Evening journal., 1912-08-07
sherman Law Amendment..

hensive, unless It springs out Of ad-
vantages which they have not created
for themselves. Big business is not
dangerous because it is big, but be-
cause It's bigness Is an unwholesome
imitation created by privileges and ex-
emptions which It ought not to enjoy.
The general terms OF the present
federal antitrust law, forbidding
combinations in restraint Of trade"
have apparently proved Intellectual.
Trusts have grown up under its ban
very luxuriantly and have pursued
the methods by which so many OF
them have established virtual monop-
olies without serious let or hindrance
It has roared against them like any
sucking dove. am not assessing the
responsibility; am merely stating the
fact. But the means and methods by
which trusts have established monop-
olies have now become known. It will
be necessary to supplement the pres
ent law with such laws. both civil and
criminal, as will effectually punish and
prevent those methods, adding such
other laws 3, may be necessary to
provide suitable and adequate Judicial
processes, whether civil or criminal,
to disclose them and follow them to
final verdict and judgment.
But the problem and the difficulty
are much greater than that There
are not merely great trusts and com
= binations which are TO be controlled
and deprived of their power to create
monopolies and destroy rivals. There
Is something bigger still than they are
and more subtle. more evasive. more
difficult to deal with. There are vast
confederacies las may perhaps call
them for the sake Of convenience of
banks, railways, express companies,
insurance companies. manufacturing
corporations, mining corporations
power and development companies
and all the rest of the circle, bound
together by the fact that the owner.
ship of their stock and the members of
their boards Of directors are controlled
and determined by comparatively
small and closely interrelated groups
Of persons who, by their informal con
federacy. may control. II they please
and when they will, both credit anC
enterprise. They are part of our prob
lem. Their very existence gives ris,
to the suspicion of a money trust" &
concentration of the control Of credi
which may at any time become in
flnitely dangerous TO free enterprise
If such a concentration and contrc
do not actually exist it is eviden
that they can easily be set up and usef
at will. Laws must be devised whicl
will prevent this, If laws can be work
ed out by fair and free counsel tina
win accomplish that result withou
destroying or seriously embarrassin'
any sound or legitimate business un
dertaking or necessary and wholesome
arrangement
Tho Labor Question.
Let me say again that what we arc
seeking is not destruction Of any kim
nor the disruption Of any sound or hon
est thing, but merely the rule Of righ
and Of the common advantage. / an
happy to say that a new spirit has be
gun to show itself in the last year o
two among influential men Of busines
and, what is perhaps even more signif
cant. among the lawyers who are thei
expert advisers and that this spirit ha
displayed itself very notably in the las
few months in an effort to return II
some degree at any rate TO the prac
tees Of genuine competition.
If I am right about this, It is goinl
30 he easier TO act in accordance witt
the rule of right and justice in deal
ing with the labor question. The 81
called labor question is a question onl,
because we have not yet found tn
rule Of right IN adjusting the inter
ests OF labor and capital The welfare
the happiness, the energy and spiri
Of the men and women who do tn
daily work In our mines and factories
on our railroads, IN our Offices an
marts Of trade, on our farms and o.
rne sea. are Of the essence of our NJ
tional life. There can be nothin
wholesome unless their life is whole
some; there can be no contentment III
less they are contented. Their phys
cal welfare affects the soundness o
the whole nation. We shall never 20
very far in the settlement of the
vital matters so long as we regar'
everything done for the workingman
by law or by private agreement, as
concession yielded to keep him iron
agitation and a disturbance Of ou
} peace Here again the senE Of un
versal partnership must come int
play If we are to act like statesmen
as those who serve not a class, but
nation.
The working people Of America
they must be distinguished from th
minority that constitutes the rest q
tt-are, Of course, the backbone Of th
nation. No law that safeguards the
life. that improves the physical an
moral conditions under which the
live. that makes their hours of labC
rational and tolerable, that give
them freedom to act In their own il
terest and that protects them whel
they cannot protect themselves ca
. properly be regarded as class legisl
tlon OF as anything but as measul
taken in the interest Of the who
people, whose partnership in right a
! ton we are trying to establish an
make real and practical. It is in tn
spirit that we shall act If we are gen
inc spokesmen Of the whole country.
I Currency Laws.
( As our program is disclosed-for l
I man can forecast it ready made al
+ before counsel is taken Of every oil