Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-05-14

ldlarneQ-l nave no lQed OIL tTeSpdSS
;. ing upon its time by the discussion o
D academic questions. I state as mat
: ter Of fact and common knowledg
1 that every business except that o
D farming is organized into a trust
i, which absolutely fixes not only tn
l.. price Of its products, but also Of tn
e raw material entering into the same
: The attempt Of the Federal govern
= stroy trusts, has proven a failure
= The reading of the words "in reason
3 able restraint" into the Act by tn
r United States supreme court, drew al
of its teeth. Economist and thinker
are now advocating regulation, no
l destruction. The dominating though
Of civilization today is association
! not individualism. Consideration
not competition, is the life Of trade
legislation and courts cannot stop it
because it means efficiency ant
| economy in the cost Of production.
Is there any court in all this land
that will deny that what the people
cannot do for themselves, 1t is the
province and duty Of the government
to do for them?
, The Federal government has de-
clared in the Sherman Act that COM
binations and conspiracies in re-
straint Of trade do exist, and pre-
scribed heavy penalties both civil and
criminal for prevention and punish
ment.
The corporation and the trust diff
fer. The corporation is merely an
association Of individuals to get the
benefit Of combined capital, intelli-
gence and energy. The trust Is the
allied interests" Of all the corpora
tions engaged in a given business,
for the purpose Of fixing stated
price for raw material, as well as a
price to the consumer for the finish
ed article. This is the practical de-
struction Of individual enterprises. 1t
Is safe to say that the aggregate
wealth Of the nation Is practically in
the hands Of less than one thousand
men, who control the great trusts OF
tho United States.
In the Columbia State Of April IS,
I hope your honors noted the article
on the first page under these start
ling headlines: "Steels Directors Con-
troll Railroads. Nearly 55 Per Cent
of Railways Under Trusts Domino
ton. Billions of Dollars in Magnates'
Power. OF Entire IS Billion Dollars of
Railway Valuation, Morgan and Asso-
ciates Control Holdings of Ten Billions
of Stock"
The paper might have gone on and
said that the Standard Oil, the Goulds
and Harrimans controlled the other
forty-five per- cent as well as the cop
per, oil and their allied interests.
What chance have farmers as indi-
viduals, or as a class, got against these
mighty combinations? A combination
of farmers to hold cotton would be
illegal. AS a matter Of fact, the far
mers are forbidden by the very terms
of the Sherman act from organizing
to advance prices. What resource
then have they except appeal for re-
lief to the sovereign power vested in
their state government
Professor L. H. Bailey Of the Col
Ilege of Agriculture Of Cornell Univer-
sity, states the proposition in these
words: 1.-The farmer does not set the
price for his products. II he wishes
to dispose of them 1t must be at the
price offered by the middle-man.
What the consumer pays is whatever
those who fix the prices think the
traffic will bear There is a mighty
lbig margin between the price the
consumer pays for farm products and
THAT which the producer receives. The
business of the country has been taken
from the hands of the farmers and
placed in the grasp of special privi-
lege. The tariff may aid the farmer,
but 1t aids special privileges first, and
to a greater extent than it aids the
mar of agriculture"
In the face Of mighty monopolies
that not only crush with ease all
competition, but also control the
natural resources Of the nation, and
dominate the Federal government,
where can we go except to our state
legislatures? I have a great respect
for our courts, and am sorry to hear
the murmur that swells ever higher
from the states west of the Missis-
sippi river because Of the intense
conviction Of the people that the
courts lean toward the trusts and
against the interest of the great pub
lie. The forces concerning the busi-
ness of today with which our courts
must deal were totally unknown at
the time Of the adoption Of the con-
stitution. We live in a new social and
economic world. Modern invention
has rushed us on so fast In science
and mechanics. that as new laws are
made directing the course OF this
twentieth century civilization, the
courts have not always been able to
make changed conditions conform to
the lnHeXlDle TERMS vi Soiiotitu'ioi
written by men, who never heard OF
railroads, aeroplanes and wireless
electricity. Certainly 1t cannot be
claimed that in the Federal courts
paper laws and mildewed precedents
have prevented progress. 1t Is called
Interpretation, but as matter of fact
this government has. been a govern
ment by the courts for the 80 years
Just past. The decisions as whole have
been in the direction Of popular
rights, and when otherwise there has
ever been some great soul like Judge
Harlan of the United States supreme
court, whose eyes have not peered
so long into the dim twilight of the
misty past, that they are blind to the
sun lit path up which man is slowly
str ggling to those nobler levels OF
beg, where an eterial sense Of
justice. breathed into his soul by God,
shall be the only law of the land.
Il Hal. no