The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1909-08-05
CRIMINAL TRUSTS.

a criminal prosecution Of the Sugar
Trust, Attorney Samuel Untermyer.
who was counsel for Adolph Segal in
his recent suit against the gigantic
trust, said in part:
what would be the use? The
Sugar Company has been consistent
law breaker ever since its birth. Its
activities in Congress have been one
of the scandals of the country for
many years. II has robbed the pub
lie and ruined its would-be compei.
tors. But il is no worse than many
Of the others in its criminal methods
and not quite so bad as some.
This suddenly aroused virtuous
adherence of its methods is amusing
II accidentally happens at the moment
to be the scapegoat, but as the Gov
eminent has waited until after the
offenders are dead it doesn't
much matter. Whenever the Gov
eminent really wants to bring the
criminal rich who are managing these
conspiracies that are VIGOROUSLY vio-
lating the criminal law lwithin the
penalties of that law, ii will not be
difficult. There never has been an
honest, intelligent effort to enforce
the ample provisions of the law
against any Of the monster monopo-
lies.
1.-THE Government has had no
trouble in convicting and driving out
Of business few poor, struggling,
comparatively harmless combinations
that were put together to prevent
bankruptcy and secure a small profit.
But the financial buccaneers who
have been holding up the country
in the necessities Of life, keeping out
foreign competition through the tariff
at one end and crushing home COM
petition at the other until the increase
in cost of living is alarming, have re-
manned immune until every lawyer
who has had to deal with this big
question knows that the pretended
enforcement of the law is a huge
farce.
1--WE all know that the Antitrust
law is being openly Haunted and vio-
lated every day by some Of the most
powerful men in the land. There are
numberless secret, unlawful pools to
control prices and restrict production
operating to-day, many Of them I'M
der written agreements that are Grim
inal conspiracies on their face.
Somehow or other it looks as if
the power Of these men is too much
for the Government. The evidence
of crimes have been for years avail
able to the public authorities if they
would go about their task as they do
I'm ferreting out smugglers, counter
letters, pOst-office thieves and other
classes Of criminals.
1--WE are told by certain section of
the Press land some gentlemen
around Wall Street are regaining
their SNUG confidence in that belief
that there has been a reaction in the
public mind against what they are
pleased to call attacks on these
criminal conspiracies.
For the sake of the country let us
hope these gentlemen are mistaken;
for if they are right we shall have an
upheaval in this country as compared
to which the mild and harmless ex-
periments Of the last administration
will seem like a midsummer zephyr
alongside cyclone.
These pools and combinations are
growing stronger and more numer-
Gus. Individual enterprise is being
strangled. Unless they are brought
within the clutch Of the criminal law
and destroyed the future is fraught
with danger. The only way to regu-
late them is to bury them. So long
as the President Of the Uuited States
can defy the law by giving them i'm
munity, and 60 unrebuked, the SEN
timent of the country is callous.
Il dread the awakening. We are
a historical, press-ridden people and
we go to extremes. "-Natio n a |
Monfh1v