Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1908-08-29
BRYAN DISCUSSES the TRUSTS


at low and improbable price, and in
nhotner part Of the country. where 1t has
none, at an sxorbitant price, this is evi.
dence that 1t Is attempting an unlawful
monopoly and justitcs conviction under
the antitrust law"
III such an act Is now unlawful. why is
he 80 frightened Mt a plan which gives
to the small competitor this very protec.
tion! The trouble with the present law
10 that 1t does not restrain the evils at
which 1t lie aimed. The plan proposed In
the Democratic platform brings the cor.
poration under the surveillance Of the
government when It has reached the dan.
ger point, and thereafter subjects It to
federal scrutiny. The present law simply
prohibits II In an indefinite sort Of way
ana then leaves the officers Of the law to
sco'ir the country and hunt up violations
OF the laws provisions. Mr.. Taft Is IN.
duly alarmed ut this proposal. or else he
entirely fails to comprehend the details Of
the plan. lie says:
10 supervise the business Of corpora.
tons In such way as to fix the price Of
commodities and compel the sale at such
price IL as absurd and socialistic q plank
as was ever Inserted In u Democratic 20
litical platform"
Aud yet this sentence Is found in the
same paragraph with the sentence above
quoted In which he declares that II IL
even now violation Of the Sherman anti.
trust law for corporation to attempt to
destroy competitor by selling at low
and Improbable price where It has com.
petition and at an exorbitant price where
It has no competition. In what respect Is
our plan more socialistic than the plan
which MIR. Taft indorscs? Merely In the
fact that ours can be enforced. Accord.
ing to Mr.. Taft's logic, a plan IL not
socialistic which is not effective. but the
same would be sOcialistic IL made effec.
tive.
TAFT Has No Remedies.
The trouble with Secretary Taft Is
that he spends no much time trying to
discover excuses for inaction In trust mat.
tiers that he has none left for the con.
sideration Of effective remedies. lie
spends more time uttering warnings
against remedies proposed than he does
In pointing out the evils to be remcdied
or In suggesting remedies. lie says:
1.-THE combination Of capital In large
plants to manufacture goods with the
greatest economy 10 just as necessary as
the assembling Of the parts Of a machine
to tho economical and more rapid manu-.
facturc Of what In old times wus made by
hand"
And he adds that "the government
should not Interfere with one any more
thnn the other, when such uggregations
of capital are legitimate and are properly
controlled. for they are the natural re.
suits Of modern enterprise and IRE bene.
iicial to the public"
No one proposes to interfere with pro.
duction on a large scale. No one objects
to production on a scale sufficiently large
to enable the producer to utilize by.pro.
ducts and take advantage Of all the
economies that large production makes
possible. 1t Is just here that tho trust
mngnntes attempt to confuse tho public
mind. and MIR. Taft has uncOnsciously
adopted their language.
Let the issue be made plain let the dis.
tinctiOn be accurately drawn; let the re.
spective positions Of the parties be fully
understood. The Democratic party does
not oppose all corporations; OH the con.
trary, II recognizes that the corporation
cnn render an important service to the
public. The Democratic party wants to
employ every instrumentality that can be-
employed for the advancement of the
common good; but the Democratic party
draws the line at tho private monopoly
and declares that private monopoly can
not be justified on either economic or DO.
litical grounds.
Says Opponent Misundcrstands.
Mr.. Taft either misundcrstands or mis-.
represents the Democratic position In re-.
gard to the determination of the principle
Of private monopoly. In his notification
speech he says:
"Mr. Roosevelt would compel the trusts
to conduct their business In lawful
manner and secure the benefits Of their
operation and the maintenance Of the
prosperity Of the country of which they
are an important part, while Mr.. Bryan
would cytirpatc md destroy the entire
business In order to stamp out the evils
which they have practiced."
Here Is a confession by Mr.. Taft that
he regards the trusts rs necessary to the
nations prosperity, for he declares that
they play an important part In the main.
tenancc Of prosperity, and he charges that
] would 'extirpate and destroy" business
In extirpating and destroying the princi.
pie Of private monopoly. Surely, his
study Of the trust question has been very
superficial. II he secs danger In the restor.
alton Of n reign Of competition.
The Democratic party In the defender
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