The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1911-12-07

nsnted by specific provisions for ths
building op ana regulation OF legitimate
national and foreign
Courts Need Aid.
The drafting Of the DEGREES In the disso-
luton OF the present trusts, with a view
70 Their reorganization, into legitimate cor
e eoffa ration has made It especially appar,
the administrative machinery to make
the necessary inquiries preparatory to re-
organization, or to pursue u inquiries.
ana they should be empowered to invoke
.he aid of the bureau of corporations in
determining the suitable reorganization Of
the disinteRrated parts, The circuit court
aided in framing the decree In the Is.
bacco trust dissolution by an expert from
the bureau of corporations.
Corporation Commission Proposed.
| do not set forth In detail the terms and
sections Of a statute which might. supply
the constructive legislation permitting and
aiding the formation OF combinations of
capital into federal corporations. They
should be subject to rigid rules as to their
organization and procedure. including pub
lclty, and to the closest supervision as to
the issue OF stock and bonds by an execu-
i've bureau OF commission IN the depart
ment OF commerce and labor, to which in
times Of doubt they might well submit
Ineir proposed plans for future business.
corporation under a federal law could not
exempt the company thus formed and
its incorporators and managers from
subsequent Illegal conduct, but the pub
aoity of Its procedure and the opportunity
LOT FREQUENT consultation with the bureau
ton as to the legitimate purpose of its
transactions would offer 1t as great Sc
cur1ty against successful prosecutions for
or wise.
suoh a bureau or commission might well
be invested also with the duty. already
luton and recreation of fruits within the
law; 1t should be an executive tribunal
or the dignity n power of the comp
tToller of the currency or the Interstate
Commerce commission, which now exer-
else supervisory power over important
classes OF corporations under federal regu-
lation.
The drafting of such a federal incorpora-
ton law would offer ample opportunity to
prevent many manifest evils In corporate
mhianagement today. including i%rresponsi-
who are not the real owners.
Supplemental Legislation Needed.
The opportunity thus suggested for fed
eIai Incorporation, it seems to me. is suit
cliatate the squaring of great Industrial
enterprises to the rule of action laid down
by the antitrust law. This statute as
tinue to be the line Of distinction for le-
Ultimate business. It must be enforced,
unless we are to Danish individuaiis1n
Iioil Ill .puSl1SSS ana reduce II 10 Cllo
common system or regulation or control
of prices like that which now prevails
with respect to public utilities, and which
when applied to all business would be a
long step toward state socialism.
Incorporation Voluntary.
l recommend that the federal charters
thus to be granted shall be voluntary, at
least until experience justiaes mandatory
provisions. The benefit to be derived from
the operation of great businesses under
the DrOtHptjOn of such a chartar would
attract all who are anxious to keep with
in the lines of the law. Other large COM
the federal incorporation will not lave a
right to complain IL their failure is as
cribed to unwillingness to submit their
transactions to the careful official scrut-
my, competent supervision and publicity
attendant upon the enjoyment of such q
charter.
Importance of the Act.
The antitrust act Is the expression Of
preserve equality OF opportunity. 1t is the
result of the confident determination CT
such a people to maintain their future
restricted the enterprise of the Individual,
his industry, his ingenuity, his intelli-
gence. and his Independent courage,
been upon the statute book. All knew it's
general purpose and approved. Many Of
its violators we're cynical over It's as
Tosafb lo Of enforoement. Ss sloSiy the the
mills of the court ground, and
only gradually did the majesty of the law
assert itself. Many of its statesmen-au-
thors died before it became a living force,
aud they and others saw the evil grow
! which they had hoped to destroy. Now
its efficacy Is seen; now it's power is
heavy; now it's object is near achieve
ment. Now we hear the call for it's re-
peal on the plea that it interiors; with
business prosperity, and we are advised
in most general terms, how by some other
statute and in some other way the evil
we are just stamping out can be cured,
IL we My abandon this work of 20 years
and try another experiment for another
term of years.
It is said that the act has not done
good. Can this be said in the face of the
effect of the Northern Securities decree?
That decree was in no way so drastic or
inhibitive In detail as either the Standard
Oil decree or the tobacco decree; but did
it not stop for all time the then powerful
movement toward the control Of all the
railroads of the country in a single hand?
been q healthful influence In the republic,
even though exercised under the genera
supervision of an interstate commission.
Do We desire to make such ruthless
combinations and monoplies lawful
When all energies are directed, not to.
ward the reduction OF the cost of produc.
ton for the public benefit by a healthfu'
com petition, but toward new ways and
means for making permanent In a few
hands the absolute control of the condi.
field of industry, then Individual enter,
prise and effort will be paralyzed and the
spirit of commercial freedom will be dead
VIM. Fl. TAFT.
The White House. December 5, 1911.
---S--
a Remarkable Newspaper.
In British Columbia. says a writer
in the Strand Maoa1ipa tbnra iu c