The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-12-18

| Roosevelt.
1T viii also be remembered that,
Notwithstanding his exploitations
against the trusts and criminal rlch'
he failed to dissolve a single trust.
$50 far as Taft is concerned, he IS
suffering for the sins Of the party, for
/ which he is largely not responsible.
The leading Republicans who are re-
sponsibIe for the sins of omission and
commission are now attempting to
saddle the whole responsibility upon
the broad shoulders of Taft"
There is much truth in that. even II
Sherwood is a Democrat
President Taft will take q sane and
patriotic hitch in the Russian treaty
matter That's one of his strongholds
He will not. of course. permit Repre-
sentative Sulzer to work up any jingo-
ISM simply through the i'll advised
use of i'll timed words referring to our
old and long time friend, Russia; but
it will be plain when the senate and
Taft get through with it that Russia,
if it desires a new treaty, for the old
one must go, must respect our citizens
travelling or living in the cars land,
regardless of their race or religion
The one important point is Russia's
abandonment of her discrimination in
regard to our citizens, who are just as
! Ger white or black.
The sharp words, Notwithstanding
Sulzer and some others. are not es-
sentiaI- 1t is a matter of diplomatic
dignity and self respect. Let the
phraseology be in harmony. Russia,
however, has made United States tired.
Wilson and Harmon, as well as La
Toilette, have been touched with the
December frost in the south and east.
Wilson's loss of New Jerseys endorse
ment, quotations from his old speeches
criticizing jefferson and jackson and
his recent application for a profess
sor's pension have chilled what popu
larity he previously enjoyed. The
south is particularly sensitive and re-
.sponsive to these things. Harmons
recent visit to Georgia was hung with
icicles and his call on New Workers re-
Gently was accompanied by bad
break that made the interests look
around. Meanwhile Champ Clark
smiles, tries to forget annexation, and
TAFT is cutting more and better ice.
Attorney General wiclersham,
snubbed by his old Wall street assoc
ciates but now with the government
as his client, has announced his in
tention of smashing more than a
hundred" big corporations. Mr.. Wick
ersham would resent any insinuation
that he made this threat for cheap
polite purposes SO, of course, he must
be taken seriously, and he will file
these hundred or more" dissolution
suits without waiting to see if it will
pay him to do so as a matter of poll
tics
Please note that Secretary of War
Stimson, the man for whom Col.
Roosevelt, fought and died" a year
ago, is still the friend OF the colonel,
4 and mark it, the spokesman OF the
president For at a dinner just given
in New York the underlying -'econo-
mic hypothesis upon which the ad-
ministration of President Taft ex-
poets to be judged was defined by Sec
rotary Stinson, by the declaration
that the country has reported at the
stage Of large business but not at the
stage OF monopoly.
This means that we recognize
frankly that a large amount OF com
/ bination on the part of our industries
is economically necessary and benefit
cial, that it is the only method by
which We could have reached our
present stage of civilization, Mr..
Stimson explained.
There are not a few of us who
would be glad to enjoy a monopoly in
our business if we could have it with
out the inevitable condition that goes
with it.
The moment that business claims
the right to control prices through
monopoly, that moment will the arm
OF the state claim the right to fix
prices. We cannot legalize monopoly
without bringing state regulations of
prices
The intricate situation with which
the courts have had to deal in the
cases of the Standard Oil and the Amer
lean Tobacco trusts dissolution, he said,
should rot be accepted as a criterion of
what will be the laws task under nor
NAL conditions
1.-The old rules of fair play under the
common law are no longer adequate,
Stimson said. 1.-The entry Of large bus
mess into the game has made neces-
sary some changes in the rules which
are sufficient so long as the size of
competitors was approximately equal
He declared the various forms of so
called cut-throat competition should be
defeated and punished as the first great
piece of constructive work required by
the situation. AS a second step, the
time has. come for the government to
exercise its affirmative powers The
criminal prcvisiors of the law should
be supplemented by legislation which
will establish an administrative bureau
for the Permanent, continuous and
Watchful oversight of corporate bust
ness interstate commerce.
Supervision and publicity are es-
sentiaI," Mr.. Stimson continued. This
should be a feature of a federal cor
poration law This would not be I'M
constitutional or inquisitorial. A fur
Their congressional investigation is need
less. Less politics and more study of
the question is desirable
Now is that not sound and sensible
and sane. 1t comes from Taft direct
through Roosevelt's friend. Secretary
Stfmson. who wanted to be governor