The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1911-09-30
THE PRESIDENT ON BUSINESS.

President Taft, In his speech at Wa
terloo, Iowa, laid down the sound doc.
trIne that "big business" must come
within the law; and denied that there
is any discretion on the part of the
Attorney General with regard to ex,
empting "big business from conform
ing to the law, Just as small business
has to do, All this is good, sound doc.
trnei 1t is the only doctrine that can
prevail in a Republic where the safety
of the people is in the common obedi
ence of all to the laws.
But, on the other hand, big business.
as we'll as little business, is entitled TO
know what the law is; it is entitled
to be allowed a reasonable freedom in
prosecuting its affairs, and the ordinary
privileges of the common law in buying
and selling. There is no doubt but
that there is good deal of feeling
springing up all over the country that
big business has been nagged and
threatened to its immense injury and TO
the injury of the country without any
particular benefit to the people.
Take the case of the Standard Oil
monopoly. That was a big holding
company, III which some thirty odd mi.
nor organizations had their central con.
troll, all working to the one purpose die.
tated from the general headquarters.
a suit against the Standard Oil Com
pany resulted in the annulment of the
charter of the holding company, and
an order that the thirty odd different
corporations which heretofore had
their head and union in the STANDARD
Oil Company must each operate for it.
self. The possibility Of seeing any
advantage to the public in this change
is so remote as to be invisible. The
separate companies will be dominated
by precisely the same influences that
controlled the main Standard Oil con
in control Of ALL The directions to all
will be the same, the only difference
being that foreign customers will be
confused for n time, and there Will be
some additional expense in officers sal.
aries, waste in preparation heretofore
made, and in the routine manag cement
of so many different companies in place
of one. But no one has noted any de.
crease in the price Of oil since the de-
cision; no one expects to get oil except
from the ;same old agencies, under the
same old control, at the same old price,
or perhaps higher price,
Take again the Tobacco Trust That
was declared to be combination in re-
law. But, this appears to have been
technical, because the I. S. Supreme
Court ordered that the Circuit Court
should find some basis upon which the
Tobacco Trust could operate lawfully
without damage and destruction to its
business, 1t is understood that the |
lower court has practically completed |
The task assigned to 1T. and completed |
it on about the same lines as the Stan
dard Oil reorganization But tobacco
is not cheaper, there is no difference
in the weight in which tobacco pack
ages are put up, there is no likelihood |
of any benefit TO the public accruing
through those suits and through the al |
legged dissolution of the Tobacco Trust.
There has been an investigation also |
Of the big Sugar Trust; and an in
vestigation is partly had and more
threatened of the Steel Trust The i'm
mediate result of the investigation of |
the Sugar Trust was startling raise
in the price of sugar The claim was
made that the reason for the raise was
The shortage IN the sugar crop; but a
revised view of the situation shows
that there has been no material de,
crease In the sugar crop, and that the
alleged or apparent shortage of sugar
has been because the big Sugar Trust
refused TO manufacture the raw sugar
which it had on hand. There has been,
according to the Boston Traveller, ga
amount of raw stock on
hand in New York, Boston, Philadel.
phia, and other cities; and the total
amount ahoat en- route to this coup-
try on September lst was given as
$4,000 tons, an increase of more than
$4,000 tons over the amount ahoat on
the same date year ago. What,
hen, made the shortage in the supply of
sugar? The New York World directly
charges that the shortage is because
he Sugar Trust refineries have been
at only half capacity, showing
4 reduction in the output for the last
.hree weeks of $4,000 tons as against
4 year ago, and this with an almost
stock of raw sugar on
hand to refine, but which the Sugar
Trust refused to refine, creating an ar.
,l6cial scarcity on the market for It's
'wn purposes. The independent sugar
,ants, small concerns they are to be
sure, have had plenty Of raw sugar
% be made up, and have been working
IN full time, whereas the big trust has
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