Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1912-08-14

Investigations have revealed the con-
nection between the tariff and the
of prices, and this brought
him to the subject OF trusts. concern.
ing which he said in part: z
am not one Of, those who think
that competition can be established
by law against the drift Of a world
wide economic tendency; neither am
one of those who believe that busl-
ness done upon great scale oy
single organization--call 1t corpora.
ton. or what you willis necessarily
dangerous to the liberties. even the
economic liberties, Of great people
like our own, full OF Intelligence ana
OF indomitable energy. am not
afraid ofianything that is normal. !
dare say we shall never return TO the
old order Of individual competition
and that the organization Of business
upon q great scale Of cooperation ls,
up to certain point. itself normal an ana
inevitable.
Power in the hands OF great busi-
ness men does not make me apprenent :.
sive. unless 1t springs out OF advan.-s
tages which they have not created for
themselves. Big business ts not dan
gerous because it is big. but because
its bigness is an unwholesome intia'
ton created by privileges and exemp-
lions which 1t ought not to enjoy.
While competition cannot be created
by statutory enactment. It can 10 large
measure be revived by changing the
laws and forbidding the practices that
killed it. and by enacting laws that
will give It heart and occasion again.
We can. arrest and prevent monopoly.
It has assumed new shapes and adopt
ed new processes In our time. but
these are now being disclosed and can
be dealt with.
Il Conc entratIon o.. Credit.
&, But the problem and the difficulty
are much greater than that. There
are not merely great trusts and com
binations which are to be controlled
and deprived of their power to create
'monopolies and destroy rivals: there
IL something bigger still than they
are and more subtle. more evasive.
more dimcult to deal with. There are
vast confederacies Gas may perhaps
call them for the sake Of convenience
OF banks, railways, express comps
MES. insurance companies, manufac.
turing corporations, mining corpora
lions, power and development conn
;panies and all the rest Of the circle.
bound together by the fact that the
ownership Of their stock and the
members OF their boards Of directors
are controlled and determined by com.
paratively small and closely inter
related groups Of persons who, by
their informal confederacy. may con
troll. II they please and when they
will. both credit and enterprise.
There IL nothing illegal about these
confederacies. 10 far az can per
ceive. They have come about very
naturally, generally without plan OF
elaboration. rather because there
was 90 much money to be invested
and 1t was in the hands. at great
financial centers, Of men acquainted
With one another and intimately a..
ISOLATED In business. than because
anyone had conceived and was carry
ing out q plan of general control:
but they are none the less potent q
force in our economic and financial
system on that account. They arc
part of our problem. Their very ex
istence gives rise to the suspicion OF
a money trust" q concentration Of
the control OF credit which may at any
time become infinitely dangerous to
free enterprise. II such a concentra
ton and control does not actually OK
ist, IT. IL evident that It can easily be
set up and used at will. Laws must
be devised which will prevent this. II
laws can be worked out BY fair and
free counsel that will accomplish that
result without destroying or serious
" embarrassing any sound or legiti.
mate business undertaking or neces.
sary and wholesome arrangement. 4,
Question Of Conservation.
OF conservation and allied matters
Governor Wilson said:
1 do not know any greater question
than that OF conservation. We have
been a spendthrift nation and must
now husband what we have left. We
must. do more than that. We must
develop. - we'll 10 preserve. our va
ter powers and must add great va
terways to the transportation facili.
ties OF the nation. to supplement the
railways within our borders @ we'll
a upon the Isthmus. We must revive
our merchant marine. too. and NIL the
seas again with our own fleets. We
must add to our present postomce
service q parcels post as complete %
that Of any other nation. We must
look to the health OF our people upon
every hand. as we'll as hearten them
with Justice and opportunity.
With regard to the development Of
greater and more numerous water
ways and the building up of mer-
chant marine. we must follow great
constructive lines and not fall back
upon the cheap device Of bounties and
subsidies. In the case of the Missis.
sippi river. that great central artery
of our trade, 1t is plain that the fed
eral government must build and main.
tain the levees and keep the great
waters in harness for the general use.
1t is plain, too. that vast sums of
money must be spent to develop new
waterways where trade will be most
served and transportation most read.
fly cheapened by them. Such expen.
ditures are no largess on the part Of
and nearly every shopkeeper in the
market kept, as staples, some Of the
vegetable coloring prepara-