The Commonwealth. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1911-1914, 1912-09-27


help for IL, and he win be hung rs soon
as he is identified in Russia, Now he
was revoutiouist | went up to the
secretary of commerce and labor, Charles
Nagcl republican and standpattcr |
from Staudpattcrsyille, believe, from
st. Louis. I had been there before and |
we had gotten quito well acquainted and
he had told me that his family had
taken PAM in the German revolution in
lSIS and how proud his family were of
the German revoutionists who had come
over here and he told me how proud he
was of Carl Schurz. [ telephoncd him
to wait until | came up, and | went up
there with the documents. and for the
first time in my life there | spoke Ger
man and for the last time. l said, "Mr.
Nagle" in German that is not the off
cial language, you know. Didn't you
tell me that your family took part in
the German revolution of lS4S?' YES
he said. Didn't you tell me that your
family was so proud of the friendship
of Carl Schurz and family yes.
Mr.. Nagel, if our country had treated
your father and Carl Schurz the way
YOU are going to treat this poor revolu-
| zionist, where would you be today?' He
| looked the documents over for about two
or three minutes and he rang his bell.
His chief clerk came in and handed him
the papers and he said, "Stop this at
once" He talked English then. l
said Goodnight, Mr.. Nagel, am going
to New York. If you do anything in
this case kindly let me know. The next
day came a telegram from Mr. Nagel,
saying, "Alien -- has been admitted
Internationally" I simply sent tele-
gram, "Thank YOU Mr.. Nagel'
The Trust Question.
Now, you see, comrades, and ladies'
and gentlemen, even one man can do
things if he wants to. But it is a
terribly big job. If I should stay there
another four Years l am afraid you
would lose the only man you have there
But I am not going to stay there alone
very much longer because the change is
upon us. In the first place, the eco
nomic change, the trusts compel every
body to discuss the economic question
today, something as to the trusts. Now
lin congress, you 1 excuse me for talk
ing so much about congress but [ have
lbeen there for a year and half.
find five different views as to the trust
question beside my own. The first view
is this-they all admit that the trust;
are here. They used to deny it. But
says Joe Cannon, say the standpatters
says Mr.. Humphrey, the trusts are not
bad at all. Let well enough alone. They
are the business, everybody working
but father-let well enough alone. That
is one view and I can understand Mr.
Cannon very well indeed, bright man
he is for his class. I suppose if I were
Cannon 1 might take the same view
But | am not a millionaire, nor 76 years
old, nor have I had the career of Cannon
and so ''let well enough alone" is moth
ing to me.
Other Remedies.
Then there is the second view, that of
/ President Taft, a well meaning man, a
great lawyer. He says the Sherman
law must be enforced and he ordered his
attorney general to enforce the trust act
of 1898 and it was enforced in two cases.
In the case of the STANDARD Oil trust and
the Tobacco trust. The case came into
the supreme court and the court decided
that the Standard Oil must dissolve. 1t
dissolved, didn't it? Why yes, of course
You can buy Standard Oil stock at al
most twice as much as you could a year
ago. Oil went up but the trust is dis
solved. Oh, yes. They do business in
exactly the same way but the oil trust
doesn't exist; the supreme court says so.
The moment they got the decision John
d. Rockefeller said eyes, we will dis
solve" So they put up thirty-one diff
ferent sets of books and put thirty-on
different girls to work on these books
and that is all they did It is the same
ownership and the only difference is that
stock went up and Rockefeller made mil
lions and millions. OF course, it is ride
ulous. The supreme court might as well |
say that the Pacific ocean is to dissolve. |
The trusts are necessary and natural
outcome of competition. That is what
they are. just like several small riv-
ers forming to finally become a large
body of water; so all the small business
houses in course of time are gobbled up.
But as Judge Gray said Competition
doesn't pay; You can't compete" But
more than that, he also offered the gov
eminent the right to fix prices In other
words the trusts know that they are a (
public utility. | am not going into any I
ietails further II is impossible But 8
wen more impossible than the dissolu- S
ion of the trusts is the democratic I
arty. They would Ike to 20 back. /
They want 10 forbid concentration. The +,