The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-10
Perfectly Plain Question

Perfectly Plain Question
 "'ro settle the question" said hlr. Gard ner, T ask Colonel Roosevelt the fol- lowing perfectly plain questions: The international Harvester company has such predpminence in it's particular in- dustry as 10 be lndistinguishable from a monopoly. Do you recommend its dis solution or do you recommend It's recogni- tion?"
 Representative McGillicuddy of Maine and Chairman stanley. both of the com mittee, together with Representative Jack son of Kansas republican, also spoke on the report. Mr. McGiricuddy declared the time had come to investigate the causes that tended to coneer tration of the wealth of the country He said the capital of the United States Steel corpora ton alone as equal to all the wealth. cal and personal property Of the states of Maine New Hampshire and Vermont This concentration had progressed, he de- clared. until families aggregatlhg one .hird of the entdrea population of the coun- 1 try were forced to exist on lesf than $40 C year each
 The steel trust MT. McGllicudy as serted" was the direct creation of the
 
 scrption of tho Tennessee Coal and Iron company by the Steel corporation and the alleged acqueseence of then President Roosevelt. MT MeGillcuddy said Mr. Roosevet's action was the most humiliat- ing surrender the country had ever known and that the former President had sold himself out to the steel trust heels. hide and teeth"
 Trusts were not the deliberate Of the natural development of industrial and competitive conditions accord ing to Representative Gardner of Massachusetts, ranking minority mem Der of the House "steel trust in- vestigating committee. who addressed the House tonight on his report. He advocated federal licenses for all con cerns whose capital exceeded a fixed amount and the creation of an inter- state commission of industry with reg l ulatory powers over corporations. If we wish to dissolve the trusts | the time has come to say so,' said MT. Gardner "If we wish to recognize the trusts the time has come to be definite about it. Don't misunderstood me as adversely criticizlng the bills present ed by the democratic majority Of the committee. In my opinion substantially lall the practices al which those bills are aimed ought 10 be suppressed. But if everyone of the majority's bills were to be enacted into law we should be no nearer the settlement of the trust question.
 "The majority bills do not spell dis solution" he continued "The stock market tells us so plainly enough. If we really wish to break up the trusts all we have to do IS to forbid the concentration of more than a given amount of capital under a single man agement and then instruct our courts to dissolve existing trusts into cor poratlons within the prescribed size
 Dissolution No Remedy MT. Gardner declared he did not believe in dissolution as remedy He said com binations of capital had their place In the economic scheme of things, but they should be made to behave
 What we need said Mir Gardner With emphasis 'is good drastic recognition Of large industrial units. We have fooled too long with genteel dissolution. As 4 solution of the problem. MT. Gard- her advocated the compulsory licensing of all corporations whose assets exceed S,O OO0,00o forcing them at the same tune to reca apitalize at the exact amount or 1 their actual. holdings. He would have created tine interstate commission Of in- dustry, clothed with powers to enforce the corporation laws and with power to fix prices of commodities.
 of may be that civilization is in d state of evolution" he said. during which socialism's creed must have trial. It may be that government control will ul- umately lead into collective ownership and out of it again. The science of statesmanship requires us to solve the pressing problems, not to stand dumb founded and inactive because fin no direc tion is the future clear.