Los Angeles herald., 1909-11-14


UT ITH words of telling force United
w states Senate Robert ~ La
w Toilette urged the people of Los
Angeles TO strike now for self govern
ment as IL was originally intended un-
der the constitution, in an address to
an audience which filled Simpson audi
torium last night. Though hoarse in
voice and weary in body. Senator La
Toilette spoke for more than three
hours, bringing home his points in such
manner that not only applause but
cheer after cheer interrupted him.
In the course of his remarks he
called the City club that magnificent
organization through which the state
of California will be redeemed to the
people," At another time, when he
told the people to look behind the
tickets put up for the votes Of the
people, to see If II was not really the
Times hiding there. the audience went
wild with enthusiasm and the senator
was unable to proceed for fully five
minutes.
The gradual decline of self govern
ment was traced by the senator from
the days just following the formation
of the Union down through the civil
war and on to the present moment,
when he ended by showing that the
business of the country is practically
In the hollow of the hands of siXty-two
men.
Against Illegal Business
Senator La Follette's remarks were
one anathema after another hurled
against illegal combinations in re-
straint of trade He said that he did
not want TO be understood as against
the business interests of the country
only against the illegal businesses. He
shaved clearly and ineisively the grad
ual growth of trusts and great com
binations from the partnership. The
private corporation, he said, was a
good thing, but when that private cor
poration was combined with other cor
porations in such a manner that one
man or set of men got control of any
business it became a menace to self
government.
The Sherman antitrust law engaged
his attention for some time. He said
that the law was the first check put
upon illegality in business and was
in effect a new declaration of independ-
ence. Previous to the enactment Of
the Sherman antitrust law. which had
a precarious time of it before it was
finally put upon the statute books
there had been but two or three minor
prosecutions of illegal combinations,
and this was more or less true after
the law was enacted until Tneodore
Roosevelt enforced it.
The senator gave careful detailed
account of the fifteen years fight
against the railroads in Wisconsin. He
said that he had given the best years
out of the heart of his life to win that
fight, but now that 1t was won the
people of every state in the Union may
we'll sit at the feet of Wisconsin and
learn just how to win such battles.
Worse in California
He showed how the railroads were
finally forced to allow the railroad
commission to examine into railroad
affairs so that unjust rates, poor serv-
ice and other abuses could be rectitied.
The members of the commission he
said, had each made great personal
and financial sacrifices to undertake
this work. In California, he declared,
the conditions today are even worse
than they were in Wisconsin. But he
believed that through that magnif-
cent organization, the CITY club, the
state will be redeemed
I'm not a theorist; I'm not a mere
dreamer of dreams I've studied and
worked and dug and employed experts
to help me find the proof of every
cause 1 espouse. l am trying to do
nationally what we did in Wisconsin.
"My investigations proved to me
that ninety-seven men governed the
various boards of directors constitut-
ing and controlling every important
line of business and industry In the
United States. There are two all
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