East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1912-04-15

the time came this great organization
would have wonderful influence and
so he wrote in that statute that 1t
should be the duty of the United
States district attorneys under the
attorney general to prosecute these
unlawful acts.
"When Roosevelt became president
there were one hundred forty-nine Of
these combinations with capital OF
three billion dollars. When he re-
tired from office there were 10000
trusts with a total capital OF thirty
one billion dollars.
There, resting in its sheath was
the Sherman antitrust law-an un-
used weapon. Back of the president,
who could enforce it, was a power Of
ninety million people.
"One closing of that hand of the
| president at that time and the life of
these trusts would have been crush
ed out. What did he do? He did
what his predecessors had done
prosecuted an average of seven trusts
a year-just enough to tickle their
flanks a little bit; just enough to have
a little record to talk about when cleo
tion came around.
Let me tell you friends, the time
has come in this country for plain
| talk-perhaps what l am saying to-
| day and what | am going to say
| throughout this country about one
who has been an idol of the American
people will cost me everything. 1
care not if it does-the truth is going
to be given to the people.
"Do you want to know what l
would have done had 1 been presi-
dent? 1t would have taken me just
about fifteen minutes after taking
oath of office-just as soon as /
could have gotten from the capitol
to the white house. l would have
called my secretary and said: You
send a telegram to every United
States district attorney in each of
| the states and tell them to be in
| Washington just as quick as the fast
est train can get them, that / want
to see them at 10 O'Clock in the morn
ing and you write a note to the attor-
ney general l have just recommended
| to office and tell him and his assist
! ants to be here at the same time When
| I had gotten them together that morn
ing | would have had copy of the
| Sherman antitrust law for each one
of them and l would have said to
| them, there are 149 criminal organ
izations in this country who have a
view of controlling the markets or
| the United States-and when you
| control the markets of the United
! States you control the people and
| free
government for if our people will not
stand it to have a king over their po-
litical government we ought not to
have a king over the necessaries OF
life and over transportation. There
| is a copy of a statute l find on the
| statute books 1t is known as the
! Sherman antitrust law. 1t seems to
have been overlooked. l have a copy for
| each one of you to take to your room
| and come back here tomorrow at 10
| and be able to recite the eight sections
| from memory. When they had re-
turned the next morning l would have
| said You know the law; you have
read the sections that make it your
| duty to prosecute. You have noticed
| that YOU have right also to apply
to the equity side of the court for an
| injunction to restrain every corpora
ton in the United States and if they
violate the injunctive order to put
! them in Jail l will give you ninety
| days and if there is a trust at the end
| of that time | will take your heads
off and put somebody else in who will
do the work.
81 undertake to say that if the blow
had been struck at that time we
would now be wondering whether it is
possible for the American people to
redeem their government from this
mighty power. 1t if a different situ-
alton now. They have thrown their
thousands of arms around the legiti-
mate business of the country: They
are all wound up together. You can
not attack them now as you could
then. You cannot go at it with a
broad AK. 1t is now the work for the
most skilled surgeon and most
delicate work.
1T yrequired trained, stead
nerve TSis is no job for a rough
rider | want to tell you.
Hear me moment more. l
would not detract from the glory that
belongs to Theodore Roosevelt Since
the time of Lincoln, no man has done
more than Theodore oRoosevelt t
touch the civic conscience of the AM
erican people. He did a wonderful
work, but it was work of the agitator.
But he did his work Had he had
the other qualities of mind, re would
have seen that this thing which
have just described was the vital