The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1910-12-15

The State Legislature Will meet In
January and some people are already
specializing on what the Democrats
will do about passing an effective
antitrust law. They have been yell
ing about the oppressive trusts I'm
every campaign. They have had the
legislative power for the past twelve
years. but during all that time they
have failed to pass an antitrust law
that would hold water. One Legis-
lature actually repealed the only an
THRUST law on the statute books and
for two years we had no antitrust
law whatever. But 80 far as results
IL did not made any difference as
there has been no attempt on the
part OF the State authorities to en-
force the law when such a one was
on the statute books.
The News Observer claims that the
present antitrust law is farce, not
withstanding it was enacted by men
whom that paper and its followers
helped to elect to the Legislature.
Some of the Democrats now claim
that the next Legislature will pass an
antitrust law with very large teeth,
but the people have been fooled SO
often by the Democratic politicians
that the law will first have to be en-
acted before they will believe 1t.
The American Tobacco Company
bought a million dollars worth Of
State bonds to save the Democratic
administration the embarrassment of
having to call special session Of the
Legislature to increase the rate of
interest on the bonds. If the Amer
lean Tobacco Company had waited
only a few days it could have bought
the bonds at less price and thereby
made several thousand dollars. Now
some of the Democrats think since
the company came to the rescue and
saved the Democrats that the Legisla-
ture should not pass any law that
would be Objectionable to that COM
pany. Notwithstanding that the News
and Observer keeps writing in favor
a stringent antitrust, it is probably
done for a side show and for the pur-
pose of again hood-winking the vot-
ers.
The Clinton News-Dispatch in dis
cussing this phase of the question
says:
But the American Tobacco
Company will understand it all,
they know in whom they have
trusted, they also know that the
Democratic party has never fool
ed them. There will perhaps be
another big fight over the anti
trust bill, but when they turn it
loose 1t will be another pink tea
affair. While all this fuss and
wrangling will not hurt, fright
en-, nor even make mad the
American Tobacco Company, yet
it may brighten other corpora
tons that are figuring on locat-
ing in this State. If the last
Legislature had been sincere in
regard to an antitrust law with
teeth it would have passed the
Texas law which has stood the
test of the Supreme Court of
Texas, and also the Supreme
Court of the United States. But
when they turned down and re-
fused to pass the Texas law
every one with thimble full Of
brain knew that they were in
sincere in all they had been say
ing and doing in regard to curb
ing the trust. Now beloved when
Josephus begins to rage and the
News and Observer begins to
howl for an antitrust law with
teeth, you needn't get excited
and enlarge the size Of your to-
bacco beds, thinking the trust is
going to be destroyed and tobac-
CO will go 'sky-hooting.' but we
would advise you to sit steady
in the boat; there will be moth
ing doing. 1t will be the same
old bluff, that's ALL"