The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-11-15
Charter Granted By Nation With Proper Safeguards
 Is Solution
TARIFF AS WEAPON
 MAY BE EFFECTIVE
Duties Could Be Reduced So As To Bring About Full Competition. Weakness in the Present
 Statute
By LEVY MAYER lnf the Chicago Barr

By LEVY MAYER tOf the Chicago Bar) Mere reteration that there now exists great economic disturbance without pre- 1 senting plan to cure the trouble serves only to create more uncertainty and fi-
 nancial Arrangement. The physician wno diagnoses the bodily ailments of his pa- tients may do useful service. but unless
 re at least attempts cure he accom- pshes but little permanent good.
 There is something fundamentally
 wrong with our present system of cor
 pcrate control Thoughtful men. no mat ter on what side of the line they stand,
 realize the impending crisis and are eager
 for relief.
 The studioas and sober observers of the existing emergency will hail the ad-
 vent of some plan to eradicate the cause of our commercial difficulties and sub- stltute therefor a conservative but en- l frightened policy by which all can be equally protected and business be perma-
 pently restored to a sound and unfettered
 condition.
 Cannot Eradicate Trusts
 The very profound and masterly opn-
 ions of Chief Justice White in the Stand
 ard oil and Tobacco cases graphically
 portray the cause oft the prevailing conn
 mereial worry. But neither those erudite
 decisions nor any antitrust law that hu-
 man skill has devised will, in my view.
 prevent the creation or growth of indus- 1 trial combinations They are and will continue part of our commercial life. 1 The same Standard oil company and the same American Tobacco company. | though dissolved by court decrees, will {
 survive, though in diffeernt form and(
 dress. True, there will be a greatet
 number of integral companies and conk seguent increased cost of administration
 at the expense of the public, but in 's-
 near future the conditions probably will
 be the same as those which prevailed lrrior to the court orders.
 Trusts Born in Avarice Combinations are bred by the avaricc ! of man. But that same cupidity inspires
 society in general Those who are strong 1 est in the condemnation of trusts will be
 found equally ready to adopt similar
 methods for personal gain. Reaching far down in human nature is
 the unrelenting chase after fortune and
 the power and happiness it is presumed
 to bring. The hunger to grow and ex-
 pand dominates all classes and occupa-
 tions, and those who stand in the way
 are trampled on.
 Chief Justice White is not alone The
 sentiment of thinking men agrees with
 him that legislation of some kind is re-
 quired by the economic conditions of the
 times, by the vast accumulation of wealth. 1 by the enormous developments of cor porate organization, and by the tempta- l tion for combination which such organi-
 zations create. There does prevail an inn 1 pression that such power is eXerted to
 oppress and to injure.
 MOnOpoles Are Not New
 When all this has been said We merely l have been told that economic conditions | are unsettled, but this does not find a ' way for their betterment or relief. Trusts | and monopolies are not new to this age | or to this country. They have lived, null tiplied and hourished from earliest times | There were brick and papyrus trusts among the early Egyptians. just as there are brick and paper combinations today. l There were wheat monopolies among the l Phoenicians, just as there are grain cor ners at the present time. Combinations l in different industries have existed and will continue to exist among all nations and in all civilized society. l The edicts and laws of kings. presidents l parliaments and legislatures have been l in vain Nothing preventive has been ac- | complshed. Why not therefore, recog- | nze them as necessary and constituent elements of our social organism? Trusts Among Labor Men
 But trusts are not confined to corpor-
 ations They flourish with greater free | dom among the wage earners. It is esti- | mated that there are nearly 3,O00,0 GOO mem- | bers of labor unions in this country No one disputes their equal right to labor | to produce, and to acquire and accumu- | late property.
 l The price of labor is a large part of | the cost of every commodity. Why should 1 there be a distinction in social. economic
 or legal conditions between labor com | binations on the one hand and those of ! manufacturers on the other? No American legislature attempts to
 make illegal a combination among wage
 workers for the purpose of obtaining a | reasonable unreasonable increase in wages or a decrease in hours of employ ment No court in this country pro nounces unlawful any such contracts. It | is not true that the United States supreme l court has held such unions Illegal Not | only do the courts not decree such agree ments unlawful, but in number of the states there are positive statutes to the | effect that labor combinations are legal.
 Similar Methods in Use l Upon what theory of commercial equali- | tv can law declare illegal combinations | of rehners of oil or of manufacturers of | tobacco to raise the price of their prod | ucts when like agreements among their worlxmen are authorized and upheld? l The antitrust act was passed July ,, | 1892 Since that date it has been before | the supreme court and the lower federal courts many times in various phases and angles This is neither the time nor the 1 place for a technical analysis of the mean l ing and interpretation placed by the courts upon that statute. | Nor is this the occasion to suggest. much less discuss the question whether the Standard oil and Tobacco decisions do or do not depart from the language of earlier 1 rulings of the supreme court. May Try Cases Separately ! It is sufficient that that court has now held definitely and finally that only those 1 combinations that unduly or unreasonahly i restrain interstate trade are illegal only l those contracts which are ''unreasonably CONTINUED ON PAGE a3