi-
tut" for strikes. Moreover. violence, dis
order "ui coercion. When committed In
connection With strikes. should he as
promptly and as St"rnly r"prrssrI as
when committed IN any other connection.
lIut strike themselves are. and should be.
recognized To- j." entirely legal, tombi-
nations Of wnrkIngm"n have n peculiar
reason for their existence. TN" very
wealthy individual employer. and still
more tn" very wealthy c"rrornt ton. stand
At an enormous advantage when com
pared to tn" Individual workingman: and
Will" thDr" ar" many cases where II may
not b" necessary for labor"rs to form a
union, in many other cases It Is indisp"n-
sable, for Otherwise the thousands OF
small units. H." thousands of individual
workimpmon. VIII he left helpless in their
dealings with TIA" one hig unit. the big
individual or corporal" employer.
IN" husin"$s man must u" protected in
person AMI property. and so must the
farmer and tn" wag"work"r; and rs re-
CARDS all alike. tho right of peaceful com
hinaiion FOR all lawful purposes should be
explicitly recognized.
Union But No Boycott.
TIL" risht of employers To- combine ana
contract with on" another and with their
employees should be explicitly r~"cognizcd.
md co a,,l IA. stnlt ~ tha
Il" ""mbin" aud to contract with one an
other ana with the employers and to seek
I"'a""nhly To p"rsuad" others to accept
their ,ic"' and to strike for tn" purpose
of p"ar"ihly obtaining from employers
satisfactory terms for their labor. Moth
Ing should h" done to l"Galiz" either n
blacklist or Il hoycott that would hc illc-
gal AT common law, this being the type Of
h"yc"tt IL fined and condemned by the
Am,hracit" Strike Commission
II question OF financial legislation Is
now receiving such attention in both
houses that Nc have "a right to expect
action h"for" III" clos" OF the session. II
Is urgently necessary that there should he
such action. Moreover. action should he
taken to establish postal savings banks.
Th"s" postal savings banks mr." impora-
lively needed for the benefit Of the wage
workers ana men Of small means. and will
be n rnlnahl" adjunct to our whole nnan-
cial system.
TN" tim" has come when we should pre-
pare. for n revision Of the tariff. This
should fr. md indeed must be. preceded
10y careful Investigation. 1t Is peculiarly
the province Of the Congress ana not %,
III" President. and indeed peculiarly the
PROVING" of Tn" House Of Representatives
to organize a tariff bin and to determine
upon Its terms: and this I fully realize.
Remove Wood Pulp Duly.
! am Of tn" opinion. however. that nnf
'ihng" IN the tariff could with advantag,
hc made forthwith, Our forests need cv.
cry protection. and one method of pro.
t""ting them would be to put upon thu
IRE" list wood pulp. with n corresponding
f'ih'tioh upon paper made from Woo
| Hllln. when th.U onnnn from, IA ,,,,a,s