The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1911-11-27
Inventor Moving Forward.

The inventor has been moving for
ward the lawyer has remained station
AIRY, The real cause Of the giant corpor-
alton OF today is not the selfish aims of
Few men, ii is the imperative need OF
all men.
In so far as the sherman law pro-
hibits monopoly and restraint of trade
am for L But as il stands on the
statute books today the sherman law Is
destructive law; there Is norhng con-
scryatlNe about IL. 1t tears down and
doesn't build up.
I am in favor of leaving the sherman
law as IL is In so far as il deals with
monopoly and restraint OF trade. But
there must be some federal license FOR
corporations doing an interstate business
we ought to take the bureau OF corpora
mons and have a commission TO which
concerns wishing TO do an interstate
business could apply for federal license
and get IL by showing in detail how they
are capitalized. what their profits are
what compensation they pay TO labor
and al what prices they sell to the pub
lie, These are things every corporation
should be made 10 disclose. The men on
that commission should be business men.
not lawyers or politicians.
Guilt Personal
Guilt should be personal and not cor
poral. I never yet could see how A cor
poration could commit a crime ] am In
favor Of making guilt personal The
Sherman law should he amended and
supplemented in such a way as 10 make
II possible TO punish those who violate
its provisions
The world is always yeIpng to put
some rich men in jail Why not stop
with new law, suited TO present-day
conditions, not to conditions of twenty
five years ago. and then punish people
who violate It's conditions?
Business men arc trying 10 do things
now, in accordance with the sherman law
as interpreted by some Individual As
q matter Of fact. the commerce OF the
United States liz resting. TO a certain eX-
attorney general. The best legal minds
Of this country cannot tell business men
exactly what is lawful and what Il not
lawful under the sherman act even with
the dcCis ions Of the supreme court I'm thc
Standard Oil and Tobacco cases. It is
the attorney general who decides what
corpora tons he viii attack: there is no
clear way 10 tell what is lawful or un-
lawful. Is that any kind Of way for tho
people OF lhe United states TO bc doing
Of the twentieth century?
Reconstructions Farce.
Take tho decisions OF The supreme
coUr, In the STANDARD Oil and Tobacco
cases. Everyone knows that the re-
constructions arc farce and that the
insiders will control the new conpsn nie5
that have been formed as controlled tho
old combinations. Indeed there VIII
now he infinitely more open wrong doing
tu5n lntlN "aS Dctbrf, ana II Is = RuCI
harder hing TO control many corpora
tions than II s Ia control one The
wrong is no, with the attorney general
IL is not With the president they arc
doing their duty as they see 1.-THE law
itself Is wrong. and that goes back To
congress snd back Of that 10 the people
Of the United States.
There is small danger Of monopoly
today. There is no corporation i'm cN-
istenCe which eniovs a monopoly Of any
thing. and competition is even more pos
Slble between big combinations than be-
tween small units. But II will be com
petition. not industrial warfare The
bigger the corpora tons the less danger
nf The worst features OF destructive com
Trusts Can BE Controlled
This - the twentieth century This
Is the United States of America Tho
flag is up. We have spent millions for
educail"u. "" have newspapers which |
keep every one In the country informed
on public matters or ought To. And are
We. who's" ancestors fought two bloody !
wars tn establish our Independence our
freedom and out union under one central
government, are we, In the supreme test |
going TO lay down and admit we cannot !
control a few men and make them do the !
fair thing toward their fellow mon whom
we have them Corlailcd IN one enclosure
"A big corporation? fs that what we
arc finally going 10 do? That l. the qUcs-
THE public has nothing to fear from
the bigncss Of great corporation; no |
tine American is afraid Of thing be- |
cause IL Is big. What the people have |
to fear H. secrecy in the management |
of big corporations. trusts. whose man
ayers do not realize that when a cor
poration'F shares are held by tho public |
Us managers are virtually servants Of |
the public. Giant corporations would |
not be a menace but "A great public bene- !
1T " the laws compelled publicity and |
punished offenders for improper meth
DDS