The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1912-08-03
COMMITTEE SCORES
STEEL CORPORATION
Continued From Page One,

fairs of industrial concerns doing an in
terstate business.
Had the character of the Steel corpo-
ration and the nature and extent of its
operations been known to the people of
United States at the time of tho absorp-
ton of the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Rail-
road company, 1t is highly improbable that
the chief executive would in 20 minutes
have given his consent to a merger
fraught with infinite injury to the steel in
dustry and to the public alike.
THE commissioner Of corporations
should be required to report to Congress
as we'll as to the President of the United
States, at such times and upon such con-
dtions as 1t may prescribe, and the law
creating this bureau should be so amend
ed as to make such reports mandatory
upon the commissioner of corporations.
THE enormous earnings of the steel
corporation are due not to a degree of
indignation of efficiency not possessed by
its competitors, but to the ownership of
ore reserves out of all proportion to it's
output or requirements and to the control
and operation of common carriers, divi-
sions of rates. and the liberal allowances
obtained from other concerns through In
equitable and inordinate terminal allow
aDces. The business of production and
transportation should be absolutely sep
arate and distinct. and no Industrial con-
Germ should be permitted to own or oper-
ate an interstate carrier.
'rhe Attorney General of the United
Settes and his subordinates should not
be permitted to exercise an absolute dis
erection as to the institution of proceed
ings under the act of July |. 1890 known
as the Sherman antitrust act. or other
acts prohibiting combinations in restraint
of trade, The parties injuriously affected
by such combinations should have access
to the courts and the benefit of adequate
and sufficient remedies for wrongs infiict-
ed by such combinations"
Brandeis' Bill
The legislation recommended by the
majority consists of three bills. One of
them, commonly known as the Brandeis
bill. is designed to give an injured party
the right to institute suit to prevent the
organization of combination In restraint
of trade. This bill also transfers the
burden of proof to the defendant corpor-
alton to show that it is combination
within reasonable restraint of trade"
The bill recommended by the committee
has long been pending before congress
having been introduced by Senator La
Toilette and Representative Lenroot
Another bill would provide that mo
person who is engaged as an individual
OF dS II lntIlpci VI a. partnership, OF as a
director or other officer. or an employee of
corporation. In the business in whole or
In part. of manufacturing or selling rail-
road cars or locomotives, railroad rails
or structural steel. or mining and selling
coal shall act as a director or other offi-
Ger or employee of any railroad company
which conducts an interstate commerce
business"
The third bill is intended to hit at the
of Int atac nj
would separate industrial from railroad
business.
The steel trust investigating commit
tee was authorized to begin its work on
May 4, 1911. Since that date 1t has heard
many witnesses and made many trips of
inspection and investigation. Among the
witnesses heard have been most of the
great American financiers of the present
age with the exception of j. Pierpont
Morgan. Andrew Carnegie, E. H. Gary,
George w. Perkins. James ]. Hill. the
late John w. Gates and others promi-
nent In the railway and steel world were
heard at length. The committee took
thousands of pages of testimony and
spent many thousands of dollars.
During the progress of the hearings a
difference of opinion between the chair
man. A. o. Stanley of Kentucky and
Representative Gardner of Massachu-
sets, caused near fist fight and at one
stage of the proceedings George w. Per-
kins of New York was threatened with
jail sentence for declining to answer a
question as to his contributions to the
republican campaign in 1908. Later the
chairman of the committee, Mr.. Stanley,
withdrew the question.
The effort Of the committee to master
the moves OF the financiers who con-
ceived and organized the steel corpora
ton resulted in a mass OF figures which
showed enormous profts to those who
were interested In speaking of watered
stocks the majority comment Is:
in some instances stocks were not
'watered' in the ordinary acceptance OF
that term; they were literally deluged.
The cost of constructing or reproducing
the several plants constituting the COM
bine was inconsequentiai as compared