Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-10-04
Held a Moral Question.


Held a Moral Question.
IF the record as made up above is ac-
curs,e can any one fail to reach the con-
clusion that the people of this country
regard the trust question. not as legal
ouestion. not as question of percent
ages hut as a moral question. To refuse
oven to ATTEMPT to modify the sherman
law along the lines indicated IN the re-
publican national platform Is 10 refuse ~
strengthen the moral law; TO refuse 10
define and punish wrongdoing; to permit
the throttling of business. and 10 nili
gle the innocent and the guilty IN COM
mon condemnation .,,
senator Curnmins was reported by the
newspapers as having said a rev oas'
ago: A.. a,,;-trust
law should be amended or suPplefheh'eu.
The situation is intolerabie me eHteli,
nf awfuI restraint cannot be known by
business man until he is prosecuted anu
his case reaches the court re ootS NJ
and cannot know as he proceeds Win ms
business whether he is good CITIZEN OF d
criminal 7,
THAT is precisely the situation II
seems incredible that in SOWING our III
dustrial problems We cannot foiio" So'le
of the precedents that We ourselves nav
established in solving other problems. Ne
have not only solved the problem OIL
how to have large banks, now TO com
pei even dishonest men to make pure
food but take our railroads for example
VIII any one deny that gross abuses
existed: that all sorts of cunning. unoer-
hand devices were resorted TO In the pas
by some men in the railroad business W
fleece the public and build up private
fortunes? Has there been any more
wickedness up to date in the manage
ment of our industriais than existed In
the railroads during a certain PERIOD!
Saw Need of Future.
I'VE all know that we have gradually
reached point in this country where we
are consuming more and more OF the
products of our farms: We no longer nave
as much for export. II therefore has be-
come all-important that We build up the
axportation of the things We nlanufac-
ture Some Of our leading Industrial
minds saw this condition approaching a.
number of years ago, ana began 10 so'
Grady for IL. They knew that the Sc
curing Of the foreign trade in manufac-
tured products. in large quantities. at
profitable prices. could only be accom-
plished by having companies IN oinereh.
lines of trade that We're large enough 10
command not only large capital but large
agsregations OF men OF the first order OF
ability in their particular lines OF manu-
facture. For this purpose large coihpa.
MES were organized, not to RESTRAIN put
to promote. to expand trade. Ihelr sue
cess has been phenomenal. The sales out
side with whose business l am fainliiaf
alone with whose business am familiar,
ten years ago were sO.OOOO. and TINS
year will approXimate S1OO,OO,".
SHOULD these two corpor ations have TO
undergo dissolution by the United states
government-should they have TO go BACK
to their original component parts, WHAT
a spectacie We Will make or ourselves De-
fore the Germans, for instance. for next
year or the year after We Americans,
from whom the Germans have learned SO
much in the way OF organizing business,
NAV be competing with them and our
selves in the foreign markets OF the
world including Germany itself, with
fifty or seventy-fiVe companies IN place
of five or ten. In the name OF inteiii-
gent thought ask the men OF this coun-
fry 70 stop, look, listen: to pause and
contemplate what this actually means
The people OF this country are not AFTER
mere form; they are after substance
While our government is tearing down
other governments are building up.
Proud of American Business.
Our people believe that this question
is q moral question. They have pride in
Americas position in the world OF com
merce as il exists today. They want at
least TWO things: What is right and fair.
as between man and man, and our COM
mercial supremacy maintained
If these great interstate and interna-
tionaI industrial organizations are broken
I'D into a number Of small concerns, es-
pecialiy without the slightest attempt hay
ing first been made to resulste and con-
trol them, MIL not the following ques-
tons speedily he asked:
First. Has labor been benefited? Has
labor been given steadier employment and
higher wages?
Second. Has the consumer been bene-
dted? Has the consumer been given a
better article and at lower price?
Third. Has our financial fabric been
Strengthened2 Has more stability been
gwen to business, better security 10 the
investments in which the people have
placed their money:
Fourth. Has the new order OF things
stin further enlarged our foreign trade
balances?
Fifth. Have our sons and grandsons
been put in the way OF having stronger
Ut Weake. weapons for use in their
struggle FOR their full share OF the COM
nerce OF the world?
Sixth. Has the new order or things
lone more in the way OF promoting profit
Sharing plans between capital and labor,
accident and relief benefits old age pen-
sions and general welfare work i'm fac
tories and mills?
Want Practical Results.
We American people in the last anal
yss are a practical set. and will we be
satisfied with any solution of the trust
question that does not bring practical and
permanently beneficial results?