The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1908-05-01

Interpretations by false atfirma.
tons in writing that bids are sub.
mitted in good faith and without
fraud, cOlluSion, or connection with
any other bidder, is a positive and
deliberate fraud. The successful bid
der in the competition is guilty of OBJ.
tadning money by false pretenses; and
the others have made themselves
parties to conspiracy clearly unlaw.
full at the common law.
where, as in the case Of the 'Bos-
ton agreement, number of the most
important manufacturers and dealers
in structural steel in this country, in.
Guiding the American Bridge company,
one of the constituent members of the
United States Steel Corporation, have
combined together for the purpose OF
raising prices by means of coilusivo
bids and false representations their
conduct is not only repugnant to COM
mon honesty, but is plainly obnoxiou,
to the federal sta tute known as the
Sherman or antitrust law.
''Tke commission believes that an
example should be made of these men,
and that the members Of the Boston
agreement or at least all those who,
in October and November, 1905, en-
tered in the fraudulent competitions
for the Cove street draw span and
the Brookline street bridge, should be
brought before a federal grand jury
for violation Of the act of congress o.
July 2, 1890. The three years limita-
taon for participation in these trans
actions has not yet elapsed. and the
evidence obtained by the commission
is so complete that there should be
no difficulty in the government secur-
ing a conviction in this case'.
l have submitted this report to the
department of justice for thorough in
vestigation and for action, if action
shall prove practicable. Surely such
state of affairs as that above set forth
emphasizes the need Of further federal
legislation, not merely because of the
material benefits such legislation will
secure, but above all because this fed.
eral action should be part, and large
part, of the campaign to waken our
people as a whole to a lively and eff
fective condemnation of the low stand
ard of morality implied in such con-
duct on the part of great business con-
Germs. .er
The first duty Of every man is to
provide a livelihood for himself and
for those dependent upon him. I'll
is from every standpoint desirable
that each of our citizens should en-
deavor by hard work and honorable
methods to secure for him and his
such a competency as will carry
with it the opportunity to enjoy in
reasonable fashion the comforts and
refinements Of life; and furthermore.
the man of great business ability who
obtains fortune in upright fashion
inevitably in SO doing confers bene-
fit upon the community as whole and
is entitled to reward, to respect, and
to admiration. H-.s..a.a 9yfG~,g IS,
But among the many kinds of evil
social, industrial, and politcal--which
it is our duty as nation sternly to
combat there is none at the same time
more base and more dangerous, than
the greed which treats the plain and
simple rules of honesty with cynical
contempt il they interfere with MAX
ing profit. And as nation we can
not be held. guiltness if we condone
"a The manSgwho breaches hatred of
wealth honestly acquired, who in.
.culcates envy and jealousy and slam
derous ill-wilf toward those Of his fell 1
lows who by thrift, energy and i'll |
duStry have become men of means, is |
menace to the community. But
his counterpart in evil is to be found
in that particular kind Of multimll-
lionaire who is almost the least envia-
bic, and is certainly one of the least
admirable, of all our citizens man
of whom il has been we'll said that
his face has grown hard and cruel
while his body has grown soft; whose
son is fool and his daughter for
eign princess; whose nominal pleasures
are at best those of a tasteless and
extravaganza luxury, and whose real
delight. whose real life work, is the
accumulation and use of power in its
most sordid and least elevating form.
In the chaos of an absolutely un-
restricted commercial individualism
under modern conditions this is type
that becomes prominent as inevitably
as the marauder baron became promi.
inent in the physical chaos of the dark
ages. We are striving for legislation
to minimize the abuses which give this
type it's fourishing prominence, partly
for the sake of what can be accom-
plished by the legisla ton itself, and
partly because the legislation marks
our participation in great and stern
moral movement TO bring our ideals
and our conduct into measurable ace
cord.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT
The White House, April q, 1908. i
. -~--~--