Albuquerque evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1911-1914, 1911-10-05
MANY FUNDAMENTAL
ISSUES At STAKE
IN CONTROVERSY
Wonder That Security Mar
kets Stood Up Against q
Series of Shocks as Well as
They Did,

Nsw York Oct The event at the
last NcDk was tlto declaration of tue
director Of the United states steel
corporation that In ih,ir belief b was
not "a law breaking organization, ana
that 30 Nas not contemplating any vol.
untarb dissolution This temporarily
sol ai rest alarming runinrs and check
I'D the Wholesale liquidation which be-.
son iu tAr early part uf the week. The
question as Co whether the rtesi cur-
purpu1n has broken the law uninten-
tl4nalN or otherwise may SGT have tu
o., foitl. q hS the courts. 10 su. 20 VIII
moan long ana strong lsghl battle.
The steel trust b. tho greatest ul all
Industrial combinations aId a. such
= naturally the center of political at
taek Tho fact that IT, securities are
distributed ON AN unelualtd scale rcn-
drrs lts position an the moro interest
ing and Important. Commissioner
N,rbsrt Knox smith has already CALI
Oh attention 60 the practical monopoly
of th. hyrt IRON mines ln the country
upon Whioh tho steel trust places "a
h!gh valuation ard this M least is
likely to b. an Important point OF
contest Probably ID Viii not ac prov-
"a ur even alleged that the United
States siecl corporation ss "a whole
is monopoly That 90 has cNcrtcd a
largo Influence upon prices will doubt
lps hp proved 10 mgy aisu hp dpDlar.
sd q practical monopoly IN certain re-
tprc's. That IL has conducted hostile
warfar, upon ans of its competitors
viii not ho proved. In many respects
ihe management 81 the United states
steel corporation IL admirnhl. ana de-
sfrtiag uf high praise. bat n The prcs-
snl state of pHhlic temper ana with
such vital economic issues awaiting
settlement. q sDoms hardly possible for
the United states steal corporation
o. avoid The strictest scrutiny Of the
law
Great fundamental issues arr az
ftAhr lu this confirm crsy. The Sh,r
man laW aimed To- preserve comppti-
tiun Tho pYimc purpose ct many 9f
our great trusts have been 90 clim-
mate competition The fact that they
have sought 60 do so may often be
difilcult 90 prove, hut their practical
operation Lends 90 no OTHER cunclu-
sion. Tho supreme court has Inter
pr"tr6 the main purpose of the Shcr-
man lRW Geo be- that nf preserving
competition. NJ. Taft evidently rec
oRpiyes that his duty lies in enforcing
the law To Wall street the ISSUE b.
both uuplraHant and untimrly Un-
plonHant becaust u seriously dlsar-
ranges existing methods; unilmoiy
because when ntbcr troubles are thick
u compeis rendlustment that viii
L.. fs.
much labor and friction The imme-
diate outcome T. certainly disturbing
Tho later consequences, however. Will
he beneficial The breaking up of the
monopolics will disarm public crit
icism. avert many attacks upon cor
poratiuna ana leave business less ~
the mercy OF political domagoguos. II
wiz also serve 10 bring the country
into u safer ana sounder economic po-
sition. The cnntrOl Of prices hy great
oreanizrt iona had something 90 @,
with the present hiph cost of living
Naturally an these ORGANIZATIONS re
sisted every downward tendency Of tn
markets. which otherwise would hav'
declined more rapidly 20 lowtr levels
They also systematically restricted
production. The power OF the trust
on prlcca, however, Ia partly exGEgcr
nted. incidentally the breaking up %
these monopolisllc combinations Wi
prove the most telling blow agains
socialism which has been struck u
many years. The worst OF this aglta
tlon Is that u comes when The mar
kcla are already disturbed by inter
national politics. hN war rumorS. b,
railroad strikes, by trade rca lion. b.
coming tariff revision and other un
toward events.
The wonder Ia thHt the socurlt,
markets stand up against such q ser
les 81 sh0cks ~ we'll Thus far NJ
serious trouble has occurred, ana a
this writing none seems tn he nniici
mated, which Is r. markahlr. consid
erlng that the shrlnkage In values at
the New York stock exchange has ru
inio many hundreds ~ millions OF dol
lars Fortunately there are som
steaayng Influences at work whic