The Detroit times., 1908-08-26
KERN is NOTIFIED;
BRYAN SCORES TRUSTS
, AND REPUBLICANS
ucon,lnued from rnee ,eeur.l

a monopoly, or which will permit the
60 increase the power OF private
monopoly; or. 10 make The case
stronger. no party can consistently
I claim TO be opposed 10 the trusts
which viii allow the mails of the Unit
ed States To be used by the trusts as
uu agency Tor the determination OF
competition Congress has already
exercised This power 90 extefmlnate
lotteries Why not exercise IL to
make private monopoiies impossible
Ii 4 il conceded that congress has
the power to prevent the shipment Of
goods from enc state To another when
such shipment is a part OF a conspr
acy agairst trade and commerce then
the only question is as to the means
10 BE- employed to prevent such sap
ment The license system presents
an easy way of regulating such cor
pOrations a. need federal regulation.
The law can prohibit the doing OF a
thing and impose penalty for the
violation OF the law. but experience
has shown that il is very difficult TO
OF the United States and prosecute a
+.tt4t-i--it
that although the Sherman antitrust
law has been i'm force Tor - years, no
trust magnate has been sent TO the
penitentiary for violating the law, al
I though in a few cases the court has
found corporations guilty Of viola
ton OF the law Ia thu enforcement
/ at panal.tF az.
seek the defendant, by the use sOf the
license system, the corporation IS
/ compelled to seek The government
"a trust cnn brs, be- defined a. a
! corporation " hErla eOntrOl. 80 large
pr1 vorticis uf tltS-it,ttt=t - al .tiA
article used IA This country Hs, To- Dr.
able to regulate the price ana terms al
sale. and as the proportion controlled
| determines Th6 power OF the trust ios
| harm, Il has seemed best to use proper
! tionate control az basis OF this plan,
! and % per cent has been fixed arbl-
! trarily as the proportion AZ which tho
| line should bc drawn. corporation
| which controls less than 20 per cent Or
! the product in which IL deals. may. ia
! extraordinary cases. exert pcrceptthle
! influence IN controlling the price or
| the product and the terms OF sale. but
az a rule q corporation must control
! more than that percentage or total pro
| duct before II can exert hhrttni lnnu-
| ence on trade. Under this plan. the
small corporations are left entirely
| free and unhampered This is not
| discrimination against the larger con
| pOratiOns. but 81 recognition OF The fact
! that rules ar" necessary in the case OF
| corporations controlling large PEI
| centage OF the product which are not
| necessary In the case OF smaller cor
| porations. Probably not ! per cent %
] the corporations engaged In interstate
| commerce would be required TO take
out a license under this plan-possibly
| not one-half OF per cent-and yet
| what "a protection the remaining 80
| per cent would ind IN the law requr-
! ing = license ia the case or the larger
| ores,
License No Preventive.
! The license, however. would not pre-
! vent the growth Of Ihe -GoIpo ~ ions
I frr---rr-r- v-Uutr -rTrT11ry '7TrrT- rrTTTrrr
| under the eye OF the federal govern
| ment ana compe! them TO deal with the
! public in such way as To AFFORD the
public the protection necessary.
One OF the most familiar methods
Of the trust is to undersel a small
| competitor in the small competitor
| territory the price being maintained
| cwhere--until the small competitor
| IL driven to bankruptcy and then the
/ Ffit.e-.s-eaii st.tl=-I l4t.t=l4as- heen-dnnG
over and over again. II Is open and no
| torious, and yet, with the Republican
! party Ill complete power nj WasiTtng-
| ton what effort has been made to pre-
1xeat-thtS2- Ihig-remEdX- ulthnugft w.
I hemenTfy denounced by Mr.. raft. witt
| appeal 10 the average man as not on y
very salutary. but very necessary.
"fifty per cent cent is fixed as the maxi
| mum limit When a corporation con
| trolls 80 per cent OF the total product.
| II supplies forty millions or people with
| that product Is that not enough? Nj
| Tafts objection To this limitation can
| hardly be characterized as statesman
! like. ~" says.
a corporation controlling 45ef- N
per cent OF the product may hy well
! known methods. frequently effect a
! monopoly and stamp out competition IN
I a -part Of Il country as completely as !:
a controlled 90 or 20 per cent thereof
| why, then, does he not propose Il
! lever limit? II the control OF - per
cent may constitute n monopoly. why
does hc not suggest that As Il ms NJ
NUM- II can not lac hecaus, of any
disinClination to amend his platform.
for he has already made a patrh- ~ ori<
Guilt % thc conventions platform by
+pronl1scnous- Amendment t.
And To what welt known IU1 tHO0s
does he refer? To the undcrst ling OF
competitors in one section while the
price is maintained els whore, And
Yet this Is the very thinE which we
propose 10 remedy but he prpro eds to
denouncc our remedy as nhs't ana
SOCtalistic The trouble vi n Secfc.di y
| raft Is that hc spends 80 much time
;Iyng TO discover excuses Tor in1otion
IN trust matters that IL has no ,e left
for thc consideration Of effective reEic-
yfTps. He spends U0TC r1TUT UttCTTHg
warnings against rcmcdi - p-opose !
than NJ does in pointing out tNo ellis
70 be remedied or IN suggesting rene
dies. lie SAYS:
The combination OF capncl ~ large
plants TO manufacture goods with thf
greatest economy is Just a. necessary
"a the assembling OF the partS of ~ nt.l o.
chine To the economical and more rapid
manufacture OF what I'm old times was
1 mItp 1y mind.
And he adds that
The government should not inter
fere with one any more than the other.
when such aggrcgations or capital are
legitimate and nre properly controlled,
for they are tile natural results OF
modern enterprise and are beneficial u
No one proposes to interfere with
production on a large scale. No one
objects To production on scale SUI
ficientlv large TO enable the producer
to utilize by products and take advaut
age OF all the economies that large pro-
duction makes possible. IT ~ hst hC~c
that the trust magnates attempt -
confuse the public mind. ana Mr. Taft
has unconsciously adopted their Ian
Let the issue he made plain. let tho
distinction hc accurately drawn. let the
respective posittons ~ The narlles ~
party does not oppose all corporations.
OF the contrary. IL recognizes that the
corporation can render an important
service 10 the public. The pcmocrattc
UaTtN wants 10 emp1uV eVcrS instTI-
mentality that ruu be employed for The
advancement ~ the common good. bitt
fhp Democratic party draws the limo AT
tho private monopoly ana declares thaf
4 q private monopoly can not be tustihei
or either economic or political ground 5.
puSincs. Wen Feel Pressure.
The business men OF the country
have felt thc pressure of the trusts.
The retailer has been compelled to en-.
ter into contracts which restrict mis-
management OF his own affairs he has
found Tire terms ~ sale and pawn, Mt
changed Go his disadvantage and "a,