The semi-weekly messenger., 1908-03-10


broken bones The destroyed building
was valued at $4,000
questions now under discus SION and
demands immedi5ae consideration.
We heartily approve of the laws
prohibiting the PASS and the rebate,
and insist upon further legislation,
state and national, making it unlawful
for any corporation to contribute to
campaign funds sald providing for
Fnub EicatiOn before he election, AZ ali
Individual contributions above a rea--
S6nahle minimum
Believing with Jefferson IN the sup
2ort Of the state governments in all
tfeir rights as the most compeEeat
administrations for oar domestic con-
Germs and the surest bulwark against
| akti-republican tendeEMes and in the
preservation of the general governs
ment in its whole constitutional VI
gox. as the sheet anchor OF peace at
home and safety abroad" we are op--
posad to- the centralizSdon implied iH
the suggestions, now frequeRtly made,
. that the powers of the general govern
| InenL. should be eXtend5f by judicial
construction. While we favor the eXer-
|
it's constitutional authority for the
preventing Of monopoly and for the
regulation CT interstate commerce, we
insist THAT efderal remedies should he
addeGi to and not substituted for state
remeGes-
We insist upon recognition OF the
destination between the natural man
and the artificial person, catsed 2 cor
porati on, and we favor tDe enactment
| Of such laws as may be necessary to
compel foreign corporations TO sub
NIT their legal disputes tor the courts
/ CT the state in which trey do busi
ness and thus place themselves upon
same footing as domestic corpora
: tions.
| We Egcr the electioIr of United
States senators by direct vote of the
people and regard this reform as the
gateway to all other rational re-
forms
/ A private monopoly is Tndefensible
land intolerable. We, therefore, favor
Fthe vigorous enforcement" Of the cri-
minal law against the trust and trust
fmagnates and demand the enactment
Of such additional legisla nlon as may
fbe necessary to make it impossible
for a. private monopoly to exist in
the United States. Among the addi-
tionaI remedies we specify three:
First-A law preventing the dupli
cation of directors among competing
corporations.
! Second-A license system which
will, without abridging the right of
each state, to create corporations,
or it's rights to regulate as 1t will
! foreign corporations doing business
within it's limits, make it necessary
! for manufacturing or trading cor
poration engaged in interstate COM
merce to take out federal license be-
| fore it shall be permitted to control
as much as 25 per cent. of the pro-
duct in which it deals; the license to
protect the public from watered stock
and to prohibit the control by such
corporation of mre than fifty per cent
Of the total amount of any product
consumed in the United States, and
! Third-A law compelling such Ii
censed corporations to sell to all pur-
chasers in all parts Of the country
on the same terms, after making due
allowance for cost of transportation.
! We welcome the belated promise of
tariff reform, now offered by part of
the republican party as a tardy recog-
milton of the righteousness of the
democratic position on this ques-
ton, but the people cannot safely en-
! trust the execution of this important
work to a party which is so obliged
to the highly protected interests that
il postpones relief until after the cleo
ton. And we call attention to tle
1signifcant fact that the promise now
made by these republicans who favor
tariff revision is wholly vitiated by
the use of the very qualifying words
under which the present tariff ineQui
ties have grown up.
We favor an Immediate revision OF
the tariff oy the reduction of import
duties Articles entering into compe-
tition with articles controlled by
trusts should be placed upon free list;
material reductions should be made
in such other schedules as may be
necessary to restore the tariff to a
revenue basis.
We favor an income tax as part
OF our revenue system and we urge
| the submission Of a constitutional
amendment, specifically authorizing
congress to levy and collect tax up
on individual and corporate incomes.
ito the enc that wealth may bear lis
proportionate share Of the burdens OF
the federal government We favor q
national Inheritance tax to reach the
swollen fortunes" already In exis-
hx,& ho1fowo thai tu hoffo~