Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1908-09-01
RepubIican Trust pustinr.

The claim or the Roosevelt admin
istration to popular admiration has
been its trust-busting activities and its
claim of controlling corporations The
cry of the President has been. LET no
guilty man escape" But what are the
facts? Has any malefactor of great
wealth, or any trust magnate, or any
corporation magnate been imprisoned
in consequence of the activity Of the
administration?
The prosecution of the railroad COM
bine, known as the Northern Securities
Company was successful and the courts
ordered that combine to be dissolved,
but the railroad corporations composing
it are still doing business at the old
stand and controlled by the same men
and are charging ''all the traffic will
BEAR
The prosecution of the packers COM
bine resulted in filming some of its mem
bers a small sum. but the beef trust
still exists under another agreement,
and the price of beef is higher than be-
fore the prosecution was commenced.
The Standard Oil Trust was prose
cuted with a deal of vigor, and when
Judge Lands inflicted fine of twenty
nine millions and over, the administra-
ton was "overjoyed," and some people
really believed that the day of their
redemption from the predatory trusts
was nigh at hand and partially accom-
fooled by the magnitude of the fine, and
now comes the Circuit Court of the
United States and orders the fine re-
mitted and sends the case back to the
lower court for q new trial. Of course,
in the meantime, kerosene and gasoline
go up in price and Stanrad Oil shares
are held atN$660 a share and pay 40 to
90 per cent on their par value.
The fertilizer trust, however, was to
be mGAe shining example. But after
all the most faithful trust-busting at
torneys of Uncle Sam had spent months
of time and thousands of dollars in
bringing that plunderer of the farmers
into court, it was suddenly determined
by the administration to discontinue the
suit, so the plundering continues.
There were some few others, such as
the paper trust, ordered to disband but
if you want to buy any paper you must
still buy trust products and pay trust
prices.
Those proceedings against trusts are
the four shining examples of what this
Republican administration has been
able to do in the way of trust-busting
and corporation batting, and on which
it is expected the voter will decide to
give the Republican party another lease
of power. The steel trust, the tobacco
trust, the sugar trust, the paper trust,
and all the other predatory trusts are
being investigated" but those who
''know the ropes declare they will new
er be the worse for what is discovered.
There is a way, however, to bring
most of the trusts to time and no one
knows it better than the Republican
politicians, but they studiously avoid
attempting it. All the trusts have some
form of monopoly that holsters them up
and most of them Are specially protect
ed by the tariff, but the Republicans de
clare that the sacred tariff must not be
.reduced. but even declare in their plat
FORM just adopted, that a maximum
tariff must be enacted, which Will pro
feet the trusts from competition from
the products of those countries who also
have a high tariff. That is the promise
of Republican reform and method of
reducing trust high prices. 1t is also
proposed to give the corporations fed
eral license which would give them a
further lease of power from which even
the States could not dislOdge them.
The Democratic plan of controlling
the trusts is simple and effective. By
reducing or abolishing the tariff on
trust products, the force of competition
would at once bring down prices, and
the trusts would be compelled to sell as
cheaply here as abroad, or at the same
price here as similar foreign products
can be imported and sold for, after pay
ing all the expenses of handling and
transportation. Such expenses of i'm
porting foreign goods would be more
than enough to make the difference in
the labor cost here and the labor cost
abroad on which the Republicans dwell
so much.