The White Pine news. [volume] (Ely, Nev.) 1906-1910, 1909-10-09
TAFT AND THE CORPORATIONS.

1t was rather strange that Wall
Street should be disappointed at the
views regarding corporations which
President Taft has expressed in his
speeches at different places during
his swing around the western coun-
try. The platform on which he was
elected called for the execution of
the laws against illegal combinations
or those inimical to the public in
terest, and it has been evident that
the president is a man of honest pur-
pose and means SO far as possible to
carry out the promises made in the
platform and. on the stump. The at
titude of the president toward the
Sherman Antitrust Law is much the
same as that of his predecessor, and
those who have given the matter
most thought.
The powers of the Interstate Com
merce Commission have been so en-
larged that there Is now a control
over rates and other questions relat-
ing to the service rendered. This
acts as a safeguard for the public and
tehre seems no good reason for with
holding the benefits which would fol-
low railway combinations, especially
if the presidents recommendation
that the commission have power to
compel the. companies to p~ro-rate
and that the shipper should have a
choice of the route, should go into
effect. The main difficulty in freezing
the railways from the unnecessary
operations of the Sherman Law lies
in the demand from labor unions and
industrial companies, that they too
be allowed to combine.
AS We said some months ago, it is
quite possible and perhaps probable,
that the Sherman Antitrust Law
does not constitute the best way of
dealing with the problem of large
corporations, practically dominating
a given industry. A way has been
found apparently, through the Inter-
state Commerce Commission, by
which the benefit of combinations
may be secured, and the interests Of
the public at the same time protected
but even that is not altogether clear,
for the members of the Interstate
Commerce Commission would have
a difficult task in coping with the
traffic and pooling associations that
would be formed. There would be
but one commission and a great
many situations to deal with. 6
This policy could not be applied to
the industrial corporations, however,
unless there was a similar commits
sion to regulate the prices and quail
ity of steel rails for instance, and all
other commodities. This is not FEAST
BILE yet, but in the course of our pro-
gress toward socialism it may be
reached sooner than now seems pos
sible. At present in most industries
we are dealing with two situations
a protective tariff to prevent COM
petion from abroad and combinations
which prevent competition at home.
The latter is by far the better form
of competition and at present the
Sherman Antitrust Law, imperfect
as it is, provides the only remedy we
have. Both capital and socialism are
working to kill competition, one de-
string to create practical m%onopolies,
and the other state ownership; while
in between is the conservative, pat
riotic element which is turning to
regulated monopoly as a compromise.
There must be more ~flexibility in the
tariff laws, in the currency laws and
in those governing corporations; APP
parently the only way to secure it
is through commissions.-Boston
Financial News.