Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-09-24

and controlling motive of a per
sonal nature was back of his ac-
ton.
| THE only person that the pro-
| hibitionS could help was the Stand
| ard Oil Company, and that he haz-
arded as much he did for them
| as he did after his sudden change
of heart supplies the necessary fac
tor for any intelligent man to reck-
on whether the Governor of OKLA
homa has leaning toward the
Standard Oil Company; and there
fore the Presidents statement
seems to me very mild rebuke''
CHARLES E. WEST,
Democratic Attorney General Of
Oklahoma
associates have been willing to under
take. You have advocated measures
that sound more radical. but they have
the prime defect that in practice they
| would not work. 1 should not in this
letter to you discuss your attitude on
this question if you did not yourself
bring it UP, but as you have brought it
up I answer you that in my judgment
the measures you advocate would be
wholly Ineffective in curing single
evil, and SO far as they had any effect
at all would merely throw the entire
business of the country into hopeless
and utter confusion.
Taft's Deeds, Bryan's Words.
l put Mr.. Tafts deeds against your
words. 1 ask that Mr.. Taft be judged by
all his deeds for he wishes none of them
forgotten. l ask that you be judged both
by the words you wish remembered and
by the words that seemingly you and your
party now desire to have forgotten. | ask
| that your present plan 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 I'm connection with
past utterances to the effect that only
| government ownership by a complicated
national and state system of railroads
would avail; and again by your past ut
terances when you proposed to remedy all
the sufferngs of our people by depre-
ciated>currency.
For several years now l have been
steadfaStly fighting to secure thorough
going and far-reaching control in the in
terest of the public over the great bust
ness combinations which do an Interstate
business. In this effort / have been as
much hampered by the extremists we'll
meaning or otherwise, who demanded Wis
ionary and impracticable radicalism as
by those other extremists, no less danger
Gus, who stand for the reactionary re-
fusa1 to remedy any grievance. One side
the side on which I am obliged to say you
| have placed yourself. has shown itself to
as the other.
hold it entirely natural for any
great law-defying corporation to wish
| to see you placed in the presidency
| rather than Mr.. Taft. Your plans to put
| stop to the abuses of these corpora
| tiOns are wholly chlmerical; how CHI
| merical your last plan is you will your
self see If you read Gov. Hughes speech
at Youngstown, Ohio.
Hughes Views Quoted.
To recall to your mind what Gov
Hughes said, l quote as follows:
when we consider these (proposed)
remedies (Of Mr.. Bryan against the trusts
We find ourselves jOurneyng in
| land of dreams Again the magician of
| culties disappear and the complex prob
| lens of modern business are forgotten in
| the fascination of the simple panacea
! The most important proposal of Mr.
Bryan is that any manufacturing or trad
| ing corporation engaged in interstate COM
merce shall be required to take out a
| federal license before 1t shall be per-
mltted TO control as much as % per cent
| OF the product in which ii deals and no
corporation shall be permitted to control
more than 30 per cent of the total
amount of any product consumed in the
United States
1T might be interesting 10 inquire what
| is the meaning of any product consumed
in the United States Does it refer to
class of commodities? And If so. how
shall the classes be defined? Or does it
| refer 10 edCH separate article OF
| merce? And If so. what account does this
proposal take of the skill and initiative
of manufacturers who have built up a
more or less exclusive trade in particular
articles. often protected by trade marks
although in most active competition v It'll
other articles designed for the same GEN
eral purpose and seeking the came mar
ket?
| In desire to correct the evils of bust
ness are we to place an embargo upon
honest endp2Enr Ont
none of the abuses requiring remedies.
And, II not, what statutory definitions
| shall be found to be adequate and just il
we lay down our prohibition in terms of
volume or ratio of business and not in
terms of right and wrong? If we adopt
Mr. Bryan's proposal to what period of
| production is the prohibition to apply?
Is the excess for day or for month
| to be considered? 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 signals along the
| routes of trade. SO that the manufacturer
may know when he Is about to exceed the
prescribed ratio? He may Justly be re-
| quired 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?
Paralysis of Business.
| Let me repeat that Iaw-defyinR
corporation has anything to fear from
you save what 1t will suffer In the gen.
eral paralysis OF business which any
attempt on your part to reduce TO prac-
tice what you have advocated would
bring. This paralysis would affect the
wageWorker. the farmer, the small bust
ness man more than it would affect the
| great business man. But it would affect
| the latter, too. Therefore l hope and be-
| Iieve that all far-sighted citizens who wish
| to see this country prosper In material
| things will support Mr.. Taft. But, above
all, 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-
| ura BILE consequence alike to the honor and
| the interest of the whole American peo-
| pie. Very truly yours,
THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
| Hon. William Jennings Bryan, Lincoln.
| Neb.