The French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1896-1912, 1911-01-12
The GOVERNORS MESSAGE

i
trayagance or graft, if the public
interests demand it, then the
State should not shrink from bor-
rowing and brave, intelligent,
progressive, patriotic people will
approve it.
Upon the trust question the Gov
ernor says truly that private
monopolies are tyrannical and in
tolerable, and that it behooves
the government of every State to
exert its entire power In contribut-
ing to the destruction of mono
poly, the restoration Of COMPETE
ton in industrial life, in limiting
trust evils, In protecting her p6o-
pie, and in compelling compi-
ance. with and In Furnishing viola
tons of her laws" The Governor
is most happy in thus expressing
the duty of the State in every SEN
tence in the above, except the
words in limiting trust evils. !"
The State should destroy trusts
and thus destroy the evils, but the
| Governor doubtless uses these
terms limiting trust evils as
but a temporary help until they
] can be fully eliminated The only
way to treat a trust is to destroy
it and compel the parts to return
to their original corporations be-
! fore merged into a trust This is
not easy 1t is extremely difficult
and cannot be done except for
the government of every State
to exert its entire power in con-
tributing to the destruction of
monopoly" 1t cannot be serious
| ly commended that North Carolina
has exerted its entire power" to
the destruction of monopoly. -
Indeed no serious attempt has been
made in this State to destroy
/ trusts. On the contrary, the at
tempt seems to have been merely
to hurl anathemas at them in the
shape of laws so drawn as to be
fifty described as pink tea statu-
ties. Four years ago the late
State Senator B. F. Aycock intro
duced the best antitrust bill that
has been proposed. With a few
amendments it could have been
made so effective as to have made
trusts known that North Carolina
would exert its entire power" to
destroy them. 1t soon became ap-
lparent that the Senate would not
pass so good general measure
| and then, in order to make be-
ginning by reaching some of the
worst trusts the late Senator Reid
fof Rockingham, introduced the
now famous Reid Anti Trust
Act He believed that with pro.
per machinery, with the whole pow
er ofsthe State behind it, that act
would end the robbery of the far
mers by the tobacco trust. The bill
passed the House under the ever
glorious and patriotic leadership
$ of Speaker Justice, but the Senate
so emasculated it as to make it {
mere nothinga promise to tn,
ear to be broken to the hope.'
This paper declared, after the Sen
!, iate had cut the hearts out of tn,
bill, that it was fixed so as to max,
!, sure the tobacco trust could no
be reached or punished Indeed
some legislators frankly declared
! that the reason they opposed tn,
, Reid bill was because it was aim
ed at the American Tobacco Com
pany. 1t was humbug, nothing
more or less as an antitrust law
though some of its supporter
doubtless thought it was bette
> tact tan it turned out to be AM
? some honest senators declared tina
they were not interested, becaus
: they did not believe North Caro-
j lima could reach the trusts, ant
i they did not wish to pass a string
/ ent act that would result In pro
! secutions and trouble and expens
J without hope of beneftting tn
people. The act of 1907 proves
: to be worthless, as predicted. L
. 1908 Governor Kitchin was mad
E the Governor. He had vigorous
E ly denounced the trusts. particu
+ larly the tobacco trust, and tn
' people thought his election Woul
E be followed by his putting all tn
& power Of the State to work to- tn
J destruction of monopoly" In tn
! Legislature of 1909 there were se1
3 eral antitrust bills. Senator Lock
! hart, re-introduced the Reid bil
ii with important amendments an
e better machinery in the Senat,
n.tMr. Koonce introduced the Texa
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