The Detroit times., 1911-08-29
FLAYs TRUSTS
AND U. S. LAWS
Rresidens Fsrrss, Of Bar Associa.
ton, Says wali-st. Has Grip
On Finances,

question that now agitates the minds
Of the American people, 10 how TO con
troll the corporation: how to bresk
up these great aggregations which
seem 10 be almost az powerful az the
government itself and how to prevent
their formation In the future" de-
clared Edgar II. Farrar. OF Louisiana.
President OF the American Bar AS
ISOLATION In his address at the annual
meeting Of that organization here to
day
He declared that the agitation for
the recall OF the judges. az shown in
the Arizona constitution, vetoed by
the president, was only "One Of the
sy nptoms of the political. social and
economic unrest that now pervades
the whole nation"
The radicals" he continued, pro
pose TO destroy things generally,
while the conservatives, reading the
sign OF the times realize the danger
Of the growing excitement among the
masses Of the people, and are seeking
an exit from the situation that will
conserve political liberty and indus
trial prosperity"
Farrar then defended the corpora.
ton az general principle, saying IL
had come 10 stay and was necessary
for our industrial development. There
has always been a strong bias against
corporations, he said. and now II has
passed inro politics. the "Favorite
around OF attack by the demagogue
on anyone desiring to enter public life
being that he represents corporate In
terests or Is q corporation lawyer
IF there are Frankensteins In cor
porate form stalking over the land
continued Iarrar, spreading terror
and threatening destruction, the peo
pie themselves have created them by
their legislatures. In forty-one state-
there Is not limit on capital stock and
in twenty-fcur perpetual charters ara
permitted. Mergers OF consultations
are only specifically prohibited In
two states. In none OF the states
are the same persons prohibited from
acting as directors of corporations o.
the same character engaged In tn,
same busindss.
| During the last ten years there Ia.
been composition between the states
10 inventJsnd adopt the most un
restricted corporation laws. The spul
has been greed for revenue; the en-
couragement. the success of New
Jersey. Out of the latter's bosom
have come the great trusts, the hold
monopolies, all with their waterloo
ged capital stocks.
| And the corporation laws OF the
United States and the national bank
ing laws contain many Of the oh
| jectionable features OF the state In
corporation laws.
| How with II stand with the repub
lie In a generation from now II tn,
estates of all the millionaires an,
Observation-Disclosures are perpetuaily In
corporatcd as Is being. done In New
York and copied elsewhere? In tn,
agricultural states great corporation
are absorbing and combining tn,
farms. How can that firmest of foun
dations Of free government, a lant
owning yeomanry, exist under sucl
conditions?
Under the lax state and nationa
4 teWo oiVoN o6bAVbntAOho VI O0Ptbu
have seized upon specific industrie
and driven everybody out OF them
They stand like armed colossuse
astride thu gateways of commerce
and destroy every entrant who pre-
sumes to compete with them. The
have no legal grant of monopoly. bu
monopoly, but monopoly comes 4
them by virtue OF their size, organ
zation and strength. They are a mes
of wasps--a swarm OF vermin whicl
have overcrept the land
The economic advantages, II any
that now from these vast aggregs
tons Of capital are drowned In tn
firm belief that they exercise to,
much political power, selfshly an,
unscrupulously, bar the door TO pr
vate enterprises, cramp the industrial
freedom of individuals, destroy equal
ity OF opportunity and extinguish al
hope and hence all ambition for IN
dustrial independence and autonomy
The great American national die
grace IL found in tho issuance y
fictitious and watered stock mad,
possible under the laws. From
other damnable abuses spring. Cor
porations own and vote stock In on,
another aud this provision IL tn,
mother Of the holding company anC
the trust. In Utah, railroad com
panies have the widest powers where
by a Utah company can acquire ant
control the stock of all transportation
corporations by land. river. lake OF
sea in the United States down to the
sma Hest tramway I'm the smaIlast
country village. When one remember,
that Utah Is the domicile of the Unior
Pacific Railway Co., and that thi.
statute was passed after that great
company had acquired large blocks Of
stock In eight Of our greet railroad
systems, one Immediately discerns Il
this legislation, the lions paw-ths
master hand of the now deceased