The Washington herald., 1911-10-29

taxed internally, like liquor and tobacco;
that they be prevented from engaging in
interstate commerce. and that their pat
ents, when they had any, be pronounced
null and void.
A new bill-the law as 1t reads now.
without the change Of a single word
was sent to the Senate from the Judi
ciary Committee by its chairman, Mr..
Edmunds. on April 2. Senator Edmunds
withdrew from public life in 1891 the
year following. He wrote a correspond
ent in 1900 that the language OF the bill
was that of a member Of the committee.
He did not mention the name of the au-
thor, however.
The autobiography of Senator Hoar was
Hoar, had nothing to do with framing
II (the bill that passed ultimately what.
ever. The bill that Sherman had pre-
pared. he went on to say, provided that
whenever a trust, so called, dealt with
an article protectea by tariff. the article
should be put on the free list. 1t was a
crude, unjust, and imperfect provision.
1t let in goods made abroad by a for
eign trust to compete with honest do
mestic manufactures 1 drew as an
amendment the present bill claw he
should have said, which I presented to
the committee. There was a good deal
of opposition in the committee. Nearly
But at last the committee came to my
view"
THE new bill was not precisely what I
wanted" Sherman wrote in his book en-
titled, Forty Years in the House, Senate,
and Cabinet" but it was "the best thing
under all circumstances that the Senate
was prepared to give in that direction.
This law" Sherman went on to say,
may not be sufficient to control and
u -
II not the evil produced by them will lead
TO effective legislation. I know of no
object of greater Importance to the peo-
pie I hope the courts of the United
States and Of the several States will deal
with these combinations so as to prevent
and destroy them
Only One Vote Against 1t.
Only one vote was cast against the
Blodgett, of New Jersey, a banker and
railroad man, living at Long Branch.
He had not spoken on the question, nor
did he say why he opposed the measure.
The vote in the House of Representatives
was unanimous. The bill was called up
for action by William Mckinley, of
Ohio.
Thomas jefferson. having a weak and
unmelodious voice, cultivated his talents
for putting his thoughts on paper. Being
the best writer at the convention, the
other delegates asked him to assemble
and condense their opinions and compose
the Declaration of Independence. George
Frisble Hoar performed a similar service
for 'he Committee of the Judiciary in
the Senate The trust law. however, will
always bear the name of John Sherman.
He introduced the bill" says Senator
Theodore F. Burton, of Ohio, one of his
biographers. land took the initiative in
pressing legislation of this character
upon the attention of Congress; he
formulated the general ideas and policies
embodied into law, and by his insistence,
amounting to antagonsm of other meas
ures. secured favorable attention of the
Senate and the passage of the bill.
1T is to be noted" Senator Burton
adds, that up to this time, neither In
Congress nor in the country at large, had
the opinion gained any considerable sup
port that these aggregations of capital,
familiarly known as trusts, were the re-
suit OF a process OF evolution. They
were universally condemned as grasping
monopolies, formed for the sole purpose
of benefiting their projectors at the ex-
pense of the general public" belief
Senator Burton might have said, which
after lapse Of twenty-one years, is still
prevalent.