The Daily Missoulian., 1912-08-07


be to refuse ia. be. misledl by either set
Of false advisers ne must both favor
and promote the agencies that make
for prosperity and at the same time
SEQ to Il that those agencies are so
used ~ 70 be primarily Of service to
the average man.
Again and sgain. while ! was pres.
out that under, the anti trust law
alone Il was neither possible to put a
stop IN business, abuses nor possible
t9 secNra, the highest efficiency In the
service lranderad, hv. business to the
generale pub'ics The. ANTITRUST law
must be kept on our statute books, and
a. hereafter shown, must be rendered
more effecttSe In the cases where II
is applied. But to treat the anti
trust law 40 adequate, or as by Itself
q wise measure Of relief and better
ment is a sign not Of progress, but
Of torylsm and, reaction. II has been
OF benefit 30 far as II has implied
the recognition Of q real and great
evil, and the at least sporadic ap.
plication Of the principle that all men
alike must obey the law But as a
has In actual practice completely
broken, down., as now applied II works
more mischief than benefit. II rep
resents the waste Of effort-always
damaging to cOmmunity--Which
arises from the attempt 10 meet new
conditions by the application Of out.
worn ramedtes instead Of feariessly
and In common sense fashion facing
the new conditions and devising the
new remedies which alone can work
effectively for good. The antitrust
law II interpreted as the Baltimore
platform demands II shalt be Inter-
preted. would apply to every agency
by. which not merely Industrial hut
agricultural business Is carried on In
this country: under such an interpre-
tation. II ought In theory to he applied
universally, In which case practically
all Industries would stop; AZ 81 mat
ter Of fact. II Is utterly out OF the
question to enforce II universally; and,
when enforced sporadicallN H. causes
continual unrest. puts the country at
q, disadvantage with its trade compet-
ltors In International commerce. hope
lessly puzzles honest business men
and honest farmers as to what their
rights are. and yet, az has just been
shown In the cases Of the Standard OIL
and the tobacco trust, 1t Is no real
check on the great trusts at which 1t
was In theory aimed, and indeed, op-
erates to their benefit Moreover, if
we are to compete with other, nations
In. the markets Of the world as we'll as
to develop our own material civillZa-
ton at home. We must utilize those
forms OF industrial organization that
are Indispensable to. the highest In
dustrial productivity and efficiency.
An important volume entitled '.C.on.
centration and Control has just been
issued by President Charles r. Van
Hise of the University OF Wisconsin.
The University Of Wisconsin has been
more influential than any other
agency In making Wisconsin what 1t
has BECOME. laboratory for wise
social and Industrial experiment In the
betterment of conditions. President
Van Hise Is one of those thorough
going but sane and Intelligent rad
icals from whom much Of leadership
Ii to be expected In such u matter.
The subtitle Of his book shows that
his endeavor Is to turn the attention
Of his countrymen toward practically
solving the trust problem of the Unit
ed states. In his preface he states
that his aim Is to suggest a way to
gain the economic advantages of the
concentration OF industry, and at the
same time to guard the interests of
the public. and to assist in the rule
of enlightenment, reason. fair play,
mutual consideration and federation.
In sum. he shows that unrestrained
competition as an economic principle
has become too destructive to be per-
mitted to exist, and that the small
men must be allowed to CO. operate
under penalty of succumbing before
their big competitors: and yet such
cO-operatiOn. vitality necessary to the
small man. Is criminal under the pres
ent law. He says:
With the alternative before the
busineAs men OF cooperation or
failure, we may be sure that they
will cooperate. Since the law liz
violated by practically every group
OF men engaged In trade from one
end OF the country to the other,
they do not feel that In combining
they are doing a moral wrong. The
selection Of the individual or COR
poratton for prosecution depends
upon the arbitrary choice OF the
attorney general perhaps some
what influenced by the adium
which attaches to some Of the
I violators Of the law. They all
{ take their chance. hoping that the
'e blow will fall elsewhere. With
general violation and sporadic en-
1 fOrcement Of an impractical law.
we cannot hope that our people
will gain respect for It.
In conclusion. there Is present.
ed as the solution Of the diff
j N4pbVp Va SUS VIcbeUl IUuu0Icl0I
situation. concentration, co.opera-
tion and control Through con-
centratlon we may have the eco
nOmic advantages coming from
pagnitude Of operations. Through
cooperation we may limit the
wastes OF the competitive system.
Through control OF commission we
NAV secure freedom for fair COM
petitiOf. elimination OF unfair prac-
tees. conservation OF our natural
resources, fair wages. good social
conditions, and reasonable prices.
Concentration and co-operatiOn
IN Industry In order to secure, ef-
ficiency are a world wide move
ment. The United States cannot.
resist It. II we isolate ourselves
and, insist upon the sudivisionl OF
industry below the highest eco
nomic efficiency, and do not allow
cO-Operation. we shall be defeated
In the worlds markets. We can
not adopt, an economic system less
efflcient, than our great compet-
ttors. Germany, England. France
and austria. Either we must
modify our present obsolete laws
regarding concentration and cO-op-
IN a 40